The Stone Age (Meet the Ancestors) - Teacher Notes

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1 General information about these notes: These notes are designed to help your class get the most out of their self-guided visit. This pack focuses on 3 of our ancestors Homo heidelbergensis, the Neanderthals and the First Modern Humans. You will find additional information, plus hints and tips for asking your class more questions about what they are looking at. There are additional websites we recommend for you and/or your class to find out more Meet the Ancestors Activity Trail The trail takes place in the Ancestors Gallery. Walk through the Holden Gallery, turn left and walk up the small staircase to the left of the giant ammonite. The activity trail starts at the far end of this gallery opposite the top of the stairs. The table in the centre of the room is not part of this pack but can be an additional activity for your class after they ve completed the Stone Age pack. A note about dates: You may notice that not all dates for the appearance and disappearance of the different species of hominid correspond with each other. The swift progression of new dating techniques means that information about an aspect of human evolution can change within months now rather than years and the information is presented in a way that acknowledges this. Dates for the theory of human evolution are a moveable feast as knowledge about human evolution is constantly changing and being updated. For example, the internationally important jawbone (First Early Humans exhibit), has been re-dated 3 times since the early 1980s to the present and is currently undergoing further study. A recent intriguing evolutionary theory is that the number of different species of hominid acknowledged by science for at least a century, could actually be ONE species with a pronounced range of variation just like today, where we are all the same but look very different. Is this new theory true? Will it be disproved by a different team of scientists? Information About Kents Cavern The area around Kents Cavern has been home to Homo Heidelbergensis, the Neanderthals and the first modern humans 3 of the ancestors the class will learn about in this activity trail. Many of the objects and specimens in the cases were excavated in the caves and have been part of Torquay Museum s collections since the late 1800s. The Museum now has one of the foremost collections of Pleistocene mammal bones in the South West of England. You could ask your group to try and work out how much time has passed between each appearance of a new species of human, or how long it took before tools changed and became more sophisticated. Do read the information on the graphics panels for each activity, or if you have able readers in your class get the children to do it. The panels contain useful and interesting facts/theories about the social and/or physical development of the different hominid species and the environments they lived in as well as important timelines.

2 Case 1 Bears, Breccia & Bifaces (Homo heidelbergensis) Scientists have found evidence to suggest this ancestor was around from 600,000 to 250,000 in Africa and Europe, although its range got smaller towards the end of its existence. They re not certain but think this might be the ancestor of our own species, Homo sapiens. The size of skull fragments found indicate that facially H. Heidelbergensis looked very different from modern humans. They had a longer, lower shaped skull with almost no forehead, large brow ridges and no chin, as seen on the skull in this first case (this skull is from Spain). Ongoing research suggests that this ancestor was far more sophisticated than first thought. They made fires and very likely wore animal skins. Scientists studying the evolution of human lice have traced a genetic change around 600,000 years ago that corresponds with the time of H. Heidelbergensis. Lice need a warm, moist environment in which to thrive and it is thought that the genetic change happened due to the wearing of animal skins by these early humans. The lice were able to expand their territory from scalp hair to body hair. This discovery neatly illustrates how progress in one strand of science can be of vital importance to another. Activity 1a & 1b Stone Tools: Ask the children to describe what the stone tools look like before they draw one (e.g. chunky, rough, big, etc.) What do they think they were used for? The pointed end would probably have been used to cut the meat and the longer side might have been used to scrape the animal skins. Evidence such as the tools in this case show that H. heidelbergensis made stone hand axes for butchering animals. These were the sophisticated Swiss Army Knife of the time. Alongside fossils of H. heidelbergensis found in Southern England, remains have been found of large mammals such as deer and rhinoceros, with marks on their bones showing evidence of butchery. It is not known whether they actively hunted the animals. It is likely that they scavenged already dead carcasses or those of badly wounded animals. Activity 1c Other animals H. heidelbergensis shared their environment with and where they were found: Ask children to look at the specimens and read the information labels. What do they think it would have been like to share their environment with animals like this? Case 2 Return of the Neanderthals They appeared around 400,000 years ago and came and went from Britain depending on whether the climate was warm or cold. Physically adapted for the cold, their short, stocky stature meant that the surface area of body exposed to the cold was reduced and their large noses may have helped to warm inhaled air. Neanderthal remains were first discovered in the Neanderthal Valley in Germany in the 1850s. Pictured is a female. There is no evidence to support the theory that ONLY men hunted. A number of female academics think that it s possible that women DID hunt. The long held assumption that only men in early human communities hunted has come about from looking at current hunter gatherer communities in places such as Indonesia and the Australian aborigines and extrapolating backwards. Certain restrictions on women hunting big game have to be considered. For example the lack of birth control meant that fertile women were very often pregnant or looking after infants. They could have hunted smaller animals in the mid an later states of pregnancy.

