ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY UNIT 8

BC

Meaning “Before Christ”, is an indication that a date is before the birth of Christ.

BIFACE

In Prehistory, a  sharp two-sided stone tool used to cut meat o or wood .

BRONZE AGE

A period in the Metal Age, beginning around 3000 BC

COPPER AGE

A period in the Metal Age, beginning around 4000 BC.

CROMLECH

A megalithic monument consisting of a circle of standing stones.

DOLMEN

A megalithic burial chamber where vertical stones were supported by a large, flat horizontal stone.

HOMINID

A primate and early human ancestor.

HOMINISATION

The gradual process of evolution as human beings acquired their present-day characteristics.

IRON AGE

A period in the Metal Age, beginning around 1000 BC.

MEGALITHIC MONUMENT

A religious site or tomb that was made from enormous stones.

MENHIR

A large, single standing Stone. Menhirs were sometimes aligned in lines, or circles called cromlechs.

METAL AGE

The period in Prehistory when people began to make objects out of metal. It began around 5000 BC in the Middle East.

NEOLITHIC AGE

Meaning “new Stone age”, this period in Prehistory began after the Paleolithic Age, around 8000 BC.

NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION

A series of importan changes that included the development of agriculture and creation of early human settlements.

NOMAD

Member of a group of people who moved around from.

PALEOLITHIC AGE

The “old stone age” was the earliest period of Prehistory, beginning around 2.5 million years ago.

PREHISTORY

The earliest period of History before writing was invented.

RELIEF (art)

A scene carved ino a large stone to give the impression the sculpted material was raised slightly above the background.

SEDENTARY POPULATION

A population that stays in one place because it has a constant food supply, due to the introduction of livestock and agriculture.

SETTLEMENT

A place where people lived together over a long period of time.

TOMB

A funeral chamber.