Handling artefact box sponsored by:
Altogether Archaeology
This artefact handling collection can be used independently, or along with
the Key Stage 2 and 3 education pack:
Prehistoric Archaeology and Landscapes in
Northumberland National Park
TOPICS: Stone Age, Iron Age and Bronze Age
(Activity Booklet included)
Available for free download as PDF documents from
www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk
NEWER
Romano-British
Iron Age
Bronze Age
Neolithic
Mesolithic
Palaeolithic
AD 80 to AD 410
700 BC to AD 80
2500 to 700 BC
4000 to 2500 BC
8000 to 4000 BC
800,000 to 8000 BC
OLDER

The periods of prehistory covered in this handling collection are called:
the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic (the Old, Middle and New
Stone Ages); the Bronze Age and the Iron Age


What “Age” do we live in? The Steel Age? The Plastic Age?
Is everything we use made of this material? (No!)

Throughout the Stone Ages, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, most of
peoples’ technology was made of materials like bone, wood, leather,
sinew, plant fibre, animal fleece or hair, shells, teeth...

Stone, Bronze and Iron last a lot longer than these plant and animal
materials, which is why archaeologists know more about them.

What are these?

What do you think they were
used for?

How do you think they were
made?

They are flint-knapping tools

Other animals make tools, but
humans are unusual because
we use tools to make other tools

The hammerstone is used to
knock flakes away from a core.
This technology was probably
used from the Palaeolithic
through to the end of stone
tool-making

The antler tool or retouchuer is
used to carefully chip small
flakes away from a stone tool’s
edge to sharpen it. This is called
retouching.

Mesolithic and Neolithic flaked
tools were made with a lot of
retouching, as they were very
small and very fine. Even
Palaeolithic tools could be
sharpened by retouching.

What is this?

What do you think they were
used for?

How do you think they were
was made?

This is a Mesolithic microlith core

Micro = small, lith = stone

Mesolithic technology included
making very small stone flakes
and setting them into wooden
handles to form serrated edges
(like the teeth of a saw)

Mesolithic tools showed a lot of
variation compared to Palaeolithic
ones

This is a Neolithic flint end
scraper

Stone flake technology
developed in the Palaeolithic
period and diversified in the
Mesolithic period. By the
Neolithic period, both flaked and
polished stone tools were used.

Can you see the diagnostic
features on this flake? It has been
retouched

This is a Neolithic leaf-shaped
arrowhead

This arrowhead is incomplete.
What other materials does it need
to become a complete arrow?

Tools made of multiple materials
are known as compound tools.

Why would only the arrowhead
survive?
Use this diagram to investigate
the core, flake and arrowhead.
What features can you see?
Diagram showing core and flake terminology, modified from original © English Heritage 2004
Diagram showing
different ways of
flaking stone.
(Clockwise): Direct
percussion with hard
hammerstone;
Indirect percussion
with an antler punch;
Direct percussion with
an antler hammer;
Pressure flaking with a
wood, bone or antler
pick.
Modified from original
© English Heritage
2004.

What are these?

What do you think they were
used for?

How do you think they were
made?
(The leather is just here to
hold the threads in place)

String was a very useful piece of
technology

It was used to tie things together
(arrowheads to shafts), make
nets for fishing and catching
birds, sew clothing, hold beads
on necklaces, and later for
weaving into clothing

The strings here are made of
wool, lime bast and nettle (L-R,
thickest first)

String became more useful
when used with other types of
tools

Using needle and thread made
sewing possible

What was the needle made of?

What is this thread made of?

What would they have used it
to sew?

Could you sew really thick
leather with a needle and
thread?

Pricking a hole with an awl
made it easier to get the needle
through the leather

This awl is made of a fox’s leg
bone

What else could you use it for?

Leather is made of animal skin
with the fur (on the outside) and
the fat (on the inside) removed

It is useful for making clothes,
shoes and containers but
doesn’t last long once buried

What tools would you use to
scrape off the fur and fat?

What would you use to
waterproof the leather?

What is this?

What do you think is was used
for?

How do you think it was made?