3 You might notice the overlap in the dates of the last Neanderthals and the first modern humans. For a while these two species of human shared the same landscape. Scientists are still not clear on what drove the Neanderthals to extinction. It could be that they were outcompeted in hunting skills by the first modern humans, or the changing climate across Europe could have caused them to die out as they struggled to adapt and find enough food. Another thought is that, as they interbred with the first modern humans, they were eventually outbred as the genes of the first modern humans became gradually more dominant. Today, people from Europe, Asia and New Guinea share more genetic information with Neanderthals than Africans, leading to further research on our human origins. Activity 2a Neanderthal Hunters: Equipment and Clothes: Evidence suggests that Neanderthals used thrusting implements rather than throwing. Spears of hard sharpened wood were used, or wooden poles with a sharp stone point. They wore animal skins but there is no evidence to suggest that they were shaping them and no sewing implements have been found. The skins would have been scraped and then stretched then probably draped and tied on. Activity 2b Deer Herds : The Neanderthals came and went from Britain following the deer herds. Deer were of great importance as they provided much of what the tribes needed to survive: meat, skins and antlers/bones for use as tools. Activity 2c & 2d Animals the Neanderthals Shared Their Environment With: As well as the deer there were mammoths, bears, hyena, wild cattle and big cats, such as the scimitar cat (see graphic panel on wall to right of the stairs for more information about this animal). It is likely that the Neanderthals were occasionally killed by these big cats, either as a food source or whilst encroaching on their territory. Who was the top predator at the time? The Neanderthals. Activity 3 Neanderthal Skull: This is bigger than that of H. heidelbergensis. A larger skull > bigger brain > increased intelligence and problem solving skills. Activity 4 Stone Tools: Ask the children to look carefully at all the stone tools in this case. They should notice that these are more finely crafted and have many different shapes. You could get them to describe the shapes to see how many there are: rectangle, oval, leaf-shaped, etc. What might a variety of shapes tell us about these tools? That the Neanderthals were crafting different tools for different jobs, rather than Swiss Army Knife hand axe of H. Heidelbergensis. Activity 5 Planning a Mammoth Hunt: Start by asking the children their opinion of the Neanderthals so far. Do they think they were stupid or clever? You ll be asking them if they have changed their minds at the end of this activity. Scientists have found plenty of evidence about how Neanderthals hunted. Firstly they hunted in groups. Piles of mammoth bones at the foot of ancient cliffs tell us that a popular method was to chase groups/herds of mammoth off the edge of a cliff. The dead and dying animals would be finished off and butchered where they fell. Another method was to chase a group into a boggy swamp. The animals would exhaust themselves trying to escape and the hunters would swoop in for the final kill. As with the cliff method ancient swamps have been identified where large numbers of mammoth bones with butchery marks on them have been found.

4 Activity 6 Evaluating Neanderthal Hunting Skills: Ask the children if they have changed their minds about the intelligence of the Neanderthals and why. If they could travel back in time do they think they would be able to survive in that environment? What do they think the Neanderthals would make of our world? Case 3 & Graphics Panel The First Modern Humans Physically, these are the first humans that are the same as we are today. They made shelters and clothes and created art and body adornments. The people pictured on the large graphics panel The First Modern Humans would not look out of place at a modern day festival! Activity 7a & 7b Observing & Describing: Ask the children to look carefully at the scene on the graphics panel and to describe what they can see; faces are painted, wearing more styled skins, wearing/holding jewellery. Some good idea from children have included: The object may be being traded (what might he want in return?), or as a peace/friendship offering. They may have painted their faces to show which tribe they belonged to, or as camouflage, or as part of a celebration/festival. Can the children think of any other reasons? Activity 8 Tools and Implements: Ask the children to look carefully at the range of objects in the case to the left of the graphics panel (the case with the shell lamps on the right hand side at the back). What tools are in here and what do they tell us about the lives of the first modern humans in Devon and Torbay? (NB: Some people today use scallop shells for putting tea lights in. Do any of the children know someone who does this)? Can they see the tiny and fine bone needle on a small piece of black card towards the centre of the case? This indicates fine needlework for this early period in our human history. For thread they may have used long strong plant fibres or very fine animal gut or tendon. Case 4 The Last Hunter Gatherers Hunter gatherers are part of nomadic societies in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals. Some hunter gatherer societies still exist today, mainly in remote, forested parts of the world. The hunter gatherers mentioned in this case were from the last nomadic societies in Torbay. As you can see from the graphics panel they did build temporary shelters and would have stayed in these for short periods (a bit like camping today you could ask the children if they go camping), allowing them time for artistic and creative pursuits such as making shell jewellery and fashioning clothing. Notice that the types of animal that were around at this time are what we would recognise today, except for the auroch a large breed of cattle (now extinct). The big mammals from the past have gone, either hunted to extinction or as a result of climate change or a combination of both. The children need to study the graphics panel in the case as there is a lot of pictorial information to learn from. After the children have finished this part of their pack ask them to recap what they ve learned so far.

