Fire and Tools

Essential Questions

What effects did fire and tools have on early hunter-gatherer societies?

Background Information

Hunter-gatherers were prehistoric nomadic groups that harnessed the use of fire, developed complex knowledge of plant life, and refined technology for hunting and domestic purposes as they spread from Africa to Asia, to Europe, and beyond. From African hominins of 2 million years ago to modern-day Homo sapiens, the evolution of humans can be traced through the remnants of the hunter-gatherers. Although hunting and gathering societies largely died out with the onset of the Neolithic Revolution, hunter-gatherer communities still endure in a few parts of the world.

The First Civilizations Fire and Error.pdf

Fire

The following is a video from "Mankind The Story of All of Us" on the History Channel

Discussion Questions

What are all the uses of fire?
What use of fire do you think is the most important and why?
Some archaeologists suggest that fire is the most important human discovery/invention ever. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Activity 1: What were the effects of fire on early hunter gather societies?

Using the information from this lesson, answer the questions in a thinking map. Complete this assignment digitally or on paper. It will be collected in your portfolio.

Tools

Handaxe from the site of Lyndford Quarry (near Mundford, Norfolk, UK), which dates to around 60,000 years ago and falls within the Middle Palaeolithic industry.

Bone needles from Xiaogushan, Liaoning Province, China, about 30,000–23,000 years old

Harpoon found in Katanda, Democratic Republic of Congo

Discussion Questions

What do you think these tools were used for? What does knowing what these tools were used for tell us about the lives of hunter-gatherers?
What were three types of materials that hunter-gatherers used to make tools? Why did hunter-gatherers make tools from these materials?

Discussion Questions

What stood out to you about how these stone tools were made?
What did the investigative archaeologist discover about the process of making stone tools?

Activity 1: What were the effects of tools on early hunter gather societies?

Using the information from this lesson, answer the questions in a thinking map. Complete this assignment digitally or on paper. It will be collected in your portfolio.

Extension Activities

The following document shows the process early humans went through to create a hand axe. Image from the Encyclopedia Britannica 2006

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