• Question: how do you know about stoneage people so long ago?

    Asked by zangrymango to Carol, Ellie, John, Philip, Rebecca on 2 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Carol White

      Carol White answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      We use archaeology to figure it out!

      We can look at things people dig up, like tools, old pots and pans and analyse them.

      We look at the carbon 13 contents of things to work out hold they are (radiocarbon dating).

      Scientists can analyse the insides of bowls to work out what people were eating – from the bits of seeds or remains of plants.

      There’s even artwork made my stone-age people to tell us what they saw and did!

      Cool eh.?

      What will future generations think when they dig our stuff up?!

    • Photo: Rebecca Lacey

      Rebecca Lacey answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      The Stone Age is thought to have started 2.5 million years ago (that’s a seriously long time ago!!)

      As carol says we know things from what has been found. For example animal bones have been found with marks caused by stone age tools. The bones were dated back to that period so we know that people were hunting then.

      Also archeologists have found tools in places like Ethiopia which were made from flint.

      I think it must be really cool to be an archeologist although hard work digging stuff up!

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