This sheet belongs to

name :

Stone Age Activity Sheet ages 7 - 12 years

This worksheet is for use in the first part of theexhibition ‘Prehistoric Ireland’.

Time-lineStone Age 7,000 BCBronze Age 2,000 BCIron Age 300 BCB.C. - A.D. 0St. Patrick 432 ADVikings 795 ADPresent 21st Century

Archaeology

Did you know:The first people arrivedin Ireland around 9000years ago! This time is known asthe Stone Age.

People hadn’t yetdiscovered metalslike bronze or iron.Flint was oftenused to make toolsand weaponsbecause it is a veryhard stone, whichcan be sharpenedeasily.

fact BO

X:

Enter the Museum and turn to your left.

1. Stone ToolsLook in the first few cases and find some stonetools.

Q. Can you guess what they were used for? Try tomatch up the following, like in the example:

Flint Blade Digging

Stone Spearhead Chopping

Flint Axe Cutting

Stone Pick HuntingThe first settlers lived beside the seaand along river valleys. They travelledaround looking for food: huntinganimals and gathering nuts, berriesand shellfish.

Can you find some burnt hazelnutshells in the second case? These wereeaten by somebody around 8,500years ago!

Around 6000 yearsago people inIreland started tolearn aboutfarming. They grewcrops like wheatand barley and alsoraised animals suchas cattle, sheepand goats. Thismeant they nolonger needed tomove around insearch of food.

fact BO

X:

Walk around the last pillar on your right, tothe case with the picture of a woman grindinggrain into flour.

2. QuernstoneThe woman is using a quernstone and iswatched by her child. Behind them you seetheir house. Find the example of aquernstone in the case.

Q. Do you think grinding grain would be aneasy or difficult job in the Stone Age and why?

1.

2.

In the same case you canalso see some pottery, which

would have been used forstoring food and drink.

Besides grain and meat,other foods were eaten. Canyou find clues that showus two other types of food.

Hint - Look in the front ofthe case!

Go to the model of the passage tomb in the corner of the exhibition.

3. Passage TombsDuring the Stone Age, stone monuments were built to honour thedead. A well-known type is called a passage tomb. Newgrange inCo. Meath is Ireland’s most famous example. The cremated (or burnt)bones of more than one person were usually placed in this kind oftomb.

Look into the tomb and see the chamber where the ashes wereplaced. (Don’t climb in yourself!!!)

The large stones in the tomb are called kerbstones. Can you drawsome of the designs on the kerbstones?

Some people say these shapeswere:

• Stone Age drawings

• People’s names

• Magic signs

• Ancient calendars

Q. Do you agree with any ofthese?

Have you any other ideas?

Now walk past the case with thequernstone, past the ramp and goto the next case on your right.

4. Shell NecklaceFind the shell necklaces in thecase. These were found buried in agrave. They are like the one thewoman wears in the picture yousaw earlier.

Name two other things in thiscase that were found buried withthe dead.

1.

2.

Passage tomb, Newgrange, Co. Meath. c.3200BC.

In the Stone Agewhen people died,their family andfriends often buriedsomething theyowned with them.

fact BO

X:

Lastly, take a look at the logboat. (It’s hard tomiss!!!)

5. LogboatThis dates to around 4,500 years ago! It is madefrom one huge oak tree and is over 15 metreslong. It was found in a bog in Co. Galway, in 1902.

Q. Do you think it is different from boats today? Ifso, in what way or ways?

The logboat is made from half alog, with the wood hollowedout of the middle. What do youthink it was made with? (Tick the answer you think iscorrect.)

Chainsaws

Stone axes

Pickaxes

In peat bogs, theacids in the soiland the lack of airhelp to stop decay.

fact BO

X:

6.

In the space below, draw your favourite object from the Stone Age exhibition.

Congratulations!You have finished the Stone Age Activity Sheet.

Follow up activities...

2. With some clay or plasticine, makesome pots like the ones you saw inthe exhibition. Decorate them withyour fingernail, twigs, a fork oranything that makes a pattern.

3. Next time you’re at theseaside, collect some shellsand make a shell necklace,using a long piece of stringor wool.

1. In class or at home, write a story or poemabout life in the Stone Age.

Education and Outreach Department, NationalMuseum of Ireland, Dublin. 2002Tel: 01-648 6453. Fax: 01-679 1025. Email: bookings@museum.ie www.museum.ie

Text: Eimear Synnott, 2002