Cro-Magnon By: Chris, Bennett, Ashley, Summer

Dates and Places The Cro-Magnons remains were first discovered in France. Cro-Magnons spread out over Africa, Asia, and Europe by 30,000 years ago. Cro-Magnons had traveled over the land bridges that were there only during the Ice Age to stay at North and South America. By this time, every continent but Antarctica had humans populating it.

Fire Cro-Magnons used fire during the end of the Ice Age, for the weather was still freezing, so fire was one of the survival elements they depended on. Fire was also used to hunt down animals that they ate, but it also protected them from wild animals by scaring them away. Fire was the only light they had to use and the only heat to cook their food.

Religion and Ceremonies When a person died, all members in the tribe participated in the funeral. The body was put into a shallow grave with tools, weapons, and food needed in the afterlife. Then the grave was covered with dirt and stones. The shaman, or religious leader, most likely led the ceremony to honor the dead and request a happy afterlife.

Clothing Clothing was made out of animal hides. They wore robes, pants, tunics, and dresses. The Cro-Magnons also added little beads made from colored rocks or shells into their clothing for decoration. With their clothes, they wore stone, shell, fish bone, and eggshell necklaces.

Tools Cro-Magnons made flint-bladed axes into a tool-like chisel. These new tools could shape stones. Awls were made to make holes in animal hide. Bone needles were made to sew more refined clothes. Straight-backed knives made cutting a finer skill. They made spearheads and blades from bones, antlers, and stone. 10,000 years ago they used the bow and arrow.

Art The dearest sign of Cro-Magnons was in their art. Cro-Magnons were the first to discover how to paint, sculpt, carve, and use color. They carved the first animals and chubby females. The earliest paintings were of hunting scenes. All the paintings were found in underground caves.

Physical Appearance The head of the Cro-Magnons was like modern humans except it was rounder, and more defined. The forehead was flat, and they had very slight eyebrow ridges. Noses and jaws were smaller. The teeth were also smaller and closer together.

Food Cro-Magnons hunted large animals, such as woolly rhinoceros, mammoths, saber tooth tigers, and wild horses. Cro-Magnons gathered wild carrots, beets, onions, turnips, cabbage, celery, fruits, and berries. The women also gathered shellfish, eggs, and small animals that got trapped in their handmade traps.

Daily Life Cro-Magnons had daily hunting and gathering parties. Hunting provided them with bones, tools, and shelter. Women gathered the seeds and nuts, while men did the hunting. Sometimes they had ceremonies and dances for special occasions. They had funerals for important deaths.

Shelters Sinews from animals were tied into rope and used to secure the huts. Tusks and large bones from a mammoth were used to create shelters that were covered in skin. Cro-Magnons also used mammoth bones and skulls for supports. Their houses were like dome-shaped huts.

Language Cro-Magnons were able to produce clear speech to develop a more advanced oral language and means of communication. This enabled them to share information, work together, pass down knowledge and traditions, organize hunting and gathering trips, and speak more complex thoughts, including planning for the future. Their ability to use language enabled them to make a more advanced culture.