A period of great change
The Mesolithic period was a time of great change for people in Britain. It is also known as the Middle Stone Age.
After the Ice Age, the climate warmed and the land and animals of Britain changed.
People lived as hunter-gatherers — gathering food from plants or getting meat by hunting wild animals.
They were always on the move and lived a nomadic lifestyle. This meant they moved from place to place instead of living in a permanent home.
This period of time, before things were written down, is known as prehistory.
Archaeologists have to look at artefacts (objects from the past) and places to find out how people lived in prehistoric Britain.
Important words
Important words on what life was like in the Mesolithic period.
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| Archaeologists | Someone who studies objects and places from the past. |
| Hunter-gatherers | A person who gathers food from plants or from hunting wild animals. |
| Mesolithic period | This period, also known as the Middle Stone Age, was when early humans developed new skills such as making finer tools. |
| Neolithic period | This period, also known as the New Stone Age, was when people created settlements and started to farm. |
| Nomadic | When a person or group of people move from place to place instead of living in a permanent home. |
| Palaeolithic period | The earliest part of the Stone Age, also known as the Old Stone Age, when people lived as hunter-gatherers. |
| Prehistory | The time in the past before written records. |
The Middle Stone Age
The Stone Age in Britain took place between around 15000BC to 2500BC.
The Middle Stone Age is also known as the Mesolithic period . During this period was when early humans developed new skills such as making finer tools.
Humans were hunter-gatherers and had to catch or find everything they ate.
They moved from place to place in search of food.
This is called a nomadic lifestyle.
How did Stone Age people find food?
Hunting and gathering food was the focus of everyone’s lives.
Early Stone Age people hunted with sharpened sticks.
Later, they used bows and arrows and spears tipped with flint or bone.
People gathered nuts and fruits and dug up roots.
They went fishing using nets and harpoons.
Stone Age people cut up their food with sharpened stones and cooked it on a fire.
Watch: How did Stone Age people make tools?
Watch the video to learn more about how people made tools in the Stone Age.
Raksha Dave finds out how our ancient ancestors made tools and weapons from flint.
[BLEATING]
RAKSHA DAVE: A very long time ago, in ancient Britain, there were no written words. This was the time before history was recorded. It's prehistory. The only clues to life back then come from the objects, burials, cave paintings and monuments, which speak to us about Britain's ancient past.
My name is Raksha Dave, I'm an archaeologist and I'm in search of Britain's Ancient Voices. My job as an archaeologist means I spend a lot of my time searching for clues about ancient Britain.And sometimes, if I'm lucky, I get to find something like this. You might be mistaken for thinking that this is just a lump of rock, but in fact it's a very carefully-shaped tool called a hand axe, made out of flint.
These tools were made a very, very long time ago — over 10,000 years ago, in what we now call the Stone Age. And to show how long ago that is, I'm going to walk back in time. This is today.
Imagine that every step I took was equal to 100 years, then to go back to the Stone Age, I'd have to take 100 steps.This could take quite a while.One, two, three, four, five…
After taking 20 steps, I've gone back 2,000 years. This is the first time that history was written down, and now I'm going back into prehistory.
And 100 steps back in time is 10,000 years ago. This is the Stone Age. Britain looked very different back then.There was no internet, there were no houses that were built out of brick, no cars, there wasn't even any metal.
Just thick, dark forests with animals hiding in them, so Stone Age people needed sharp, strong tools to cut trees down and to hunt the animals for food. And this is where a stone called flint came in. There's a real skill to making tools out of flint.
IAN DENNIS: A Stone Age man could work these fantastically into all sorts of tools to do with everyday life.
First thing we would do is take a small piece of flint, and if you want to take a flake off like this — as you can see one's come off here — you would hit it with a stone, what we call the hammerstone. So you aim and you'll strike here and you'll get a little flake, OK?
RAKSHA: So I hold it like this?
IAN: Tight.
RAKSHA:And then I need to aim for — is it this bit here?
IAN: Yeah, just on the ridge there.
RAKSHA:OK.
IAN: That's it. That's it. There you go. Sounded quite good to me!
RAKSHA: Oh!
IAN: There you go. One little flake.
RAKSHA: Excellent. So this is actually really skilled work, this.
IAN: Yes, the people in the Stone Age, they knew everything about how to strike that flint off.
