DK - WOW! The Visual Encyclopedia of Everything

HUNTER-GATHERERS ▲

For most of prehistory, people lived by hunting animals and

gathering wild plant foods. Hunter-gatherers lived in small

bands, which were often on the move, following herds of

animals and looking for fresh sources of food. The first humans

lived in Africa, but gradually spread across the globe, settling

first in Asia and then Europe. Humans reached Australia by

50,000 bce, and the Americas between 30,000–14,000 bce.

Iron pyrite Flint blade

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THE AGE OF FARMING

Between 10,000–9,000 ▲

bce, people in the Middle East

invented a new way of life – farming. They learned to

store and sow the seeds of plants, and to breed animals,

such as sheep and goats. By controlling their food supplies,

farming people were able to settle down in permanent

villages. As the supply of food became more regular,

populations rose and the farming way of life spread.

Our distant past, before writing was invented, is called

prehistory. Without written records, we rely on the

objects that prehistoric people left behind them, such

as tools, to find out how they lived. The first tools, made

around 2.5 million years ago, were of stone, bone, and

wood. Later, prehistoric people learned to use metals –

first copper, then bronze, and finally iron.

Prehistory

Polished axe

This axe, with

its polished flint

blade, was used

by farmers to

clear land to

create fields.

Making fire

Prehistoric people

learned to make

fire by striking

flints against lumps

of iron pyrite.

Scraper The best stone

tools were made from

flint, which forms

sharp edges. This

tool would have

been used for

scraping animal

skins clean.

Antler pick European

farming people mined

for flints, digging

with picks made

from deer antlers.

Arrowheads

Farming people

continued to hunt

wild animals, using

bows and arrows

with skilfully shaped

flint heads.

Chopper This chopper was

made 2.5 million years ago,

by chipping a pebble to

make a cutting edge. It

would have been used

to smash bones to get to

the marrow inside.

Antler hammer

A toolmaker

used an antler

hammer to

strike flakes

from a flint

to shape it.

Spear thrower From

30,000 bce, people made

carvings of the animals they

hunted. This spear thrower is

in the shape of a mammoth.

Sickle A long flint, mounted

in a wooden handle, forms

a farmer’s sickle, used

to harvest grain.

Adze This adze,

with its flint blade

set in a wooden

sleeve, was used

to shape wood.

Handaxe Invented

1.5 million years ago,

the handaxe was the

first stone tool made

to a design. The

pointed end was

used for cutting

meat or digging

up edible roots.

Flint

Mammoth-shaped hook held the

spear in a long, straight handle,

which launched the spear with

great force and speed

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