Stone Age Action

Use your 21st century mind on this Stone Age Quiz. Click on the caveman below:

Happy caveman

 

One of the changes in the New Stone Age was the domestication of animals. Go to this site for a timeline of animal domestication.

Animal domestication link

List the first six animals to be domesticated and the approximate date. Then click on your favourite to find out the evidence about when, how and why they were domesticated by humans.

Dog at tree barb Sheep with lamb from Leigh trimmed_1 These were some of the earliest domesticated animals. The ones in these photos are more modern breeds than the Stone Age ones! (Photos taken by my sister Barb and used with her permission)

Plants were also domesticated. This means that humans bred the plants for the qualities they most wanted in them. Plants with larger wheat grains were chosen just as goats were chosen for smaller horns. Gradually the domesticated population varied significantly from the wild one.

Table of plant domestication

Write down four of the important crops and the approximate date of domestication.

 

Image from wpclipart.com and used with gratitude

Now go back to the time before homo sapiens were the only human beings on the planet. Have a look at each link below to view some fascinating speculations about Neanderthals:

Their brains were 20% bigger than ours, they were better adapted to the cold and they could probably talk. So why did they die out? Look at this site (BBC Science and Nature) which tackles this question.

Neanderthals might have had more difficulty with childbirth. Look at this site (National Geographic) to find out the details of this discovery.

Neanderthals could have had red hair and freckles…like the Weasleys.

Neanderthals may have been less likely to suffer from mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia.

Of course, many of these ideas are theory rather than fact.

Don’t forget that if you find a fascinating site or interesting piece of information you can leave a comment with the details to inspire and interest others.

Kind regards,

Ms Green.