People in this era lived near rivers, lakes or the coast
Their Houses were easily built – lights branches of trees set into the grounds and covered by skins, grass leaves or brushes tied together by animal hide or guts
Gradually the stone age people developed from hunter-gatherers to become farmers.
Farming gave them a more regular supply of food. It meant that they settled for longer on the land and built stronger houses.
Archaeologists have found Neolithic sites at Lough Gur, Co Limerick and the Céide Fields in Co Mayo
Did their houses change?
New Stone Age people made their houses from wood in round and regular as can be seen in the previous image.
What was the difference between Mesolithic and Neolithic houses?
Neolithic Houses
Neolithic Houses
In pairs read the information on Neolithic houses and answer the following questions:
Describe the shape of the Neolithic houses?
Describe how the houses were made. Use the following words in your description; timber posts; wattle; daub; thatched.
What do you think it was like inside the house?
Why were Neolithic houses stronger than Mesolithic ones?
Clothes
What type of clothes do you think they wore?
2. What were their clothes made?
Weapons
Neolithic people hunted with polished axes which were better quality than the axes that the Mesolithic people used. The Neolithic people were more advanced and developed.
Task
Name three weapons or tools and explain what they were used for.
it to the person standing beside it (Brownes Hill, Carlow)
Passage Tombs
Archaeologists have found examples of passage graves in Co. Meath at Dowth, Knowth and Newgrange.
These are Ireland’s largest tombs. In each a stone lined passage leads to one or more burial chambers. The whole tomb is covered with a mound of stones or earth.
Passage Graves
Newgrange, Co. Meath
Grave Goods
The cremated bodies were placed in megalithic tombs along with things they may need in the afterlife – grave goods.
.JPG){kind=link}