Stone Age Cloze Exercise worksheet for KS2 History, helping students learn about early human history and the transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic period.

Let's solve the Cloze Exercise – Stone Age step by step using the word bank and context clues.

---

Word Bank:

- Ice Age
- Neolithic
- stone
- gathering
- hunter-gatherers
- million
- women
- hunting
- Neanderthals
- hunted
- Mesolithic
- Britain
- crops
- settlements
- bones
- walls

---

Passage with blanks to fill in:

> The Stone Age started around 2.5 __________ years ago when early humans first produced the first __________ tools. The Stone Age is split into three different parts: the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), the __________ (Middle Stone Age) and the __________ (New Stone Age).

✔ 1st blank: "2.5 __________ years ago" → We need a unit of time.
→ Best fit: million
✔ 2nd blank: "first __________ tools" → Type of tool
→ Best fit: stone
✔ 3rd blank: Middle Stone Age → Mesolithic
✔ 4th blank: New Stone Age → Neolithic

So far:
> The Stone Age started around 2.5 million years ago when early humans first produced the first stone tools. The Stone Age is split into three different parts: the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and the Neolithic (New Stone Age).

---

> During the Old Stone Age humans evolved from __________ and other groups into homo sapiens (modern humans). People survived by gathering wild nuts, fruits and berries. They also __________ wild animals. The tradition is that __________ did the __________ and men did the __________. When the food ran out, these __________ moved on.

✔ 5th blank: Evolved from → Neanderthals (they were an earlier human species)
✔ 6th blank: "They also __________ wild animals." → hunted
✔ 7th blank: "The tradition is that __________ did the..." → women
✔ 8th blank: "...did the __________" → gathering (women gathered plants)
✔ 9th blank: "men did the __________" → hunting
✔ 10th blank: "these __________ moved on" → hunter-gatherers (the people who moved)

So:
> During the Old Stone Age humans evolved from Neanderthals and other groups into homo sapiens (modern humans). People survived by gathering wild nuts, fruits and berries. They also hunted wild animals. The tradition is that women did the gathering and men did the hunting. When the food ran out, these hunter-gatherers moved on.

---

> The Middle Stone Age began at the end of the last __________ when sea levels rose and __________ became an island. In the New Stone Age, the way people lived changed significantly. People began building __________ instead of moving from place to place. They built __________ around their settlements to protect themselves and started to grow their own __________ and domesticate animals. Tools for grinding, cutting and chopping were also introduced. People used __________ for fishhooks so that they could catch fish as well as animals.

✔ 11th blank: "end of the last __________" → Ice Age (the end of the Ice Age led to climate change and rising seas)
✔ 12th blank: "and __________ became an island" → Britain (after the Ice Age, rising waters separated Britain from mainland Europe)
✔ 13th blank: "building __________ instead of moving" → settlements
✔ 14th blank: "built __________ around their settlements" → walls (for protection)
✔ 15th blank: "grow their own __________" → crops
✔ 16th blank: "used __________ for fishhooks" → bones (animal bones were commonly used for tools like fishhooks)

So:
> The Middle Stone Age began at the end of the last Ice Age when sea levels rose and Britain became an island. In the New Stone Age, the way people lived changed significantly. People began building settlements instead of moving from place to place. They built walls around their settlements to protect themselves and started to grow their own crops and domesticate animals. Tools for grinding, cutting and chopping were also introduced. People used bones for fishhooks so that they could catch fish as well as animals.

---

✔ Final Answer (with filled-in words):

> The Stone Age started around 2.5 million years ago when early humans first produced the first stone tools. The Stone Age is split into three different parts: the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and the Neolithic (New Stone Age).
>
> During the Old Stone Age humans evolved from Neanderthals and other groups into homo sapiens (modern humans). People survived by gathering wild nuts, fruits and berries. They also hunted wild animals. The tradition is that women did the gathering and men did the hunting. When the food ran out, these hunter-gatherers moved on.
>
> The Middle Stone Age began at the end of the last Ice Age when sea levels rose and Britain became an island. In the New Stone Age, the way people lived changed significantly. People began building settlements instead of moving from place to place. They built walls around their settlements to protect themselves and started to grow their own crops and domesticate animals. Tools for grinding, cutting and chopping were also introduced. People used bones for fishhooks so that they could catch fish as well as animals.

---

📌 Explanation:

- Million: Time scale for the start of the Stone Age.
- Stone: First tools made by early humans.
- Mesolithic & Neolithic: Names of the middle and new phases of the Stone Age.
- Neanderthals: Predecessors to modern humans.
- Hunted: Complements "gathering" as a survival method.
- Women/gathering, men/hunting: Reflects traditional gender roles in prehistoric societies.
- Hunter-gatherers: Describes nomadic lifestyle.
- Ice Age: Climate period ending ~12,000 years ago.
- Britain: Became an island due to rising sea levels after the Ice Age.
- Settlements: Permanent homes in the Neolithic.
- Walls: For defense.
- Crops: Farming began in the Neolithic.
- Bones: Used for making tools like fishhooks.

This exercise teaches key concepts about human development, climate change, and the transition from nomadic to settled life during the Stone Age.