The Neolithic Period

By Lauren C, Shauna B, Savannah, Nicole C, Danielle, Cara and Katie G.

The Neolithic people started to build more permanent places to live. The skills of farming spread very slowly from the Middle East across to Europe. The first farmers who came to Ireland properly came from Britain. They used boats or rafts to transport their seeds and animal across the Irish sea.

Who are the Neolithic people?

The Neolithic people were the New Stone Age people. Before 4000 BC the country was covered in forests. Only wild plants grew and animals were found in the wild and were hunted.  After 4000 BC trees were cut down to make way for grasslands and pasture, crops were planted by the people and the people began to raise animals.

Farming began in Mesopotamia  (modern day Iraq/ Iran) around 8000 BC. some  people started to collect and sow seeds and to tame wild animals. Farming provided them with a regular supply of food. Since crops and animals needed to be cared for, people became more settled.

Clothes:

With farming coming to Ireland you were now able to get and use a lot of new materials (e.g) leather came from cows.  People also discovered how to weave during this period.

Pottery:

Neolithic farmers discovered how to make pottery from clay. Neolithic farmers were the 1st people to do this. Clay pots were used for storing food or cooking. Archaeologists found grains of wheat in the pottery found. Because of this they know that they grew crops.

Tools and Weapons:

Neolithic people had better tools and weapons than Mesolithic people. Neolithic people didn't just use flint, they also used porcellanite, which is a lot heavier and stronger than flint. Porcellanite was great for axe-heads. They also used animal bones to make handles for the axes.

Types of Neolithic Settlement:

Court cairns

A court cairns can also be called court tombs. They get their name form court because courts open up into a big area which the court cairn does. The word cairn means a mound of stones. Bowls containing (burnt) human remains have been found in some chambers objects such as stone axes and pottery these are quite amazing tombs. 

Dolmens

Dolmens look like huge stone tables. There are two stones with a very large stone on top called a capstone. Some capstones weigh over 100 tonnes. The Proleek dolmen in Donegal is thought to be 3’500 years old.

Lough Gur:

Lough Gur is in Co.Limerick .Excavations in Limerick give us an idea of how the first Irish farmers lived. The houses were made from wood and were either rectangular or round in shape. They had one room inside and a big hearth in the centre for a big, open fire. These houses must have been very dark and smoky. The walls were made from planks of wood and branches weaved together. There was also mud plastered on the walls to fill in any gaps. This method of house building was called Wattle and Daub. The Neolithic people either slept on wooden benches or straw.

Mesolithic Ireland

Hannah, Dara and Shauna C.

Mesolithic Ireland

Archaeologists believe that the first people who settled in Ireland arrived about 9000 years ago. (7000bc to 3500bc). Before these people came to Ireland it was covered in thick sheet of ice. These people arrived in Ireland about 7000bc. The country was covered in dense forests with lots of rivers and lakes. Archaeologists named these people Mesolithic people. All of their tools were made from stone and they lived by hunting and gathering food such as berries, apples and nuts. Mesolithic people left us no written records. They lived at Mount Sandel .Archaeologists think that small family groups lived there.

Mesolithic Huts

At Mount Sandel archaeologist found evidence of Mesolithic huts. They discovered a circle of post-holes with a hearth in the centre. Fires where lit in the hearth for cooking and heating. These post-holes tell us that wooden branches where placed here. These branches were then bent to make the shape of an upside down bowl or a dome. Animal skin of earth were probably then put on top.

Mesolithic Tools and Weapons

When archaeologists excavated Mount Sandel lots of stone tools and small pieces of broken flint were found. Mesolithic people would have used flint to make spears and axe-heads for hunting and fishing .They also used small pieces of flint as knives and scrapers to skin animals and cut meat. Flint is not found everywhere in Ireland but along the north east-coast it is plentiful. This may be the reason why people settled at Mount Sandel.

