Chapter 04

Long, Long Ago — The First People

Primary

The Stone Age, cave art and the first farmers · c. 300,000 – 6,000 years ago

At a glance
Core ideaFor almost the whole human story people were hunter-gatherers; learning to farm changed everything.
Key termPrehistory — the time before writing, known only from artifacts and bones.
You can…Read a left-to-right timeline from oldest to newest.
Watch outWe can't ask cave painters why they painted — those are inferences, not facts.

Theory Key events

  1. About 300,000 years agoThe earliest people like us, called Homo sapiens, appear in Africa. They live in small groups.
  2. For most of that timePeople are hunter-gatherers — they hunt animals and gather wild plants, moving often to follow food, and using fire for warmth, cooking and safety.
  3. About 40,000 years agoPeople paint animals on cave walls, like at Lascaux in France — some of the oldest art in the world.
  4. About 12,000 years agoPeople in the Middle East begin to farm — planting seeds and keeping animals instead of only hunting and gathering.
  5. About 6,000 years agoFarming villages grow into the first big cities, where writing is later invented — the start of the next chapter of the story.

This whole long stretch of time, before people could write things down, is called prehistory. Everything we know about it comes from artifacts, bones and cave art — not from written stories.

300,000 yrs ago Homo sapiens appear for ages Hunter-gatherers 40,000 yrs ago Cave art (Lascaux) 12,000 yrs ago Farming begins 6,000 yrs ago First cities Reading left to right: the oldest events come first
A timeline reads left to right, oldest to newest — from the very first people to the first farming villages.

Explanation Why it matters

Learning to farm was one of the biggest changes in all of human history. When people could grow their own food instead of always searching for it, they could stay in one place. Staying in one place let them build permanent homes, store extra food, and live in bigger and bigger groups — which is exactly how villages grew into towns, and towns into the first cities you'll meet in the next stage of this course.

Why cave paintings matter

We can't ask the painters why they made these pictures, so historians and archaeologists can only make careful guesses — maybe for hunting magic, maybe to tell stories, maybe to teach. The paintings are real evidence of imagination and skill tens of thousands of years before writing existed.

Practical Be a cave artist

Ancient artists used charcoal, red and yellow earth (ochre) and their own hands to paint animals like bison, horses and deer on cave walls — often in flickering firelight.

Your turn: Draw an animal the way you imagine an early hunter-gatherer might have seen it — simple, bold outlines, no fine detail. Then write one sentence guessing why they might have painted it (for luck before a hunt? to remember an animal they saw? to teach children what animals looked like?). Remember: that's an inference, not a fact — nobody knows for certain!

Q&A Test yourself

What is a hunter-gatherer?

A person who finds food by hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants, rather than farming — moving from place to place to follow the food.

How do we know anything about people who lived before writing was invented?

Through prehistory's evidence: bones, stone tools, cave paintings and other artifacts studied by archaeologists — no written records exist from this time, so every clue comes from objects, not words.

Why did people start farming, and why was it such a big change?

Farming let people grow reliable food instead of always searching for it. That meant they could settle in one place, build permanent homes, and support more people in a group — the first step toward villages, towns and eventually cities.

What is "prehistory," and how is it different from "history"?

Prehistory is the long span of time before writing was invented, studied only through artifacts and archaeology. History begins once people start leaving written records, which historians can read directly.

Concept mind map

How the ideas connect

Every key idea in this chapter, branching from the core concept — use it to see the whole picture at a glance.

Stone Agehunter-gathererscave artfirestone toolsfarming beginssettlementsThe First People
Infographic

The process, step by step

Step 1Early humansThe first people lived long ago and moved around to find food.
Step 2Hunter-gatherersThey hunted animals and gathered plants, fruits and nuts to eat.
Step 3Fire and toolsPeople learned to make fire and shape sharp tools from stone.
Step 4Cave artThey painted animals and hunts on cave walls using natural colours.
Step 5FarmingLater people learned to grow crops and keep animals, so they settled in one place.
Solved examples

Worked problems, step by step

Follow each solution line by line, then try to reproduce it on paper before moving on.

Example 1Why was learning to make fire so important for early people?

  1. Think about warmth and cold nights
  2. Think about cooking food
  3. Think about keeping animals away

Example 2Why did people stop moving around once they learned to farm?

  1. Farming means growing food in one place
  2. Crops take time to grow and must be tended
Practice problem set

Now you try

Work each one out first, then tap to reveal the worked answer.

1What does hunter-gatherer mean?
It means people who hunted animals and gathered wild plants for food instead of farming.
2What were the first tools made from?
The first tools were made from stone, wood and bone.
3Why did early people paint on cave walls?
They painted animals and hunts, perhaps to tell stories or for their beliefs.
4What big change did farming bring?
Farming let people stay in one place and build the first villages instead of always moving.
5Why is this time called the Stone Age?
It is called the Stone Age because people mostly made their tools out of stone.