1.2: the Age of Hunters and Farmers (2)

• History
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

1. The Age of Hunters and Farmers

2. Prehistoric evidence

Which Age are we studying in the Unit?

What you will learn in 

this lesson

• how do we know what happened in prehistory?
  
• what is an inference?
• how can I make an inference?
  
• what can we learn from cave paintings?

glossary

records: everything that was written down

archaeology: digging down into a historical site carefully, layer by layer, recording the artefacts that are there.

inferences: a conclusion someone makes by looking at evidence 

pottery: cups, bowls, jugs and plates made from clay and heated until they are hard.

settle: when people stop moving from place to place and start living in one permanent place

trade: to sell or swap goods

domesticating: to make animals tame.

crops: plants that are grown by farmers

click here for Wrts word list of this lesson

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Prehistoric evidence

Prehistoric people left no written records. How do we know about them? All our evidence comes from archaeology. Archaeologists have found different types of evidence. Some evidence clearly tells us something about prehistoric people. Sometimes historians make inferences from the evidence. 

An inference is when evidence suggests something but does not directly prove it. 

You can now listen to the text as well.

archeologists at work. They have just discovered remains of Prehistoric people. Very carefully they dig out the remains. They must be careful not to damage any bones, because this is all evidence of the lives of these Prehistoric people.

how to make an inference

Here are 4 examples of how you can make an inference from pieces of evidence:

• Tools and weapons show they hunted, cut up animals and shaped stone and wood with tools. 
  
• Pottery shows their skill in making things. It suggests when they began to settle and trade. 
  
• Evidence of domesticating animals suggests when they started farming. So do crop remains. 
  
• Burials, tombs and cemeteries suggest when they began to have religious beliefs. Goods buried with the dead tell us about their possessions. 
  

prehistoric people left few written records

1. true
2. false

an inference is something suggested by evidence, but not proved.

1. true
2. false

we rely on archaeological evidence about prehistoric times

1. true
2. false

the vase is broken

1. evidence
2. inference

the cat is sitting next to the broken vase

1. evidence
2. inference

the vase fell from the table

1. evidence
2. inference

the cat broke the vase

1. evidence
2. inference

Source A: a prehistoric cave painting from Niaux, France. 

It was painted in about 10,000 BC

Cave painting 

Prehistoric cave paintings survive in caves all over the world. We don’t know who painted the caves, or why. One theory that many people believe was that they were religious. This is because many of the scenes show hunting. They may have been painted as a kind of 'magic' to make good hunting. Whatever they were for, they are evidence about prehistoric people. 

The painting in the previous slide has numbers 1 - 6.   

It was painted in about 10,000 BC in Niaux, France.

Let's see what inferences we can make about the people who painted it: 

1 They used spears to hunt. 

2 They may have used arrows to hunt. (But this could show a spear point as a spear fell off the animal.) 

3 They hunted buffalo. 

4 They hunted deer. 

5 At least one person was an artist. There may have been more than one, as the styles seem different. 

6 They used a black pigment to paint.

the artist who painted this had seen a rhinoceros

1. completely true
2. partly true
3. not true

the people who were living in the cave at the time rode horses

1. completely true
2. partly true
3. not true

the people who were living in the cave at the time hunted rhinoceros

1. completely true
2. partly true
3. not true

This flint arrow head proves

1. people could make flint weapons
2. people hunted animals with flint weapons

from this find I can make the following inference:

1. people could make flint weapons
2. people hunted animals with flint weapons

Copy this in your notebook and fill in the gaps.

Summary lesson 1.2

Prehistoric people left no ____________ records.

All our evidence comes from ___________________.

Sometimes historians make ___________________ from the evidence.

An inference is when evidence suggests something but does not directly ________ it.

Prehistoric cave ____________ can be found in caves all over the world.

We don't know _______ painted the caves or _______.

Many of the scenes show _____________.

Maybe they were painted as a kind of _________ to make good __________.

Write down one question about something from this lesson that you find difficult.

congratulations