Homes

Why do most human beings live in homes?

Shelter is the main reason. Homes protect people from the weather conditions.

You may also have suggested some of these reasons;

homes are places to keep warm;

homes are places to cook and eat;

homes are places to sleep;

homes are places where people want to feel they are safe;

homes are places where people like to express who they are by the kind
of things they have in their homes .
 First Homes
When do you think people first started to live in homes?

Before Homo sapiens evolved around 300,000 years ago, there were different species of
early humans living in homes and they would have been doing so for millions of years.

Many archaeologists believe that Wonderwerk Cave in

South Africa is the world’s oldest known home.

Research on these caves has revealed that

species of humans were living here as long as
2 million years ago.

archaeologist – A person who studies the past byx

excavating historical places
and studying objects and remains.
 Different Parts of the Stone Age
Do you know why this prehistoric period was called the Stone Age?

It’s because during this period, humans used stone and other natural materials to make
tools and weapons.

The Stone Age period is by far the longest

period in the history of humans.
 Different Parts of the Stone Age
When people talk about the Stone Age, they often talk about it in three parts .

These parts are called:

The Old Stone The Middle The New Stone

Age or the Stone Age or the Age or the
Palaeolithic Age Mesolithic Age Neolithic Age

The vast majority of the Stone Age years were in the Old Stone Age.

Did You Know…?

The Old Stone Age lasted for hundreds of thousands of years in Britain and for over 2
million years worldwide.
 Different Parts of the Stone Age

This timeline for the Stone Age in Britain gives an indication of how long each period
within the Stone Age lasted.

Old Stone Age New Stone Age

c. 800,000 BC c. 2400 BC
Middle Stone Age

The Middle and the New Stone Ages in Britain look like a short time
in comparison to the Old Stone Age. However, the Middle and New
Stone Ages lasted for around 8100 years combined.

8100 years is still a very long time. Since the end of the Stone Age until now is
under 4500 years!
 Homes in the Old and Middle Stone Ages

The Old Stone Ageare

Hunter-gatherers (Palaeolithic
people whoStone
moveAge)
fromand thetoMiddle
place place, Stone Ageby
surviving (Mesolithic
hunting Stone
Age) were times
for animals when early
and gathering humans
food from lived as hunter-gatherers.
wild plants.

If people moved from place to place in this way during the Old and Middle Stone Ages,
what does this tell us about what their homes were like?

People moved from place to place so their homes were temporary. They did not live in
permanent homes.

temporary – Used to describe x permanent – Used to describe something x

something that lasts for only a limited that lasts for a long time, without a set
time. ending date.
 Homes in the Old and Middle Stone Ages

Archaeologists
One believe home
type of temporary that hunter-gatherers
that Stone Age hunter-gatherers lived in were caves.
mostly lived in tents but they sometimes lived in
caves.
It is not correct though to think that all
hunter-gatherers lived in caves. Humans
only lived in a cave where caves were
available.
Homes in the Old and Middle Stone Ages
What evidence do you think has been found to tell archaeologists that
Stone Age people lived in caves?

Archaeologists know that Stone Age

people spent time in caves because stone
tools, hearths and cave paintings have
been found in caves.
 Homes in the Old and Middle Stone Ages

The evidence archaeologists have that Old and Middle Stone Age hunter-gatherers lived
in tents or simple huts is from post holes in the ground where they can see a tent must
have been constructed.

They have also found evidence through hearths found within or near to these homes.

This photo shows an archaeological site in Lepenski Vir in Serbia, which has provided
lots of information for experts
hearthabout
– Thewhat homes
space for a were
fire inlike
theinwall
the of
Middle Stone Age. x
a room.

Lepenski Vir Archaeological Site Mesolithic Stone Age Homes by BGStock72/Shutterstock.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
 Homes in the Old and Middle Stone Ages

The huts and tents constructed by the hunter-gatherers had frames made with animal
bones or wooden poles and covered with thatched reeds, animal skins or turf.

Experts around the world have helped to make reconstructions to help us see what the
homes from the Old and Middle Stone Ages might have looked like.

A reconstruction of a A reconstruction of a
Stone Age home made Stone Age home at the
A reconstruction of an Old archaeological site at
from animal bones and
Stone Age tent. Lepenski Vir in Serbia.
animal skin.

reconstruction – A model from the past that has been made using the x
evidence that has been found.

Middle Stone Age home reconstruction by nika2017/Shutterstock.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Inside Homes in the Old and Middle Stone Ages
Do you think there would have been a lot of furniture and belongings inside homes in the
Old and Middle Stone Ages?

Due to the fact that hunter-gatherers moved around and there was not a lot of space, they
would not have had a lot of belongings in their homes.

Hunter-gatherers’ lives were focused on survival and so the things they had were to help
them survive. However, this is not to say that they did not show their creativity by making
decorative belongings, such as jewellery and sculptures.

