Skara Brae and life in the Neolithic Era
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain why archaeologists think humans began to farm in Britain during the Neolithic Era.
Key learning points
- The Neolithic Era saw lots of changes for early humans in Britain.
- Animal bones found during excavations suggest that this is when humans began to domesticate animals such as cattle.
- This was the first time that people started deliberately planting and harvesting crops.
- Excavations at Skara Brae have unearthed barley seeds, suggesting cultivation.
- New technologies developed: this is the first period from which archaeologists find pottery, including at Skara Brae.
Keywords
Neolithic Era - the Neolithic Era is also known as the New Stone Age and is the third and final part of the Stone Age
Domesticated - a domesticated plant or animal is under human control
Pottery - items made out of clay are called pottery
Common misconception
That all Neolithic houses were built from stone.
Explain that many Neolithic house in Britain were built from wood and daub. Houses at Skara Brae were built from stone as no wood was available.
Teacher tip
Look at images of Neolithic pots. Support children to use air drying clay to make their own thumb pots and decorate with patterns.
Equipment
Some clay to make pots.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which Stone Age Era began approximately 12 000 years ago?
Q2.Which Stone Age Era is sometimes called the Middle Stone Age?
Q3.How did Mesolithic humans find food?
Q4.The Stone Age is divided into parts.
Q5.Nomadic means...
Q6.The time period before written records were kept is called ...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match each era to its alternative name
Early Stone Age
Middle Stone Age
New Stone Age
Q2.In which part of the Stone Age do archaeologists believe humans began farming?
Q3.What is pottery?
Q4.Which animals do archaeologists believe Neolithic humans domesticated?
Q5.What do archaeologists believe seeds discovered at Skara Brae are evidence of?
Q6.What shape do archaeologists believe Neolithic homes were?
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: Skara Brae and life in the Neolithic Era, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: Skara Brae and life in the Neolithic Era, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 history lessons from the Stone Age Britain: what do archaeologists think they know about it? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.