By Miss. Brown
Early humans relied on the environment around them to
survive.
Their shelters and homes were produced by hard work
and the use of the resources available to them.
What resources do you think early people might have
used to construct their homes?
As we learn about each shelter I want you to be thinking
about a few things
Focus on some of the benefits each shelter provides for
the people who lived inside
Also think about some of the possible negatives or
potential hazards that may have impacted the people living
in the shelters
Shelters constructed of branches and small trees
Holes were dug in the earth and one end of a branch
was placed in each hole
Rocks were placed around the branches at the base for
a more secure hold
Some logs were used in specific places for structural
support
Where do you think these larger log poles might have
been placed to provide the structural support?
This image shows a group of early humans constructing
their branch shelter
Early people who hunted large animals, such as the
great woolly mammoth, made sure to use every part of
the animal they killed
They used
• The meat for food
• The intestines for rope
• The bones as support structures for shelters
• The hide for clothing and parts of the shelter
These images depict what a mammoth hunters shelter
might have looked like
Some early people found shelter in caves
Caves offered a safe place from the weather and
protection from wild animals
These structures were “ready-made” and required some
homey touches like furs, fire pits, and paintings
In one image we see someone making carvings into the
wall of a cave
In the other we see some activities that might go on in a
cave dwelling
Some early humans would build homes out of rocks and
boulders
They may have used mud, moss, and other substances
to fill in the gaps between the rocks
Some early humans, especially those who were nomadic,
would build shelters using the hides of the animals they
killed
Many of these shelters were in the shape of a teepee
which most of us are familiar with