UNIT 5: THE STONE AGE
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What is the origin of human beings?
What is Prehistory?
How many stages are there in Prehistory?
What was life like in the Palaeolithic Age?
What was life like in the Neolithic Age?
When does History begin?
CONTENTS
1. Prehistory
2. Origin and evolution of human beings
3. Life in the Palaeolithic Age
3.1. Economy and society
3.2. Skills
3.3. Art
4. The Neolithic Revolution
4.1. Economy and society
4.2. Skills
4.3. Art
5. The Stone Age in Spain
1. PREHISTORY
• Prehistory refers to a long period of time that
began with the appearance of the first human
being and ended with the discovery of the written
word.
• Bones, tools, utensils, weapons and cave paintings
from this era are still survive today.
• The names of the two prehistoric ages refer to the
material of the tools used at the time.
STONE AGE
METAL AGE
- They began to use
metals to make tools
- From the first human
- From the 7.000 B.C. to
and weapons.
being (2.5 mill.) to
3.500 B.C.
- Some communities
7. 000 B.C.
approximately.
started to write but the
approximately.
- They used tools made of
way of life was
- They used tools made of
polished stone.
Neolithic.
carved stone.
Palaeolithic (“old stone”)
Neolithic (“New stone”)
2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS
THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN BEINGS…
CHARLES DARWIN
The Origin of Species (1859)
CREATION
EVOLUTION
2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS
• The upper primates who walked upright and all
their descendants, including human beings, are
known as hominids.
• These primates evolved (through a process called
hominization) until they had some of the
characteristic features of humans today:
 Have a more developed brain
 Think and use language
 Have the ability to make tools and utensils.
WHERE?
RIFT VALLEY
2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS
2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS
2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS
2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS
2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS
2. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BEINGS
ACTIVITIES
1. Match the words with the physical features in the picture and
complete the text.
ACTIVITIES
2. Match the information with the correct species
ACTIVITIES
3. Are the following sentences true or false? Correct the false ones.
ACTIVITIES
4. Complete the sentences
ACTIVITIES
5. Read the text and answer the questions
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
What was the climate like?
• Some very cold periods where large parts of the
planet were permanently covered in ice.
• There were also milder periods
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
What did people eat?
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
What did people eat?
• Humans were predators: they lived from hunting
and fishing. They used the whole animal: meat,
fat, milk, hide, etc.
• There also gathered wild fruit, eggs, honey, etc.
• In other words, they consumed nature´s products
but they did not replace them.
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
Where did they live?
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
Where did they live?
• They were nomads: they did not always live in the
same place. When the resources ran out in one
place, they moved to another to find food.
• They lived in caves or shelters made of leaves,
branches, the skin and bones of animals, and
stones. The shelters were grouped to form camps.
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
Where did they live?
• Twenty to thirty people lived together in groups
known as hordes.
• Sometimes, various hordes formed a groups called
a tribe.
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
What was society like?
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
What was society like?
• There was a hierarchy within each group.
• Some individuals were more important than
others: the strongest warrior, the wisest old man
and the sorcerer or witch doctor, who knew the
properties of plants.
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
What did they believe in?
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
What did they believe in?
• We know they had certain religious beliefs from
the fact that they buried their dead.
• They deified the forces of nature (lightening, rain,
sun), all of which they needed, admired or feared.
3. LIFE IN THE PALAEOLITHIC AGE
SKILLS
Chopper
FIN
Por José Luis Alcaide Juárez
Profesor de Geografía e Historia
IES Puerta de la Axarquía