homework encyclopedia

FIND OUT MORE. Africa 238–239 • Australia and New Zealand 274–275 • Evolution 74–75

History^363

FLINT-KNAPPING

Early and modern humans used a technique called

flint-knapping to make stone tools. They chipped flakes

off one piece of flint (a hard, glassy stone) by striking

it with another piece. This required great patience and

skill.. ABORIGINALS still practise flint-knapping today.

4 CRAFTWORKER’S BURIN

This sharp-pointed flint tool, known as a burin, was

made around 35,000 BCE. Burins were probably

used for engraving bone or adding grooves to

leather. The craftworker would guide the

point using their index finger.

ABORIGINALS

Aboriginals, also known as indigenous

Australians, were the earliest inhabitants

of Australia. Until the 20th century, they

followed a lifestyle similar to that of earlier

humans. Their skills helped archaeologists

understand evidence about the distant past.

HOW DID ABORIGINALS SURVIVE?

In 10,000 BCE, sea levels around Australia rose and

Aboriginal people were forced to move further inland,

where conditions were harsh. To survive, they used

fire to clear bushland so that wild food plants could

grow, hunted kangaroos with boomerangs, weaved

traps for fish, and dug grubs from deep underground.

WHAT KINDS OF TOOLS DID EARLY HUMANS USE?

Early humans used five main kinds of flint tools –

knives for cutting, scrapers for removing flesh from

hides, burins (small, pointed tools) for carving, awls

for piercing holes, and points or tips for fitting on to

spears. They also used flint hand-axes for chopping

wood and butchering animal carcasses.

1 STORING FOOD

In late summer and autumn, women and

children gathered large quantities of

nuts, fruits, and berries, then dried

them over fires to preserve them

for the winter. Archaeologists

have found remains of food

preserved 12,000 years ago.

CLOVIS POINT 3

Ice-Age hunters in North America used a

curved piece of flint, known as a clovis

point, to make a spear. Two small spurs

(spikes) at the rear of the point made it

easier to fix on to a wooden shaft, using

animal sinew or plant twine.

Bison

grazing

Rounded

shape fits

worker’s

hand

4 ABORIGINAL ART

Aboriginals created art on rocks, such as this turtle

on Ubirr Rock at the Kakadu National Park in

Australia’s Northern Territory. Some of their

paintings are more than 20,000 years old.

Hunter crawls

along ground

Design

resembles

leaf of a

laurel tree

STALKING BISON 1
The picture on this fragment of bone was
carved in France between 15,000 BCE and
10,000 BCE. Teams of people worked together to
catch large animals by stampeding them over
cliffs or trapping them in narrow valleys.

FEATHERED ARROW 1

Hunters fitted a flight of

duck feathers to each arrow

to make it travel further.

This way, they could attack

their prey from afar.

SPEARHEAD 3

This leaf-shaped blade was once part of a hunting spear made in France

between 20,000 BCE and 15,000 BCE. It is beautifully shaped, using the

pressure-flaking technique developed around 35,000 BCE. This technique

allowed craftworkers to shape their tools much more precisely.

Bark made

a good container

for hazelnuts

and blackberries

Spur

first

modern

humans