KS2 History: Stone Age to Iron Age Britain Guide

The Stone Age

The Stone Age is divided into the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and Neolithic (New Stone Age). Early people were hunter-gatherers, but by the Neolithic period, people had begun farming and settling in one place, building monuments like Stonehenge.

The Bronze Age

Around 2500 BC, people in Britain learned to make bronze by mixing copper and tin. Bronze tools and weapons were stronger than stone ones, and this period also saw the growth of trade networks across Europe.

The Iron Age

From around 800 BC, people learned to make iron, which was even stronger and more widely available than bronze. Iron Age Britain was home to Celtic tribes who lived in hillforts and farmed the land.

Evidence from the past

Historians and archaeologists learn about these periods through evidence such as tools, pottery, burial sites and monuments, since there was no writing in Britain until much later.

Common mistakes

• Putting the ages in the wrong order — remember Stone, then Bronze, then Iron.
• Assuming Stone Age people were unintelligent — they developed farming, tools and monuments like Stonehenge.
• Forgetting that these periods overlapped in different parts of the world, not everywhere at the same time.