CRO-MAGNONS• Introduction

• Dates & Places• Physical Appearance

• Shelter• Food

• Daily Life• Tools• Fire

• Religion & Ceremonies• Language• Clothing

• Painting & Carving• Other Information

• Footnotes• Questions• Answers

• Bibliography

By:Sonia, Danielle, Kira, & Joshua

Introduction

Come back in time with us to the end of the Ice Age to learn about the Cro-Magnons. Here you will learn how Cro-Magnons lived, ate, hunted, and survived in prehistoric times! You will see how interesting and dangerous life was alongside the Cro-Magnons!

Dates & Places

Cro-Magnons lived about 40,000 years ago in Asia, Europe, and Africa. The Neanderthals had just died off, and the Cro-Magnons were beginning to evolve.[1]

Physical Appearance

Cro-Magnons looked almost like modern humans because they had small eyebrow ridges, noses, jaws, and teeth. They also had the same shaped bodies as modern humans, and they had flat foreheads, pointed chins, and rounded skull cases.[2] Male Cro-Magnons were about five feet five inches tall and women were about five feet two inches tall. Their weight was the same as an average human today, although they were heavier per inch of height.[3]

Shelter

Cro-Magnons lived in huts and caves. They made their homes out of leftover tusks and large animal bones, and then they covered that in pelts.[4]Though they moved every summer, they built homes that were meant to be stable. [5]

FoodCro-Magnons ate wild game and plants. They hunted deer-like animals and other game. Usually, the hunting was done by the men, and other food was collected by the children and women. They collected food like carrots, beets, turnips, onions, cabbage, celery, fruits, and berries. Cro-Magnons also harvested grains like wheat and healing teas for medical reasons. Since they had no way to preserve their food, food that did not spoil was valuable. [6]

Daily LifeThe Cro-Magnons were great hunters and usually used the whole animal they killed. Their daily life was very hard and dangerous for the Cro-Magnons. Since the Cro-Magnons were excellent hunters, and sometimes used animals for game. They also used animal bones to build huts.[7]

ToolsCro-Magnons made special spears out of wood, and they designed these so that the spears would fly straight and far, instead of wobbling, going a different direction, and only going five feet. They made rafts with their hands to go from place to place, over seas. [8] Cro-Magnons also built flutes, since they were very good with their hands. They also carved pictures into their tools.[9]

For Cro-Magnons, fire was the only source of heat and light since they lived in dark caves. Fire was used for trapping animals, for they were attracted to the heat and light. Cro-Magnons had fire at an entrance of a cave or a hut. Fire was also used for protection against wild animals. [10]

Religion & Ceremonies

Cro-Magnons made burial art, and they prepared their dead with beautiful flowers, seashells, and art. They also had ceremonies for boys going into manhood, and after good hunting, they would also have a ceremony. Cro-Magnons also played simple drums at ceremonies. Cro-Magnons also celebrated the changing of the seasons.[11]

Cro-Magnons did not have a wide variety of language, so instead they made clicking sounds with their throats. They did not have written language.[12]

Clothing

Cro-Magnons wore clothes out of animal hides. They wore pants, tunics, and dresses. The women made necklaces out of shells, beads, stones, bones, fish bones, and bits of egg shells. The clothing Cro-Magnons made were far more sophisticated than the clothing of the Neanderthals.[13]

Painting & Carving

Cro-Magnons were the first people to have cave art because they had free time.[14]They made paints by picking flowers and plants, then crushing them, and adding water.[15]Additionally, they carved pictures of hunters and animals into cave walls, although it was hard to get into caves because of the wild animals that lived there, so they had to crawl with a spoon with fire in it for light.[16]

Questions

Name at least three reasons why fire was important to the Cro-Magnons.

Did the Cro-Magnons speak, and if they did, how?

Were the Cro-Magnons’ huts meant to be permanent or meant to be moved?

What were two things the Cro-Magnons had ceremonies for?

Answers

Possible answers: they used fire for heat, light, to cook food, to scare animals, and to trap animals.

Yes, they made clicking sounds with their throats.

They were meant to be permanent, even though they moved every summer.

Possible answers: the coming into manhood, changing of seasons, after a good hunt, and when someone died.

ConclusionCome on back to the present, but don’t forget all that you have learned! We hope you learned interesting and fun facts about the Cro-Magnons because we sure did! We also hope you enjoyed our PowerPoint and learned a lot!

Endnotes1. Kearns, Marsha,“Cro-Magnons,” Early Humans.

Creative Teaching Press: CA, 1993, p. 9.2. Ibid.3. http://www.angelfire.com/film/materija/cromlang.pdf 4. Kearns, “Cro-Magnons,” p. 11.5. Facchini, Fiorenzo, A Day with Homo Sapiens, Books:

Connecticut, Twenty-First Century, 2003, p. 26.6. Kearns, “Cro-Magnons,” p. 11.7. Ibid, p. 9.8. Ibid, p. 10.9. California Visits Ancient Civilizations,

Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007, p. 89.10. Kearns, “Cro-Magnons,” p. 9.11. California Vistas Ancient Civilizations, p. 91.

Endnotes (cont.)

12.http://www.angelfire.com/film/materija/cromlang.pdf.

13. Kearns, “Cro-Magnons,” p. 11.14. “Cro-Magnon,” Early Humans PowerPoint,

http://www.earlyhumans.mrdonn.org.15. Ms. McClure and Class Discussion. 16. Mr. Donn’s Early Human PowerPoint.

Bibliography

California Visits Ancient Civilizations. Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007.

“Cro-Magnon.” Cro-Magnon. http://www.earlyhumans.mrdonn.org.

Facchini, Fiorenzo. A Day with Homo Sapiens. Books: Connecticut, Twenty-First Century, 2003.

http://www.angelfire.com/film/materija/cromlang.pdf Kearns, Marsha.“Homo Habilis.” Early Humans.

Creative Teaching Press: CA, 1993.“Otzi the Iceman.” Early Human Class Presentation by

Lonnie Johnson on October 28, 2010.Ms. McClure and Class Discussion.