Information on Stone Age Tools for Kids

Stone Age village in Orkney, Scotland

If you are teaching kids about the Stone Age and the people that lived at that time, you need to address the way they lived. Among the most important aspects of the way Stone Age people lived were the tools they made and used. Give your kids a quick overview of the tools the average person in the Stone Age might have used.

1 Hunting and Fishing

Prehistoric spearheads

A large proportion of the diet the Stone Age people ate was comprised of meats they hunted or caught. For this purpose, they had a wide array of tools, including projectile points they attached to spears or arrow shafts. They also used spears for fishing in rivers and oceans. Aside from the spears, that had hooks fashioned from stone or bone that they could use for line fishing, as well as cast nets.

2 Grinders

Although a great deal of food was obtained by hunting, research has shown that an even larger proportion of the diet came from gathering. Roots, nuts, berries, leaf plants and mushrooms were all a part of the Stone Age diet, and had to be processed for consumption. One of the most important tools for this purpose was a primitive mortar and pestle used to grind nuts and other items.

3 Sewing

Prehistoric scrappers

Because people of the Stone Age often inhabited harsh environments, clothing was a necessity. Depending on the climate, they needed more or less clothing, but those clothes had to be made. Since cloth was non-existent, these garments were made from the hides of animals that had been killed. Scrappers were then used to clean the hides and then the materials were left to dry. They used needles made from bone and stone and thread made from sinew to make their clothing.

4 Flint Knapping

Flint stones created by prehistoric humans

The process to create the stone tools for which the Stone Age was named is called "flint knapping." There are still many people around the world who practice this ancient art. The process involves knocking two pieces of stone together to break off pieces. The smaller pieces are further reduced and refined in this way to make items like projectile points and scrapers.

Carol Adams has been writing since 2009. She writes about graphics, 3D and video software for various websites. Adams earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and a Master of Arts in liberal arts from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

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