Author: jmcminn

Years 5
Spring

Our Beautiful World
History— Stonehenge - Bronze Age religion, technology and travel

In this unit the children will:
Place current topic of study on a time line in relation to previous study periods
Think critically weighing evidence and sifting arguments
Begin to understand about beliefs, behaviour and characteristics of people recognising that not everyone shares the same views and feelings
Understand connections between local, regional, national and international history
Link sources and work out how conclusions were arrived at
Consider ways of checking the accuracy of interpretations - fact, fiction or opinion
Use the library/internet confidently for research

Key Vocabulary
Bronze Age - A period in history from 2500 BC - 800 BC lasting approx. 1,700 years.
Bronze - A strong yellowish-brown metal made by melting copper and tin together
Smelting - The process of extracting metal from its ore (rock or sediment) by heating and melting
Furnace - An enclosed fire that can be heated to very high temperatures
Loom - A structure used to weave wool or thread into cloth
Beaker people - Migrant farmers and archers who moved to Britain during the Bronze Age. They were called the Beaker people because of the beaker like pottery vessels which were found buried in their barrow graves.
Ritual - A religious ceremony consisting of a series of actions according to a prescribed order
Cremate - The disposal of a dead person’s body by burning it to ashes, typically after a funeral service
Urn - A vase that a cremated person’s ashes are put into
Archaeologist - A person who studies human history and pre-history through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artefacts and other physical remains
Artefact - an object made by a human being, typically one of cultural or historical interest

Key Knowledge
During the Bronze Age people learnt how to make and use metal. The Beaker people arrived in Britain from over the seas from Europe and Scandinavia and these people knew how to make metal which meant that stronger, sharper farming tools could be made. This meant that more land could be farmed and crops could be grown enabling a greater number of people to be fed.
By crushing and then melting rocks containing copper and tin in a furnace bronze was made, this process was known as smelting. The molten metal was poured into moulds which were made using wax and clay. The Bronze Age people dug mines to get the copper and tin they needed to make the bronze; because the mines had narrow tunnels small children were used to hack the metals out.
The Bronze Age people invented the loom which enabled them to make woollen cloth which they then used to make clothes to keep warm.
Bronze Age people made stone circles where people gathered for religious ceremonies and buried their dead in circular graves. The stones of the circles were carefully positioned to measure the movement of the moon and the rising and setting of the sun. Moving the heavy stones to the circle required clever, skilful planning and teamwork.
During the Bronze Age many people crossed the sea from mainland Europe to Britain. They travelled in long wooden boast rowed by oarsmen. The boats carried people, animals and trading goods. They were loaded with metal from mines, precious swords, pots and jewellery. Boats were very useful for carrying heavy materials like stone. Large areas of land were covered by forest, so it was much easier to transport goods by the river.
At the start of the Bronze Age people had learned how to tame horses, they then learned how to make carts with wheels and by the end of the Bronze Age battle chariots were pulled by horses.
Stonehenge is a stone circle that stands on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. It was built over many 100s of years and was completed in the early Bronze Age. It is thought that Stonehenge was built for religious ceremonies.
How was Stonehenge built?
The first task was to cut the boulders into shape. Archaeologists believe that the ancient Britons hammered wedges of wood into cracks in the stone. When the wood was soaked in water, it expanded and split the stone. Next, the builders used chisels and hammers to shape them. The stones were then transported to the building site. They were probably carried on rafts down rivers, then dragged overland by teams of men and oxen. It's believed that the stones were placed on giant wooden sledges and pulled along the ground using log rollers. The builders dug deep ditches for the stones. Then they pulled on ropes to raise them and packed the ditches with rocks to hold the stones in place.
It took a huge effort to build Stonehenge. The only tools the builders had were made of stone, wood and rope. Only a few stones are left standing today.

Stonehenge as it was thought to have been

Stonehenge today

Throughout the Bronze Age it is thought that there were changes in religious practices. Towards the middle of the Bronze Age people stopped building large ritual monuments such as stone circles. People placed metal items, which were thought to be offerings to gods, in watery places, such as rivers, lakes and bogs. The Bronze Age people believed in life after death. When powerful leaders died they were buried beneath huge mounds and some graves belonging to warriors contained things like bronze axes, daggers and gold ornaments buried with the dead. In the late Bronze Age people started to cremate bodies instead of burying them. The peoples ashes were put in pottery containers called urns and buried in graveyards known as urn fields.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/story-of-britain-bronze-age-britain/znrygwx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohij1e2oZio
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z82hsbk/articles/z874kqt
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z82hsbk/articles/zg8q2hv
Burial mounds Bronze Age artefacts

Long wooden boat

Smelting copper and tin to make Bronze