As knowledge of farming spread, people started to settle down in particular areas. The use of metal was still unknown, so most tools continued to be fashioned from stone. The first task performed by these farmers was to clear the woodland for the cultivation of crops and pasture for grazing animals. Evidence of a Neolithic farming landscape with fields surrounded by stone walls has been uncovered at Ceide Fields in County Mayo. Neolithic farmers raised cattle, sheep, goats and pigs and grew crops of wheat and barley. They continued to supplement their diet by hunting, fishing and gathering nuts and berries.

The homes of Neolithic farmers were much larger and sturdier than the skin covered huts of their Mesolithic ancestors. Set into a foundation trench, they were built of split logs. They also made walls woven from smaller branches. A new range of tools was needed to carry out the work of the Neolithic farmers. Stone axes were used to cut down trees, mattocks to break up the soil and sickles or reaping knives to harvest the crops. In addition to flint, a hard black stone called porcellanite was used to make polished stone axes. Porcellanite is found at Tievebulliagh and on Rathlin Island, and there is evidence of large scale working at both these sites. Axes produced here have been found throughout the British Isles, indicating that the first farming people had trading contacts with their neighbours.

Neolithic people learnt how to make pottery from clay and used unglazed bowls for cooking and for storing food. Many of these pots, along with food and other artefacts, were buried with the dead who were generally cremated. The tomb was constructed from huge stones called orthostats and the burial chamber covered with a mound of smaller stones to create an impressive monument. Nowadays the mounds of many of these Megalithic tombs have been removed to leave only the inner stone structures still standing. These Megalithic tombs of which there are some 1450 in Ireland include Court tombs, Portal tombs or Dolmens, Passage tombs and Wedge tombs.

The knowledge and use of metal was introduced to Ireland in about 2000 BC, but it took a considerable length of time for the new technology to become established. The first metal to be used was copper but within a short time an alloy of 90% copper and 10% tin was being mixed to create bronze. This discovery of the use of metal made it possible to produce large quantities of a large range of artefacts. Sickles and axes made farm work easier while punches and chisels were used by craftsmen. Swords, shields, daggers and spears were made for warriors. Copper deposits have been found in various parts of Ireland. At Mount Gabriel near Skibbereen in County Cork, prehistoric mines have been discovered. There is evidence that the copper was extracted by shattering the rock through alternatively heating and cooling the rock before breaking it out with bone or antler clubs. Tin, the other raw material of bronze, is found in Cornwall so trade links were established to maintain a supply.

The exploitation of minerals and the existence of trading contacts with Britain and Europe meant that individuals or communities could achieve great wealth and status. This can be seen from the range of gold jewellery with which they adorned themselves. Neck ornaments such as torcs and crescent-shaped collars, cloak fasteners, hair ornaments, bracelets, rings and earrings were all fashioned in gold.
The development of iron working is attributed to the Celts, a people who originated in central Europe in the last millennium BC and spread across the continent. Celtic influences reached Ireland in the 5th or 4th centuries BC with this seen in the distinctive art style of flowing lines and swirling patterns which decorated bronze objects.

• Flint objects-Arrow and axe heads
• Burial sites-Giant's Ring and New Grange
• Bones-both animal and human
• Middens-Prehistoric rubbish heaps
• Metal objects-Pins and swords
• Settlement sites-Raths and crannogs
• Ritual sites-Navan Fort

• Discuss the meaning of the following keywords:
  Prehistoric, Ice age, Climate, Glacier, Mesolithic, Fossils, Flint, Archaeologist, Midden, Settlement, Hunting, Gathering, Neolithic, Jewellery, Metal, Copper, Warrior, Dolmen, Passage Grave.
• Discuss food that can be found wild in the local environment. Find out if any pupils have gathered wild blackberries or hazelnuts in the country or shellfish such as periwinkles or mussels at the seaside. How many pupils have ever gone fishing?
• Ask if any pupils have ever visited a forest park. Identify elm, hazel, birch and oak trees. Discuss how they differ from the majority of trees that are planted in modern forest parks.
• Ask the pupils how they would build a shelter if they were in a forest and did not have a tent.

• Ask the pupils what evidence we have of life in Early Times. How would they go about gathering more evidence?
• Discuss what it would be like to live by hunting, fishing and gathering.
• Discuss the problems of not having a settled home.
• Discuss how Mesolithic people made their tools. What did they use for raw materials?
• Discuss how they would have made clothing, and from what.
• Discuss how they would have made their huts, and from what.
• Discuss what they would be likely to find in a prehistoric midden or rubbish heap. What evidence would it give about life in Early Times?

The Ulster History Park at Gortin has full replicas of homes and monuments of Early Times. Information concerning school visits can be obtained from:
The Education Officer, Ulster History Park, Cullion, Lislap, Gortin, Co. Tyrone.
Tel: 028 8164 8188