This document summarizes human prehistory from the Paleolithic era to the Metal Ages. It describes how early humans lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers during the Paleolithic era, making tools from stone, bone, and wood. During the Neolithic era, humans transitioned to a more sedentary agricultural lifestyle, domesticating plants and animals and developing pottery and weaving. Finally, the Metal Ages saw the discovery and increasing use of metals like copper, bronze and iron for tools and weapons, as well as the emergence of specialized jobs like metalworkers and traders.

1. PREHISTORY

2. Historians
divide Human History
into two big periods:
starts
with the appearance
of the first humans
finishes
with the invention
of writing.
4.5 million years ago 5,500 years ago
(= 3,500 years b.C.)

3. Historians also divide Prehistory into smaller stages, depending on the type of materials and technology
used in those times:
Stone Age Metal Ages
Tools were made from
STONE, wood and bones.
Tools were made
from METALS.

4. starts
with the appearance
of the first HUMANS
finishes
with the discovery
of AGRICULTURE.
4.5 million years ago 5,500 years ago (= 3,500 years b.C.)
PALAEOLITHIC

5. PALAEOLITHIC
How did humans live
in this period?

6. They were nomads. They didn’t have a
fixed house.
They moved around
to find food.
A nomad is a person who does not have a
permanent home and moves around a lot.

7. They lived in caves.
Sometimes they built huts
with natural materials
(wood, animal skins…).
They lived in temporary shelters like tents, huts or caves because they were nomads.
(refugios) (chozas)

8. They were organized in small groups
(of 20/30 people called tribes).

9. They were hunters gatherers.
They got their food hunting fishing and gathering fruits, nuts, berries,
roots and other wild plants
and

10. They made tools and
weapons with:
IVORY
BONES
WOOD
STONE
and(marfil)

11. Scrapers
(raspadores)
Arrowheads
(puntas de flecha)
They made:
Antler
harpoons
from
Altamira,
used to catch
fish.
About 14,000
years old
Harpoons
(arpones)

12. Axes
(hachas)
Handaxe from Europe
Needles
(agujas)
Bone needles from China,
about 30,000 years old
Wooden spear, Germany,
about 400,000 years old.
These spears
are currently
the oldest
known
wooden
artifacts in
the world.
Spears
(lanzas)

14. They learned to use fire.
They used fire for heating and lighting caves, cooking
and keeping wild animals away.

15. They drew and painted pictures of animals on cave walls and rocks.
They painted mammoths, horses, deer, bisons, hunting scenes ...
This type of art is
called ‘cave art’.
(arte rupestre)

16. Animal hairs were used
to make brushes.
They made paint crushing and mixing mineral pigments
or charcoal with spit, blood or animal fat.
(carbón) (saliva) (grasa)

17. How did people dress during the Paleolithic
Age?
• Clothing was made primarily
from the fur of the animals
that had been killed for food.
• The climate during that time
was cold, so people dressed to
stay warm.
Reconstruction of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon.
They made clothes from animal
skins.
(cosían)
(marfil)

18. They sewed their clothes with needles made from
bones, ivory and antlers.

19. NEOLITHIC
How did humans live
in this period?

20. They learned how to
domesticate animals
and cultivate plants.
Domesticate means to train a wild animal to be
useful to humans.

21. They tamed horses, dogs, goats, pigs, sheep, oxen …(amansaron) (bueyes)

22. They grew wheat, barley, peas, rice, corn …
(trigo) (cebada) (guisantes) (maíz)(arroz)
Wheat
Barley

23. They became sedentary. A sedentary human is a person who lives in a
fixed place because he has a permanent house.
They settled down and built villages because they had
to farm and needed to be close to their fields.
They were not nomadic.

24. How did people dress during the Neolithic Age?
• People still used mostly animal
skins for clothing.
• In some places people were able
to make fabric from the wool of
their sheep and from plants.
Loom
Raw wool

25. People used stone tools,
but they began to be
more sophisticated,
specialized,
and they were often
polished
to a fine finish.
Farming tools were made
with stone and wood.

26. They invented:
The wheel The loomThe plough

27. They developed pottery for storing food
and carrying things from place to place.
(almacenar)(cerámica)
They made pots with baked clay.
(arcilla)(cocida)

28. They divided up the tasks in their community:
Some
raised
animals
Some
made
pottery
Some
made
clothing
Some
built
houses
…
Some
cultivated
crops

29. METAL AGES
How did humans live
in this period?

30. The main change was
the discovery of metals.
then they
used
bronze
and later,
they used
iron.
Metal tools are better than stone tools.
They are stronger and can be sharpened.
Gold and silver
were used to make
coins and jewellery.
First they learnt how
to melt copper and
make tools with it,

31. Copper
It was very soft and objects
could deform quite easily.
Bronze
Mixture of copper and tin.
– Harder and it can replace the
stone for making weapons.
Iron
The hardest and most
excellent for making weapons
and farming tools.
Bronze Age socketed axes

32. Metal workers had an important job:
to make tools and weapons for
everyone.

33. They made ovens to melt metals
to make tools, weapons and
jewellery.

34. • People had different Jobs now.
2
Metalworkers were people
who made metalworking.
Potters were people who made
pottery,
Jewellers were people who
made jewels.
Weavers were people who
made clothes, fabrics…
Other new jobs were …
Soldiers were people who
defended the town.
Traders were people who
bought and sold metal objects,
clothes and pottery.

35. PALAEOLITHIC
NEOLITHIC
METAL AGES
or
?
Let´s analyze the following pictures

36. ???????

40. Add more …