Hunter-Gatherers
Prehistoric people were hunter-gatherers. This meant they had to find or catch everything
they ate.
Early Stone Age people (who lived in what we call the Palaeolithic era) were hunter-
gatherers and moved from place to place in search of food. They hunted animals for their
meat and their skins which they used as clothes. Those who lived near water caught fish
using nets. They collected fruit and nuts to add to their diet.
The later phase of the Stone Age is known as the Neolithic era and this is
when Stone Age people stopped being hunter-gatherers and started to
farm.
Click on the words in bold to find out what they mean.
If you were a hunter-gatherer, what plants might you use that grow near
Talk about it.
where you live?
The Start of Farming
Farms were made by clearing wooded areas
The Neolithic era started around 4000 years
and building houses surrounded by farms. The
ago. People stopped being hunter-gatherers
wood was used to build houses and for fuel.
and started producing their own food. This
By 3500 BC, there were farms all across the
meant that Stone Age people stopped being
Stone Age world.
nomadic and began to build settlements.
Being hunter-gatherers meant there wasn’t
always a reliable supply of food. Farming
their own food meant people could guarantee
there would be enough to eat and that tribes
could settle in one area for the whole year.
Click on the words in bold to
find out what they mean.
Animals
Stone Age farmers domesticated animals. These animals included cows, sheep, goats and
pigs.
What could farmers get
Talk about it.
from each animal?
The farmers could get:
• meat, milk and leather from cows;
• meat, milk and wool from sheep
and goats;
• meat from pigs.
Click on the words in bold to
find out what they mean.
Crops
Farmers grew a variety of crops. Wheat and barley
were used to make flour, which was then turned into
bread and porridge. A plant called flax was turned
into material to make clothes. Other farmers grew
beans and peas.
Did You Know?
A piece of bread from the Stone Age was found in
Oxfordshire. Archaeologists think it was
from around 3600 BC!
Tools
As the name suggests, the Stone Age was a time when tools were mostly made of stone. The
age ended when people began to smelt metal to use for tools.
A quern was used to grind wheat into flour. It was made of two stone circles. The one on the
bottom didn’t move. The upper stone had a hole in the middle and could turn round. Wheat
was poured into the hole and then the top stone was turned using a handle. This ground the
wheat into flour.
An upper quern stone
Click on the words in bold to
find out what they mean.
By Green Lane - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Tools
Farmers began to use wooden ploughs pulled by cattle to prepare the ground for crops to be
grown.
Crops were harvested using sickles made from a rock made out of flint.
Flint sickle
By Roger Fund- Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.
How Do We Know?
Archaeologists have excavated many sites and discovered artefacts from the Stone Age.
These include parts of tools and the bones of animals.
In 1850, a storm uncovered the remains of a Neolithic village called Skara Brae off the
coast of Scotland. The village was well preserved and has helped archaeologists learn lots
about Stone Age life.
Click on the words in bold to
find out what they mean.