An example of a small Stone Age sculpture from around 7000 BC

Inside Homes in the Old and Middle Stone Ages
Evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers slept on piles of grass or hay. Their clothing
would have protected them and kept them warm when it was cold. They may have had
additional animal furs or skins to put over them at night.

Did You Know…?

Evidence has been found of people sleeping on grass beds
from as long as 200,000 years ago. Archaeologists have
discovered that Stone Age people mixed ashes amongst the
grass used for their beds to keep insects out of it.
 Homes in the New Stone Age
At the end of the Middle Stone Age, people started to learn about farming.

Once they knew how to farm the land to grow crops and how to keep farm animals, they
did not need to move home to search for food. However, it is important to note that they
still hunted and gathered food alongside farming.

The introduction of farming meant that they started to live in homes in permanent
settlements.

Most people in the New Stone Age (Neolithic Stone Age) lived in settlements rather than
moving around as hunter-gatherers.

settlement – A place where people live togetherx

in a community.
 Homes in the New Stone Age
Evidence suggests that houses were usually rectangular and constructed from timber in the
Neolithic period.

However, in order to build their homes, people used whatever natural materials were
available to them.

Most New Stone Age homes had one room but by there is evidence that some larger
homes had more.
 Homes in the New Stone Age

Often the walls were made with wattle and daub. This is a building method where woven
branches are covered with a mixture of mud and manure.

The roofs of Neolithic homes were often thatched but sometimes they were also covered
in turf and animal skins. Evidence has also been found of roof tiles being used.
 Skara Brae
In some areas, homes were built from stones rather than with timber frames and wattle and
daub walls.

Skara Brae is a Stone Age village built around 3000 BC and it is remarkably well
preserved, so much of the village can be seen today.

The walls of the homes that make up the settlement of Skara Brae were built with stones
against ‘midden’ – heaps of discarded rubbish that would have protected the walls from
the elements, as well as provided a layer of insulation.
 Skara Brae
Skara Brae can be found on Mainland, the largest of the islands that are part of Orkney.
Orkney is located off the north coast of Scotland.
 Skara Brae

The remains of eight houses stand on the site. The site has provided lots of evidence for
archaeologists about what life was like in the New Stone Age.
 Inside New Stone Age Homes
Archaeologists
The homes had have studied
one main how
room theahomes
with fire pitwere constructed
in the middle andatbeds
Skara Brae
built butthe
into they have
walls at
alsosides.
the examined artefacts
The bed boxesfound
wouldathave
the site.
probably had heather or straw mattresses to make
them soft to lie on with possibly sheep or deer skins for blankets.
The majority of the artefacts found were made from stone as there was no wood (due to no
trees) on Orkney.

Furniture in the homes at Skara Brae was made from stone.

Each house also had a set of stone shelves called a dresser.

 Inside New Stone Age Homes

Inside Stone Age homes in areas where wood was available, Neolithic people made
simple furniture, such as shelves and seats from wood.
 Inside New Stone Age Homes
More often the floor was earth or clay. It is thought that in some cases animal skins might
Sometimes the floor would be made of stone if stone was readily available in that area.
have been placed down on the floor. Once people had found out how to weave wool on a
loom from the sheep they farmed, it is possible that sometimes woven rugs may have
covered some of the floor areas.

A reconstructed New Stone Age home at Butser Ancient Farm

Stone Age enclosure at Butser Ancient Farm 2” by [Leimenide] is licensed under CC BY 2.0
 Did Stone Age Homes Have Bathrooms?

As you have seen, for the majority of the Stone Age, homes were simple and were usually
made up of just one room so Stone Age homes did not have bathrooms.

Hunter-gatherers would have washed in streams and later in the Stone Age, people would
have collected water from a river or stream and heated on hot rocks for washing.
 Did Stone Age Homes Have Bathrooms?

If Stone Age homes did not have bathrooms, where do you think Stone Age people went to
the toilet?

Hunter-gatherers did not have to worry that much about where their waste went as
they could go to the toilet in the wild. They did not stay in one place for a very
long time so human waste did not build up.

Hunter-gatherers may have gone to the toilet behind a bush or have used a stone tool or
an antler to dig a hole in the ground. They may even have noticed that the human waste
acted as a fertiliser and helped plants grow in that area.
 Did Stone Age Homes Have Bathrooms?

Once people started farming and living in permanent settlements in the New Stone Age,
they had to think more carefully about where they went to the toilet so as not to have a
buildup of waste too close to where they lived.

It is likely that they would have gone to the toilet a distance away from their homes.

However, some archaeologists believe that there is evidence at Skara Brae of indoor toilets
with a very simple sewer system.
 Stone Age Homes

Homes changed considerably over the very long period of the Stone Age but what
similarities did the homes have?

How are the homes the same and how are they different to more modern homes?

Stone Age enclosure at Butser Ancient Farm 2” by [Leimenide] is licensed under CC BY 2.0