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Stone Age Facts & Worksheets

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The Stone Age is the term given to the earliest period of human culture when our ancestors started to use stone tools. It began around 3.7 million years ago until about 2000 B.C. The era ended when humans began smelting metal.

See the fact file below for more interesting Stone Age facts or alternatively, you can download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

  • Anthropologists believe that the Homo habilis was the first to make stone tools around 2.3 million years ago.
  • Archaeologists divide the Stone Age into three phases, namely: Paleolithic (old stone age), Mesolithic (middle stone age) and Neolithic (new stone age). The term ‘-lithic’ comes from the ancient Greek word lithos, which means stone or rock.
  • The oldest stone tools were found in Africa. They were dated to be about 3.4 million years old. In addition, the earliest man-made structure was also found in Africa.
  • During the Paleolithic Era, humans used stones to bash, hit, and scrape. Later in the era, they learned to sharpen stones. Flint was commonly used in making stone tools. People were nomadic hunter-gatherers. They did not have permanent settlements, thus moving from one place to another was a way of life.
  • At the end of the old stone age, people started to live together in small bands.
  • During the Mesolithic Age, dogs were first domesticated to help people hunt. Finer stone tools, such as spearheads and arrows, were created. It was also during the middle stone age when humans learned how to fish using hooks and nets.
  • It was during the Neolithic period when people enhanced domestication of animals such as goats, pigs and sheep. Furthermore, they gradually developed sophisticated farming and agriculture in settled communities. Pottery was also a breakthrough during this time as well as the systems of writing and weaving.
  • Cave paintings and carved figurines dating back about 40,000 years ago were discovered in Altamira, Spain. One of the best animal paintings on cave walls can be seen at Chauvet, France, dating to 31,000 B.C.
  • Stone Age people lived in huts made of wood, stone or animal bones that were covered with clay or animal skins. In 1850, the Stone Age village of Skara Brae, located in Orkney Islands, was excavated with beds, cupboards, shelves, chairs, toilets, and drainage systems. It was dated to exist around 3000 B.C.
  • Stone tools gradually evolved from an all-purpose tool to more complex functionality based on design. Paleolithic people developed the simple to complex manufacture of stone tools from pebble-tool tradition to bi-facial or hand-axe traditions to flake-tool traditions until the blade-tool traditions.
  • Stone Age people hunted dangerous and huge animals such as the woolly mammoth. Woolly Mammoths were one of the popular subjects of neolithic cave paintings. By the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, they became extinct.
  • In very cold places such as Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, mummified mammoths have been discovered in ice blocks with intact skeletons and blood samples.
  • Aside from the skilled man (Homo habilis), other Hominins also appeared during the Stone Age. After 2 million years, the existence of Homo erectus marked another stage of Hominin evolution. They learned how to use fire against cold and for cooking. Furthermore, they were the earliest ancestors of Homo sapiens with similar body proportions. It was believed that they first lived in Africa before migrating to Europe and Asia.
  • About 24,000 years ago, the Neanderthal lived in Europe and parts of Asia. They had a larger nose and prominent ridge over the eyebrows for them to cope in very cold climates.
  • Some of the Stone Age beliefs include contacting the spirit of animals when hunting, telling stories of thunderstorms and sunrise, worshipping nature, and construction of megaliths or tomb boulders.
  • Around 75,000 years ago, Stone Age people started to use shells, bones, and tusks as ornaments and jewelry.

Stone Age Worksheets

This bundle includes 11 ready-to-use Stone Age worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about The Stone Age which is the term given to the earliest period of human culture when our ancestors started to use stone tools. It began around 3.7 million years ago until about 2000 B.C. The era ended when humans began smelting metal.

This download includes the following worksheets:

  • Stone Age Facts
  • Stone Age Hominids
  • Stone Tools
  • Phases of the Stone Age
  • First Technologies
  • Let’s Hunt!
  • Tell Us Something
  • Stone Age Artifacts
  • Stonehenge
  • Stone Age Way of Life
  • Cave Painting

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Link will appear as Stone Age Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, December 19, 2017

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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