The Beginnings of Human Society

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The Beginnings of Human Society
Chapter 1, Section 2
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Section 2 - Prehistory
The Stone Age
The Stone Age began when humans first made tools
out of stone. This happened about two-hundred
fifty million years ago. They used stones to
hammer at soft volcanic rock, and the volcanic
rock chipped off into sharp pieces. Humans used
the sharp pieces to cut plants or meat. The
first tools were very simple, and the Stone Age
lasted for hundreds of thousands of years.
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Shelter
This is a prehistoric shelter that people in
Russia used about 18,000 years ago. They are
built out of the bones of the Wooly Mammoth,
which was a very large animal that resembled an
elephant. These shelters protected early humans
from the weather, and from predators.
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The Stone Age Two Periods
The Old Stone Age During the Old Stone Age, peopl
e did not know how to farm. They hunted animals
and gathered roots and berries. They used stone
tools to cut meat, cut animal skins for clothes,
and to protect themselves. Eventually, Old Stone
Age people began hunting in groups. Most of
prehistory takes place in the Old Stone Age.
The New Stone Age The New Stone Age began about 1
1,000 years ago in Southwest Asia. The New Stone
Age began when people began planting seeds and
farming.
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Fire!
About 500,000 years ago, during the Old Stone
Age, people discovered fire. It is thought that
people began striking stones together to make a
spark, or maybe they rubbed two sticks together.
When people learned how to make fire, they could
move to colder places.
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Settling New Areas
When people developed the use of tools, they
began to leave their original homes in Africa.
People in the Stone Age became nomads, which are
people who wander and do not have a settled home.
Nomads move around from place to place,
searching for food. People began to spread out
all over the earth.
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The Beginning of Farming
When people discovered farming, about 11,000
years ago, the New Stone Age began. It is
thought that women may have been the first
farmers, since men were always off hunting.
Women gathered plants and seeds, and it is likely
that they discovered farming. When people began f
arming, they did not have to travel around
anymore. They could get food from the land that
they lived on. People began building shelters
that looked more like houses. When farming began,
people settled in lands with fertile soil.
Fertile soil is soil that has nutrients, which
help plants grow the best.
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Taming Animals
Humans learned another important skill during the
New Stone Age. They learned to domesticate, or
tame, wild animals. Dogs may have been among the
first animals that were domesticated, because
they could help early humans hunt. Humans also
tamed sheep, cows, and pigs. This meant that
they had a ready source of meat - they could just
kill one of their domesticated animals when they
needed food, instead of going out and hunting.
The domestication of animals, along with the
beginning of farming, led to humans staying in
one place for longer periods of time.