Study Guides

Unit Summary

This unit examines the archaeological record that exists for Stone Age Britain and introduces pupils to the way in which archaeologists make claims based on this evidence. As the first unit in KS2, it covers the settlement of humans in Britain during the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic eras.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to describe how archaeologists know about Homo sapiens' early settlement of Britain.

Key Notes

• Dating different human remains suggests the presence of modern humans in Britain has been brief and sporadic.
• It has only become continuous at the end of the last Ice Age, c.12,000 years ago.
• The modern humans who appeared in Britain were highly adaptable hunter-gatherers.
• Flints found far from where they were acquired show that they moved around Britain far more than the Neanderthals had.

Vocabulary To Learn

• Homo sapiens: the only surviving group of humans is the Homo sapiens
• Ice Age: an Ice Age is when Earth becomes very cold for a long period of time
• hunter-gatherer: hunter-gatherers hunt animals and gather berries and nuts

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• That our knowledge of the past is factual.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Settlement during the Mesolithic Era Study Guide
• Significant Stone Age artefacts Study Guide
• Skara Brae and life in the Neolithic Era Study Guide
• The big picture of the earliest humans in Britain Study Guide
• The evidence of the Paleolithic Era Study Guide