Newgrange

Becky and Nicole G

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Newgrange was built between 2675 BC and 2485 BC.  The passage of Newgrange  is over 19 metres long and the chamber is 6 metres high. Newgrange is in Co. Meath. It is older than the pyramids in Egypt. the walls are made from standing stones , some of the stones were brought from Wicklow , over 60 kilometres away . It could have taken 400 men and over 16 years to build.

Many of the stones along the passage and in the chamber were decorated with spirals, circle and diamond patterns. The most dramatic decoration is on the huge stone at the entrance of the tomb.

The roof is an extension of the walls. Each layer of the wall is placed slightly inside the ones below, overlapping until they meet at a single stone in the centre, making a cone effect. This is called a corbelled roof. After 4,500 years there are no leaks in the roof at Newgrange

Archaeology

By Lea, Lara, Tara, Grace, Amber and Lauren B 

How do Archaeologists decide how old an object is? 

When archaeologists find objects in the ground they are cleaned, bagged and labelled according to where they were found in the site. Computers can help to record information. Archaeologists find it hard to date some artefacts that they find. They would be able to date an object if it was near a coin with a date on it. Pollen from plants found at a site can also date objects. 

There are three main methods that archaeologists use to date objects found in the ground: 

1. Radio Carbon Dating 

Carbon or radio carbon dating is a scientific method used to find out how old something that once lived. All humans, plants and animals have Carbon 14. Carbon 14 is tiny dots scattered on our bones. When we die the amount of carbon on our bones begin to decline so the older the object is, the less carbon 14 will be on it. 

2. Stratigraphy: 

Stratigraphy is a method used to help date objects found in the ground. You date the objects depending on how deep in the ground they are found (what layer of soil). In most cases the deeper they are found the older they are. 

3. Dendrochronology: 

Dendrochronology is the dating of wooden objects. Archaeologists can determine how old a log or a tree is by looking at the amount of rings a tree has. Every year a wooden object grows a new ring, so if the tree was two years old it would have two rings and if it was three years old it would have three rings and so on. 

How do objects end up in the ground? 

Objects end up in the ground for many reasons when people loose objects they maybe found years later in the soil. When people die they are often buried with some of their personal possessions, others may have buried them for safe keeping. From these objects we can gather a picture of the past. 

What is the difference between history and archaeology? 

History is the study of the past using sources. 

Archaeology is the study of the past using artefacts. 

How are sites chosen to be excavated? 

Archaeologists choose a site by doing research on the site. Sites are also excavated when big structures are about to be built. For example, when roads are going to be built, archaeologists will excavate the site to make sure nothing from the past is lost. 

How do archaeologists excavate a site? 

Archaeologists excavate a site by using modern techniques such as a geophysical survey. They use a machine like an x-ray to look at the soil under the ground. They dig test trenches and take areial photographs to make a detailed plan of the site. Then they divide it into one meter square areas so that the archaeologist will investigate the site more carefully.

What is History?

By Louise, Caithlin and Katie B.

What is History?

History is the study of the past. The people who study history are called historians. History is not just the study of battles or important people, it also is the study of the lives of normal people and the way they lived their life.

What is Pre-history?

Pre-history is the study of the past before writing was used. Archaeologists find out how these people lived by examining their objects e.g. their tools and weapons.

Propaganda:

This is information used to influence people’s opinions. For example, television advertisements.

Bias:

Bias is a one-sided view of something. It is favouring one side of a story over another. Newspapers can often be very bias.
What is a source?

Sources:

A source is an object that can help historians find out about what happened in the past. It can be anything written (for example, a book or diary) or anything spoken (a speech) Objects such as jewellery and clothes may often be used
What is a primary source?

What is a primary source?

A primary source is a source that comes directly from the past (for example, a diary). Diaries are a record of what happened during that time. Photographs are another primary source because you cannot take the same picture twice, it captures a specific moment in time.

 What is a secondary source?

A secondary source does not directly from the past. It was written afterwards by somebody who was not directly involved (for example, a history book or documentary).

Ways in which we measure periods of history:

1. Decade: A decade is ten years.
2. Century: A century is one hundred years.
3. Millennium: A millenium is one thousand years.