This is a replica “Venus” figurine

No Venus figures have been
found in Northumberland, but
over 100 have been found in
Europe. The oldest is from
35000 years ago, and many are
from 28000 to 22000 years old.

This replica is included to show
that people made art as well as
tools (the figures don’t seem to
have had a practical function)

The Woman of Willendorf was
found in Austria and is about
28-25000 years old. The
Westray Wife was found in
Orkney in 2009; it is about 5000
years old.

Would figures made over such a
long time and all across Europe
all had the same meaning?
Mother Goddesses? Prehistoric
supermodels? Good luck
charms? What do you think?
Woman of
Willendorf.
Image by:
Matthias Kabel
Westray Wife. Original
image by: Otter,
modified by Krissy
Moore

What is this?

What do you think is was used
for?

How do you think it was made?
This replica is inspired by the man
now called Ötzi , who died 5000
years ago in Italy/Austria
 His body and clothes were
preserved by the cold. He had
warm clothing, snow shoes,
copper tools, arrows, food and
birch polypore, a fungus with
medicinal uses. These replica
“beads” are made of birch
polypore
 Prehistoric people probably used
many plants and fungi for
medicine, for tinder (fire-starting)
and for magic (ritual food or drink)


What is this?

What do you think is was used
for?

How do you think it was made?

This is a polished Neolithic axe-head

Polishing stone tools makes them
stronger. A “rough out” would be
chipped from a stone core, and then
polished by rubbing against a coarse
stone

Polishing makes beautiful objects:
many polished axes were never used
but exchanged over long distances,
as gifts or trade currency

What is this?

What do you think is was used
for?

How do you think it was made?

Bronze is made of copper and
tin and smelted at 1085C and
231.9C respectively ; it took skill
to get a fire so hot, and tin was
hard to find and often traded
over long distances

Who controlled the secrets of
smelting, or the supplies of tin?
How would this affect people?

Why would someone want such
a beautiful razor?

What is this?

What do you think is was used
for?

How do you think it was made?

Iron ore requires extra refining
and a higher temperature
(1535C) than copper and tin
(used to make bronze)

Iron tools are sometimes less
sharp than bronze ones

Iron ore is more common than
copper and tin

Why do you think iron tools
became more common?
The Woman of Willendorf, by Matthias Kabel. Reference: By User:MatthiasKabel (Own work) [GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or
CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons . URL: <
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AVenus_of_Willendorf_frontview_retouched_2.jpg > Accessed
24/11/2014
The Westray Wife, by Otter. Reference: By Otter (Own work) [GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons . URL: <
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWestray_Wife_20110529.jpg > Accessed 24/11/2014.
Modified by Krissy Moore using auto-adjust tool in Paint.net to highlight the scratches on its surface.
Unless indicated otherwise, all photographs are copyright Northumberland National Park 2014
Archaeology Kids illustrations copyright Northumberland National Park 2014
English Heritage illustrations used with permission from English Heritage. Source: Waddington, Clive &
David Passmore 2004. Ancient Northumberland. English Heritage.
The artefacts were sponsored by the North Pennines AONB through the
Altogether Archaeology programme.
The education pack has been devised by Krissy Moore, community
archaeologist for the Northumberland National Park (2014).
The artefacts were made by Phenix Studios Ltd
of Hexham, Northumberland
Emma Berry and Andrew Bates
http://www.phenixstudios.com/
For more information about
education packs and learning
resources, please contact
Northumberland National Park:
Email: [email protected],
Phone: 01434 605 555
Postal address:
Northumberland National Park,
Eastburn
South Park
Hexham, NE46 1BS
HANDLE WITH
CARE – FRAGILE
Any losses or damage beyond
normal wear and tear will be
billed to the borrower
REPLICA ARTEFACT BOX CONTENTS CHECKLIST:
Hammerstone
Retouchuer (antler)
Flint flake
Flint barbed and tanged arrowhead
Broken arrow with flint arrowhead and wooden shaft
Pine resin Glue Stick
Leather panel with 3 threads (lime bast, nettle, and
cow sinew)
Bone needle and rubbing stone
Awl (antler)
Leather bowl
Stone horse figurine
Cotton gloves
Printed copy of Powerpoint presentation
Foam padding & bubble wrap