RAKSHA: The flakes that we've actually managed to knock off — they're actually really sharp, aren't they?
IAN:They are indeed, and we can actually drag a piece of flint…
RAKSHA: Wow!
IAN:…straight through.Once you've knocked off all your flakes, you can make a nice arrow.
RAKSHA: They look rather deadly, but what I'm wondering is how do you actually stick these pieces on? Is this Stone Age glue?
IAN: It is a Stone Age glue and it's actually made from pine resin and beeswax, mixed with a bit of charcoal. And this would be very effective at killing the deer to bring home your dinner for your family or your tribe.
RAKSHA: So, hang on, that would kill a large deer?
IAN: Easily.
RAKSHA: That's pretty impressive.
IAN: Easily.
RAKSHA: Animals were very important to Stone Age people — and not just for food. Their skins were used for clothes, bags, and their bones were particularly useful for small things like tools, jewellery and even instruments. But none of this would've been possible without the people who made tools out of stone.
Which animals lived in prehistoric Britain?
Climate change, long-term changes to the Earth's weather and temperature, caused two ice ages.
During the ice ages, Britain was covered by ice and snow.
There were herds of:
- wooly mammoths
- reindeer
- woolly rhinoceroses
- brown bears
In the warm periods between the Ice Ages, Britain became as hot as Africa is today!
Animals that roamed the landscape included:
- elephants
- hippos
- rhinos
- hyenas
The last Ice Age ended around 15,000 years ago and the British climate became very similar to how it is today.
The forests were full of:
- foxes
- red squirrels
- wolves
Britain was home to most of the species of birds, fish and shellfish we have today, so people had a wide range of food to eat.
What did Stone Age art look like?
Stone Age Britons made necklaces and bracelets from tusks, bones and shells.
They drew patterns on their bodies, using a kind of paint made from ochre which is a type of red clay.
Evidence from elsewhere in Europe shows that people living in caves decorated their walls with pictures of animals, by painting or carving on them.
Carvings found on cave walls show:
- giant bulls
- stags
- horses
- bison
- birds
Wall carvings have been found in the UK in Cresswell Crags, Derbyshire showing bison, horses, deer, and abstract symbols.
No cave paintings have been found in Britain, but Stone Age Britons probably painted scenes like the ones found at Lascaux in France.
Think like a historian
Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.
The Mesolithic people were hunter-gatherers who ate plants that they picked and meat from animals they hunted. How is this similar or different to how your family gets their food today?
The Middle Stone Age was a time of great change because the climate warmed. What do you think the biggest consequence of the climate warming was? Why do you think people began to move from place to place?
Middle Stone Age people used ochre to draw patterns on their body. What do you think historians can learn from this about the lives of Middle Stone Age people?
Did you think about the fact that most people buy their food from shops? Hunter-gatherers had to find everything they ate from nature. Perhaps you also thought that some people today still pick fruit from bushes or trees or go hunting or fishing to get food, just like the Stone Age people did.
Did you think that the biggest consequence was the changing landscape? As the snow melted, forests could grow and more animals could move to Britain. Perhaps you thought people started to live a nomadic lifestyle, moving from place to place, because they were hunter-gatherers. This meant they had to keep moving to follow animals or find new wild plants.
Did you think that it shows that Middle Stone Age people thought about how their appearance and not just about hunting and gathering food? Perhaps you thought it shows that the decoration may have shown who was an important person or which community they belonged to. This could mean that they had customs or rules about how people should look and behave.
Activities
Activity 1: Explore Stone Age cave art
Explore this picture to find out about Grey Otter, an imaginary Stone Age boy. Details about his way of life are based on evidence found at a camp in Star Carr in Yorkshire.
Activity 2: Explore footprints, bones and tools
Explore the image below to find out what footprints, bones and tools can tell us about prehistoric people.
Activity 3: Mesolithic Stone Age quiz
Let's find out what you know about the Mesolithic Stone Age in this quiz.
Grown-ups corner
Are you a parent, carer or teacher?
Take a look at some of the links below on KS2 History which are packed full of knowledge, videos, quizzes and activities.
KS2 History : Middle Stone Age
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
KS2 History / PSHE and Social Studies: Stone Age farming and homes
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
KS2 History / PSHE and Social Studies: What do ancient bones tell us about the Stone Age?
BBC Bitesize for Teachers
Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade game! game
Play Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade KS2 History
More on Prehistoric
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