Cro-Magnon

By: Bjorn, Camille, Jack, and Sarah

Cro- Magnon Table of Contents

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Dates and Places of Existence Description of Daily Life Description of Physical Appearance Description of Shelters Food Tools Fire Religion Development of Language Religion and Ceremonies Clothing Paintings and Carvings

Introduction

•

Come with us and experience an adventure of a lifetime—the life of Cro-Magnon. We will embark on a journey through the Cro Magnons’ lives. We will unmask the daily life of the everyday Cro-Magnon. What they ate and how they lived will captivate you and give you a piece of history!

Dates and places of existence

• Cro-Magnon lived up to 40,000 years ago, towards the end of the ice age. At the beginning of their existence, they lived in France. They migrated to Asia, Africa, and Europe. Cro-Magnons only lived during the ice age.[1]

Description of Daily Life

• Cro-Magnons had very busy days. Sometimes, when they had good weather, they were in festive moods. Occasionally, after a hard day’s work, they had time to relax, which they barely got to do with all the hunting and gathering on their hands. [2]

Description of Physical Appearance Cro-Magnons were robustly built, and they were generally heavy and solid with strong musculature. They had straight, tall foreheads, and slight eyebrow ridges. Their brains were bigger than those of modern humans.[3]

Description of Shelters

These early men built permanent homes to shelter them from the long harsh, winter of the ice age. In the summer, they followed the herds of animals, and so during those months, they lived in tents. Winter homes were ice age huts, built tepee-style, from branches and mammoth bones covered with animal skins. These huts were used for many years, so they built them carefully. Holes were dug deeply , into the ground. Poles were inserted into the ground, and then tied tightly together at the point of the tee-pee. Warm furs were laid over the structure and sewn tightly in place. Large rocks were piled around the bottom to help pull the hut together.[4]

Food • • •

Cro-Magnons were hunters and gathers who ate a variety of fish. They had an ample amount of freshly caught game.

They also ate seeds, berries, and nuts, as did their ancestors.

Cro-Magnons did not struggle for food. They were splendid hunters. They used traps, which helped them to catch food while they were busy doing something else. They fished with bows and arrows, net woven from vines, fish hooks, and even poisons. Some groups built rafts and canoes to catch bigger fish in deeper waters.[5]

Fire •

Cro-Magnons’ only source of heat and light was fire. Since they lived in dark caves, the fire provided them light. The fire was used for trapping animals because the animals were attracted to the luminous light. Cro Magnons lived during the end of the ice age so it was very difficult to get a lightning strike. They used flint and stone to make a spark. It was challenging to strike fire so they were really ecstatic to ignite a fire.[6]

Religion and Ceremonies

• When a Cro-Magnon passed away, all the Cro Magnons participated in the funeral. The body was put in a grave with tools and weapons. The Shaman, or religious leader, put some ingredients on the dead body to have a happy afterlife. For ceremonies, Cro-Magnons made flutes; then played music. [7]

Tools

Cro-Magnons were hunters and gatherers. Cro-Magnons were the ones who created bows and arrows. Cro-Magnons made unique spears out of wood. They carved pictures into their tools. They also made wood spears so they would fly straight and far instead of wobbling.

Development of language

They had not developed a written language yet. They made clicking sounds with their throats to communicate. [8]

Clothing

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The Cro–Magnon wore robes, which they made from thin animal hide. Their belts were made of thicker material. They wore very thick fur to keep warm.[9]

Paintings and Carvings

• • • • • • • • • • •

Cro- Magnon painted the following scenes on cave walls: Wolves Wooly mammoths Wooly mastodon Horses Cave bears Reindeer People as stick figures Black bulls Bison Stags They used pigments made from the local plants and minerals. The colors were primarily earth tones.

Questions

• What was Cro-Magnons’ only source of light and heat?

• What were three of the foods they ate?

• How long ago did Cro-Magnon live?

Answers

• • • Cro-Magnons’ only source of heat and light was fire.

Some of the foods they ate were seeds, berries, nuts, fish, and other game.

Cro-Magnon lived 40,000 years ago, during the ice age.

Conclusion

Now, buckle up and get ready to accelerate forty thousand years into the future. It’s been a superb adventure in the past. We hope you learned as much as we did. Keep in mind that Cro-Magnons were hunters and gathers, and they lived forty thousand years ago. Thanks! (: ~ Bjorn, Camille, Jack, and Sarah . ☻

Endnotes

1. California Visits Ancient CivilizationCalifornia Visits Ancient Civilizations,Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007, p. 89.

: 2. Ibid, p. 90.

3. http://www.mikedust.com/history/cromagnon.html

.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. California Visits Ancient CivilizationCalifornia Visits Ancient Civilizations,Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007, p. 91.

8. http://www.mikedust.com/history/cromagnon.html

.

9. Ibid.

10. California Visits Ancient CivilizationCalifornia Visits Ancient Civilizations,Macmillan/MacGraw Hill: New York, NY, 2007, p. 91

Bibliography

Dust, Mike. “ Early History: Cro-Magnon.” Sunday, October 26, 2003 9:02:04 PM. http://www.mikedust.com/history/cromagnon.html

Von Rechendorff, Allen.[Bjorns dad].

McClure,Tracy. “Ms. M’s Presentation.” Tuesday, 12:17 Johnson, Lonnie. “Ancient Artifact Presentation.” Thursday, October 27, 2011 1:15