Topic 1 – Human Needs: Past and Present
Topic 1.1 Division of Periods and Development of Stone Age
Key Terms
石器時代 Stone Age
舊石器時代 Old Stone Age
中石器時代 Middle Stone Age
新石器時代 New Stone Age
打制／磨制石器 Making/ polishing stone tools
人工取火 Starting fire
畜牧 Keeping animals
農耕 Farming
制陶 Making pottery
紡織 Weaving
銅器時代 Bronze Age
Topic 1.1 Division of Periods and Development of Stone Age
A. Introduction:
1. What is History?
a) History is the story of human activities on earth. History has been going on like a river
flowing from the past to the present.
b) History is the record of the past events. Things that were left by the people in the past
such as stone tools, pictures and writings are records of human lives.
2. How to study History?
2.1 Evidence
a) People who study history are called historians.
b) They learned about the past from different sources e.g. (refer to textbook p.26-27)
i). Primary sources and secondary sources
● Primary sources are from the time we are studying. They included things that were
made by people who were there when the event happened. Examples included diaries,
oral history, government records and old buildings.
● Secondary sources are made later or by people who were not there. Examples included
history textbooks and legends.
ii). Non-written sources and Written sources
F.1 History/ Topic 1.1/ p.2
• Non-written sources include objects such as remains and folk songs and oral sources.
• Written sources are records of important events in people’s lives.
🖎 Refer to pages 26-27 of your textbook and complete the exercise about classification of
sources.
2.2 Ways of Measuring Time:
a) BC and AD
● Different countries use different ways of measuring time. e.g. old Chinese
calendar. The Gregorian calendar began in the year in which Jesus Christ was
born.
● BC is the short form for Before Christ. 100 BC means 100 years before the birth
of Christ.
● AD is the short form for Anno Domini which means ‘in the year of the lord’.
500AD means 500 years after the birth of Christ.
b) We usually measure history in years and we call 10 years a decade and 100 years a
century . 1000 years is a millennium.
c). History and prehistory:
● Pre-historic times (prehistory) is the time before people had invented writing.
● People learned how to write about 6000 years ago. The time after this is called
historic times. (history)
d). Historic Times
● Some historians divided the historic times into 3 parts:
Ancient Times, Medieval Times (Middle Ages) and Modern Times.
F.1 History/ Topic 1.1/ p.3
B. Division of periods and development of the Stone Age
1. How can we learn about prehistory?
a) As there was no writing in prehistoric times, archaeology (i.e. the study of the past by
digging up things early people have left behind) is the only way to learn about prehistory.
b) Archaeologists (people who study archaeology) can tell many things about early man by
studying the things they left behind (primary sources of history) such as fossils , bones
and objects made by people a long time ago.
c). Usually, the deeper down the things, the older they were.
2. What is Stone Age?
a) During the Stone Ages, man used stone tools only. The Stone Ages ended when man
learned to make metal tools.
b) Division of periods in the Stone Age:
Old Stone Age Middle Stone New Stone Age Metal Age
2 million BC – 🡺 Age 🡺 10000BC – 🡺
After 4000 BC
15000BC 4000 BC
15000BC –
10000 BC
C. Survival and livelihood of ancient humans
1. Life in Old Stone Age
a) Archaeologists tell us a lot about the Old Stone Age Man:
● They used weapons made of stone for hunting.
● They could make fire by rubbing woods or wood sticks, so they could live in colder
places.
● They wore clothes made from animal skins.
● They could draw pictures.
F.1 History/ Topic 1.1/ p.4
🖋 Refer to page 16 of your textbook and complete the exercise about the impact of fire
discovery
on human life?
🖋 Which ONE of the things mentioned above was MOST useful? Explain your answer.
I think the making of fire was most important because it kept people warm, gave them
light, and people could cook food and frighten animals away.
2. New Stone Age:
a) The New Stone Age began when man learned to farm. They kept animals for food and
carrying things.
b) As a result of farming, people began to live together in villages . Moreover, commerce
began when people exchanged goods with others.
c) Farming people had more spare time for discoveries and inventions such as:
● They learned to weave cloth and bulid huts.
● They learned to make pottery for storing and cooking.
🖋 Many people think that farming was one of the greatest discoveries in history. Why was
farming so important to early man? Give THREE reasons to explain your answer.
It was not as dangerous as hunting.
People could have stable source of food.
People could settle down in villages and thus they could have neighbour to help one
another.
4. End of Stone Age:
a) In about 4000BC, people learned to make tools with metal. They included gold, copper,
bronze and iron.
b) Stone Age came to an end when people entered the Bronze Age.
F.1 History/ Topic 1.1/ p.5
🖋 Refer to page 22-23 of your textbook and complete the characteristics of stone tools in
different Stone Ages.
