ANCIENT HISTORY: SURVIVAL DURING THE STONE AGE

The Hunting and Gathering of Food

Form of hunting during the Stone Age

PALEOLOTHIC AGE which means from the Greek term "Old Stone" is used to designate the early period of human history approximately between 2,500,000 to 10,000 B.C. in which humans use simple stone tools. For hundred of thousand of years, humans relied on hunting and gathering for their daily food. Paleolithic peoples had a close relationship with the world around them.Over a period of time, they came to know what animals to hunt and what plants to eat. They gather wild nuts, berries, fruits, and a variety of wild grains and green plants. Around the world, they hunted and ate different animals, including buffalo, horses, bison, wild goats, and reindeer. In coastal areas, various kinds of fish provided a rich source of food.

    The hunting of animals and gathering of wild food no doubt led to certain patterns of living. Archeologists and anthropologists have speculated that Paleolithic people lived in small bands of twenty or thirty people. They were NOMADIC which means they are type of people who moves from one place to another, because they had no choice but to follow immigrations and vegetation cycles. Hunting upon carefully observation of different animal behavior patterns and demanded group effort for any real chance of success. Over the years, tools became more refined and more useful. The invention of the spear, and later the bow and arrow, made hunting much easier. Harpoons and fishhooks made of bone increased the catch of fish.

   It is probable that both men and women were responsible for finding food, the chief work of Paleolithic people. Because women bore and raised the children, they were likely to have stayed close to their camps. However, they played an important role in acquiring food. They gathered berries, nuts, and grains. Men did most of the hunting, which might take place far away from their camp. It is likely that during these times men and women made decisions that affected the activities of the Paleolithic band.

   Groups of Paleolithic people, especially those who lived in cold climates, found shelter through caves. But over a period of time, they created new types of shelter. Perhaps the most common was a simple structure of wood poles or sticks covered with animal hides. Wherein wood was scarce, they might use the bones of mammoths to build frames that were then covered by animal hides. In this way it is their form of creating their shelter.

House made from Mammoth Bones

House made of wood with animal hides for outside protection

To understand more better about their living during the stone age period I have provided a video below(I do not own the video) I give credits to MissEstherKim: