Stone Age facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Kärnyxa av flinta, Nordisk familjebok
A stone that has been sharpened to be used as a hand axe
Canto tallado talando un arbol
A man in the Stone Age using a stone to cut down a tree

The Stone Age was an ancient time when people made tools from stone. Wood, bones, and other materials were also used for tools, but those things don't last as long, so more stone tools are found. Stone (especially a hard kind of stone called flint) was used to cut things.

The period began with the first stone tools, about 2.7 million years ago. Some groups of people were still in the stone age into the 20th century. They also killed animals for food and clothing. They used animal skin for their shelters.

The time after the Stone Age is the Bronze Age, named after the metal bronze. The Stone Age ended when people discovered the art of smelting (making metals). The first metal used was copper, followed by bronze. People probably began using bronze instead of just stone in the Middle East sometime between 3000 and 2000 BC.

The Stone Age is divided by archaeologists (people who study relics) into three sections: Paleolithic ("old stone"), Mesolithic ("middle stone"), and Neolithic ("new stone"). Pottery was invented during the Neolithic Stone Age.

The Palaeolithic is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools. It covers the greatest portion of humanity's time (roughly 99% of human history) on Earth, from about 2.7 million years ago to about 20,000 years ago. It was followed by the Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures.

Images for kids

  • Ggantija Temples, Xaghra, Gozo

    Ġgantija temples in Gozo, Malta. Some of the world's oldest free-standing structures.

  • Awashrivermap

    Modern Awash River, Ethiopia, descendant of the Palaeo-Awash, source of the sediments in which the oldest Stone Age tools have been found

  • Arrowhead

    Obsidian projectile point

  • Canto tallado 2-Guelmim-Es Semara

    This is a Mode 1, or Oldowan, stone tool from the western Sahara.

  • Raedera

    An Acheulean tool, not worked over the entire surface

  • Bradshaw rock paintings

    Bradshaw rock paintings found in the north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia.

  • Skara Brae house 9

    Skara Brae, Scotland. Europe's most complete Neolithic village

  • Obsidienne biface ethiopie

    Acheulean biface from Lake Langano area, Ethiopia.

  • Bhimbetka rock paintng1

    Rock painting at Bhimbetka, India, a World heritage site

  • Paulnabrone

    Poulnabrone dolmen in County Clare, Ireland

  • Dolmenmontebubbonia

    Monte Bubbonia dolmen (single-chambered tomb), Sicily

  • Каменный век (1)

    Imaginative depiction of the Stone Age, by Viktor Vasnetsov


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Stone Age Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.