| A | B |
|---|
| agriculture | the raising of plants and animals for human use |
| anthropology | the study of how people develop and live in cultural groups |
| archaeology | the study of past cultures through the things that remain |
| archaeologist | people who study ancient cultures through artifacts |
| artifacts | objects made by people long ago |
| carbon dating | determining the age of an object based on the amount of carbon-14 in a plant or animal after it has died |
| clan | a group of families related through blood and marriage |
| climate | the average weather conditions of a place over a long span of time |
| culture | the technology, customs, beliefs, and art of a group of people |
| diverse | different |
| domesticate | to tame wild animals |
| environment | the natural world in which people, plants, and animals live |
| excavation site | a place where archaeologists dig up artifacts |
| geography | the study of the relationship between physical features, climate, and people |
| glacier | huge sheets of ice that covered great stretches of land |
| harvest | to gather plants |
| Ice Age | the time from about 1.6 million years ago until about 10,000 years ago when much of the earth was covered by glaciers |
| landform | a surface feature such as a valley, river, or mountain |
| migrate | to move from one habitat to another to satisfy basic needs |
| New Stone Age | the time from about 10,000 years ago until about 5,000 years ago when humans made great improvements in technology and used polished rock tools; the New Stone Age ended when humans discovered metals and metalworking |
| nomads | people who travel from place to place |
| Old Stone Age | the time from about 3.5 million years ago until about 10,000 years ago when humans relied primarily on stone, wood, horn, and bone tools |
| prehistory | the long period of time before people developed systems of writing and written language |
| social division | dividing up a society into groups of people who do different jobs (e.g., herders, farmers, toolmakers) |
| society | an organized community of people with established rules and traditions |
| surplus | an extra supply of something |
| technology | the way in which humans produce the items they use |
| Altamira | a place in northern Spain where cave paintings were found; the paintings were similar to those found in Lascaux, France |
| Beringia | the stretch of land between North America and Asia, now called the Bering Strait |
| Cave of the Hands | a cave in Patagonia, Argentina (in South America) that is covered in hand prints from about 9,000 years ago |
| Chauvet | a place in southern France where 32,000 year old cave paintings, torches, tools, and fire pits were found |
| Lascaux | a place in southern France where prehistoric cave paintings can be found |
| Monte Verde | a place in Chile where artifacts from about 12,500 years ago were found; the artifacts pre-dated the discoveries in Clovis, New Mexico |
| Skara Brae | a village in northern Scotland that is about 4,500 years old |
| Topper site | a place in South Carolina where archaeologists found artifacts that were up to 18,000 years old |
