During the Stone Age early humans started using stones, usually flint, to make tools and weapons. It is the earliest known period of human culture. The Stone Age began around 2.5 million years ago and lasted until around 2300 BC. It is split into three different periods: Palaeolithic (early Stone Age), Mesolithic (middle Stone Age), and Neolithic period (late Stone Age). Each period was characterized by different advances in how people lived.

The Stone Age got its name because during this time early humans, also known as cavemen, started using stone, such as flint, to make tools and weapons. They also used stones to light fires. These stone tools are the earliest known human tools. People moved from place to place to get the food and shelter they needed. The earliest human shelters were natural caves or rock shelters. People also framed huts and shelters from wood or animal bones, and covered them with animal hides.

Humans may have started wearing clothes 500,000 years ago. First, they wore simple leather or fur blankets that wrapped around the body. Later, people tied long strips of leather around their clothing to hold it in place. Around 47,000 years ago, people starting using sharp, pointed tools to pierce holes into leather and then weaved cords through the holes to sew pieces together. Around 5000 years later, the first needle was invented.

Stone Age people were hunter-gatherers. They hunted the food they needed and gathered food from trees and plants. This means that they only ate what they could catch or forage. Their diet consisted mainly of meat and fish that they hunted using nets, bows and arrows or flint-tipped spears. They also ate fruits, berries, nuts and seeds. Early Stone Age humans did not eat dairy products because they didn’t raise animals for meat or milk.

Stone Age facts:

Europe was attached to Africa, so early humans could walk from Africa to Britain.

People made jewelry from shells, teeth, stones and animal claws.

People used dogs to help them hunt for food.

There were several Ice Ages when glaciers covered large portions of the Earth.

Animals included woolly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, mastodons and woolly rhinos.

Many people believe that the Stone Age diet was healthier than our diet today because it contained no processed or sugary foods.

It is thought that there were six other types of humans when Homo sapiens (modern humans) first lived on Earth. However, around 24,000 years ago, Homo sapiens (which means 'wise men') were the only humans left on Earth.

Source: Stone Age Facts for Children and Teachers
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