Life at the end of the last Ice Age
I can describe how archaeologists know about Homo sapiens’ early settlement of Britain.
Life at the end of the last Ice Age
I can describe how archaeologists know about Homo sapiens’ early settlement of Britain.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Dating different human remains suggests the presence of modern humans in Britain has been brief and sporadic.
- It has only become continuous at the end of the last Ice Age, c.12,000 years ago.
- The modern humans who appeared in Britain were highly adaptable hunter-gatherers.
- Flints found far from where they were acquired show that they moved around Britain far more than the Neanderthals had.
Keywords
Homo sapiens - the only surviving group of humans is the Homo sapiens
Ice Age - an Ice Age is when Earth becomes very cold for a long period of time
Hunter-gatherer - hunter-gatherers hunt animals and gather berries and nuts
Common misconception
That our knowledge of the past is factual.
Explain that our understanding of the past is based on evidence that helps to build up a picture. New discoveries are made all the time.
To help you plan your year 3 history lesson on: Life at the end of the last Ice Age, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 3 history lesson on: Life at the end of the last Ice Age, 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.
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The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
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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 secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Starter quiz
6 Questions


