Discover hundreds of never-before-seen resources! Create your free account at https://my.happylearning.tv/ and learn in the most fun way. What are you waiting for? In this video we are going to learn about prehistory and the three stages that make it up: the Paleolithic, the Neolithic, and the Metal Age. Subscribe for more videos: http://bit.ly/2yBII20 FOLLOW US HERE! Facebook: http://bit.ly/2yCzKlb Twitter: http://bit.ly/2fI8ZI4 Instagram: http://bit.ly/2khla00 Web: http://bit.ly/2eyi2bp Recommended video: The lion • THE LION, A VERY SLEEPY HUNTER Vi... The first thing we need to know is that prehistory is divided into three major periods... the Paleolithic, the Neolithic, and the Metal Age. The Paleolithic period begins with the appearance of the first human beings and ends 8,000 years before the birth of Christ. During the Paleolithic, men were nomads, they did not live in one place, no way! They were constantly travelling after the animals they hunted. As they were hunters and gatherers they had to follow the animals in order to capture them and they took advantage of these trips to gather the wild fruits they found. They lived in tribes, in small family groups, and took refuge in natural caves where they made paintings. These paintings were made with charcoal and earth, all mixed with fat and water. Here you can see some of them… The truth is that it is impressive to think that these paintings, these first artistic representations, were made thousands and thousands of years ago, don't you think? As the years and centuries passed, these first human beings became more and more intelligent and began to domesticate some animals such as dogs, goats, sheep and pigs; they also began to cultivate plants that they later ate. It was with the arrival of agriculture and livestock that everything changed, when men stopped being nomads and became sedentary, as the first villages emerged… That is where the Paleolithic ended and the Neolithic began. The Neolithic began 8,000 years before Christ with the appearance of agriculture and livestock and ended when the metal age began. Men and women of the Neolithic were able to produce food by cultivating the land and domesticating animals. It can be said that they were the first farmers and ranchers in history, or rather, in prehistory. As they had to look after their crops and their flocks, they built small villages and began to live in them in a stable manner, that is, they became sedentary, not like the men of the Paleolithic who were nomads because they were always travelling. The first Neolithic villages were located in fertile places, near rivers, as they could easily access water. They could irrigate the fields, give water to the animals... You already know that water is essential for life. During the Neolithic many things were invented such as pottery or weaving, but the most important invention was undoubtedly the wheel... And everything went smoothly for the men and women of the Neolithic and even more so when they began to use metals. It was at this time that the Neolithic ended and a new era of prehistory began, the age of metals. It began in the year 6,500 BC and ended with the appearance of writing. The first metal used was copper, then bronze, which is a mixture of copper and tin and finally iron, a much more abundant mineral and therefore easier to find in nature. In order to be able to mould the metals they melted them at very high temperatures and gave them the desired shape. In this way utensils such as weapons, tools or ornaments were made. This process was called metallurgy. With metallurgy crafts and trade began. Metalworkers were the first specialised craftsmen, as metallurgy was a complex and difficult job that few knew how to do. The increase in agricultural production and the appearance of craftsmanship led to barter, or in other words, the exchange of products. At that time, trade emerged. Trade, in turn, caused some towns to become larger, becoming cities. A great commercial and cultural exchange began between these new cities and inventions such as the sailing ship or carts that helped transport goods emerged. Trade also changed society, creating social classes, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the slaves. During the age of metals, human beings began to ask questions about the mysteries of life and death and the first religious representations emerged. Constructions were built that received the name of megaliths because they were built with large blocks of stone. Mega means large and lithos means stones. The age of metals ended 4,000 years before Christ with the appearance of writing.