5 Activity 9 The Last Hunter Gatherers: Recap what the children have learned so far. Ask them to study the background graphic carefully. What does it tell us about the lives of these ancestors? Can the children explain what the new changes mean for these people? What would a temporary camp-site like this enable them to do? The artist has created this scene from Mesolithic (middle stone age) evidence found around Torre Abbey. Activity 10 Food & Shelter: Hunter gatherers are nomadic societies in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals. They move from place to place looking for food and shelter. Today people still like to do a bit of hunting and gathering, or foraging as it s often called. Ask if any of the children go black-berrying in late summer; does anyone go fishing, mushrooming or gathering nuts in Autumn? Our links with the past are not as distant as we think. Activity 11 Improvements to Hunting Equipment: Ask the children what they notice about the arrows. What do they think the addition of feathers did? (If they are struggling ask if they know anyone who plays darts. What do the feathers on the darts help with? (There is always a small group of children who know the answer to this). The addition of feathers improves the aim and precision when hunting. More reliable hunting methods improved the overall health of the tribe, leading to increasing survival rates. Final Cases & Graphics Panels Architects of the New World The Neolithic (new stone age), is the point in human prehistory where we can easily see how similar our modern lives are to those of our ancestors; how they are us. Permanent settlements, containers for food, jewellery, etc, the ritual burying of the dead, making cloth for clothes are all behaviours we recognise from modern life. These people were the first settled farmers. They kept animals (sheep, goats, cows, pigs and fowl, they grew crops for feeding themselves and their animals, as well as for weaving into fabric. Wool from the sheep would produce hard wearing but rough cloth and hemp would produce fibres for weaving into a softer linen cloth. Archaeologists have found a wide variety of stone disks with central holes ( drop spindles ) which are thought to be the earliest device for creating a continuous thread suitable for weaving. See the spindle whorl in the last case of tools for an example. Our Neolithic ancestors also started burying their dead in ritual ceremonies. Archaeologists have found pollen grains from specific flowering plants in Neolithic tombs, indicating that laying flowers in the tomb was part of the ritual. It is thought this is the origin of placing flowers on graves and having floral wreaths at funerals today. Note the human leg bones in the case. These were discovered in a tomb in Broadsands, Torbay. Tombs were lined and covered with slabs of hewn rock and the dead often had clay pots with their belongings buried with them to take to the afterlife. You could ask the children what they think our Neolithic ancestors might have needed to take with them.

6 Activity 12 What do you think the word settled means in this title?: Correct answer is they stopped moving from place to place. These settlements were the first villages. Some of them eventually grew into our modern towns and cities. The Domesday Book William the Conqueror s record of all the settlements in Britain from 1066 gives a good indication of where prehistoric settlements probably were around 3000BC. Activity 13 Neolithic Tools: The progression in tool making can clearly be seen. The polished stone axes meant a man could chop down a tree in 30 minutes, meaning forest clearance proceeded at a fairly quick pace. Spindle Whorl for spinning a continuous thread from wool or flax (hemp) Pottery Fragments from clay pots made for storing food and other items such as burial objects Flint Arrow Heads for hunting Other Stone Age linked activities to do during your visit: For the brave, there is the chance to look into a hyenas den in the Holden Gallery! (Below the Big Cat Safari display) The interactive exhibit in the Ancestors gallery enables visitors to discover how scientists, from local hero William Pengelly to the Natural History Museum s Chris Stringer, investigate prehistoric bones and other finds, as well as looking at the science behind the dating of Northern Europe s oldest human specimen the famous Kents Cavern jawbone on display at Torquay Museum along with other amazing prehistoric finds from the area. For more information on learning at Torquay Museum please go to: Or contact education@torquaymuseum.org Tel: