How early people lived: hunting, gathering, tools and moving to new lands

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Stone Age toolkits

   Toolkit	Made by	What it had
   Oldest known toolkit (Oldowan)	at least 2.6 million years ago	hammerstones, stone cores and sharp flakes
   Handaxe toolkit (Acheulean)	?	large flakes shaped into handaxes
   Middle Stone Age toolkit	by at least 285,000 years ago in parts of Africa	smaller flake tools, stone points fixed to wooden shafts, awls and scrapers

   The cell marked ? is blank. Below the chart: Paleolithic means Old Stone Age. Dates are from the Smithsonian Human Origins Program.

2. 1.

   Jun's chart has a blank: when were handaxe toolkits made?

   • At least 2.6 million years ago
   • About 1.76 thousand years ago
   • By at least 285,000 years ago in Africa
   • From about 1.76 million years ago
3. 2.

   Kira's chart has a blank: what did the Middle Stone Age toolkit have?

   • Bronze tools, clay jars and woven baskets
   • Hammerstones, stone cores and sharp flakes
   • Large flakes shaped into handaxes
   • Points on shafts, awls and scrapers

4. Stone Age toolkits

   Toolkit	Made by	What it had
   Oldest known toolkit (Oldowan)	at least 2.6 million years ago	hammerstones, stone cores and sharp flakes
   Handaxe toolkit (Acheulean)	from about 1.76 million years ago	large flakes shaped into handaxes
   Middle Stone Age toolkit	by at least 285,000 years ago in parts of Africa	smaller flake tools, stone points fixed to wooden shafts, awls and scrapers

   Below the chart: Paleolithic means Old Stone Age. Dates are from the Smithsonian Human Origins Program.

5. 3.

   Luz reads the word archaeologist. What does an archaeologist do?

   • Writes new laws for a city
   • Studies stars, planets and moons in space
   • Sells old tools at a market
   • Studies the past from things people left
6. 4.

   Milo reads the word artifact. What is an artifact?

   • A map of a modern city
   • An object people made or used
   • A rock shaped by rivers, with no people
   • A story told about the past
7. 5.

   Noah reads that early people were hunter-gatherers. What does that mean?

   • They kept herds in barns
   • They bought food in shops
   • They grew wheat and barley in their own fields
   • They found wild plants and animals for food
8. 6.

   Which toolkit in the chart is the oldest, Pia asks?

   • The handaxe toolkit
   • The Middle Stone Age toolkit
   • The three are the same age
   • The Oldowan toolkit
9. 7.

   Which came later, the handaxe toolkit or the Middle Stone Age toolkit, Ren asks?

   • Both came in the same year
   • The Middle Stone Age toolkit
   • The handaxe toolkit
   • Neither: both are from last century
10. 8.

    How many years ago is 2.6 million years ago, written as a number, Tala asks?

    • 26,000,000 years ago
    • 260,000 years ago
    • 2,600 years ago
    • 2,600,000 years ago
11. 9.

    Middle Stone Age awls could poke holes. Why would people poke holes in hides, Ari asks?

    • To join hides into clothing
    • To make the hides heavier
    • To plant seeds in them
    • To write long messages on them for others
12. 10.

    Why does the chart show stone tools, not wooden ones, from 2.6 million years ago, Bo asks?

    • Stone lasts, and most wood rots
    • Stone was easier to carry
    • People in those times did not use any wood
    • Wood had not grown yet