The Stone Age for ages 7 to 11
Hunters, farmers, flint miners and stone circles. Here’s the Stone Age in Britain, step by step.
In England’s national curriculum, Key Stage 2 pupils are taught about “changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age”. GOV.UK (DfE): National curriculum in England, history programmes of study · checked 29 Oct 2026 Its non-statutory examples include late Neolithic hunter-gatherers and early farmers, such as Skara Brae, and Bronze Age religion, technology and travel, such as Stonehenge. GOV.UK (DfE): National curriculum in England, history programmes of study · checked 29 Oct 2026 This page and the printables follow that unit.
The Stone Age in six steps
- The first tools. It began about 3.3 million years ago, the age of the oldest known stone tools. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Stone Age
- The first people in Britain. People first reached Britain nearly a million years ago. Natural History Museum: First Britons
- Ice comes and goes. The Natural History Museum’s research found at least 10 separate waves of people, driven out again and again by big changes in climate. Natural History Museum: First Britons
- Hunters and gatherers. He belonged to a group of hunter-gatherers who hunted game and gathered seeds and nuts. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy
- The first farmers. Farming was brought to Britain by migrants from the Continent about 4100 BC, along with pottery. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves
- Stone circles and metal. Stonehenge was built in stages: the first monument, a henge, about 5,000 years ago, and the stone circle about 2500 BC, in the late Neolithic. English Heritage: History of Stonehenge In Britain the first metal objects appeared about 2400 BC; English Heritage dates the Bronze Age to about 2300–800 BC. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves
Inside a Stone Age house
Its houses were built of flat stone slabs, set into mounds of midden and joined by covered passages. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history Each room has a stone “dresser”, two box-beds, a central hearth and small tanks set into the floor. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history
Finds include gaming dice, tools, pottery, jewellery and carved stone objects. Historic Environment Scotland: Skara Brae, history
Who was Cheddar Man?
Cheddar Man is the oldest almost complete skeleton of our species found in Britain. He lived about 10,000 years ago. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy His Mesolithic skeleton was found in 1903 in Gough’s Cave, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy
Ancient DNA suggests Cheddar Man had dark skin and blue eyes. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy He was about 166cm tall and died in his twenties. Natural History Museum: Cheddar Man, Mesolithic Britain’s blue-eyed boy
Amazing Stone Age facts
- A trail of footprints, left by a small group walking across estuary mudflats, was found at Happisburgh. Natural History Museum: First Britons
- A platform of split and hewn timbers at Star Carr is the earliest evidence of carpentry in Europe. University of York: Stone Age remains are Britain’s earliest house (10 August 2010)
- They prised out the flint with picks made from antlers. English Heritage: History of Grime’s Graves
- He lived over 5,300 years ago, so he is older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology: Ötzi the Iceman
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