‘Astonishing discovery’ near Stonehenge led by University of Bradford archaeologists offers new insight into Neolithic ancestors: University of Bradford, June 22, 2020 — What could be one of the largest prehistoric sites in the UK has been discovered near Stonehenge by a consortium of archaeologists led by the University of Bradford. A massive 2km-wide ring of prehistoric ‘shafts’ up to 10m across and 5m deep has been discovered around the ‘super henge’ at Durrington Walls and the famous site at Woodhenge. The structures have been carbon dated to about 2500BC.
In a first discovery of its kind, researchers have uncovered an ancient Aboriginal archaeological site preserved on the seabed: The Conversation, July 1, 2020 — For most of the human history of Australia, sea levels were much lower than they are today, and there was extra dry land where people lived. Archaeologists could only speculate about how people used those now-submerged lands, and whether any traces remain today. But in a study published today in PLOS ONE, we report the first submerged ancient Aboriginal archaeological sites found on the seabed, in waters off Western Australia.
Top Prehistory Web Sites
Ology – ArchaeOlogy: Clues from the Past ★★★★★
Developed for kids, this American Museum of Natural History site has lots of quizzes, games, and other active-learning features to foster “student-centered” learning. Kids meet archaeologists, explore evidence, and discover important sites. The technology is a little dated, but the approach is fun and enticing.
Becoming Human ★★★★☆
Presented by the Institute of Human Origins, Becoming Human is an impressive and regularly updated site that explores human evolution in “a broadband documentary experience” with video, articles, news and debates in paleoanthropology and a Web guide. Watch an introductory video overview of evolution with guide Donald Johanson, read paleoanthropology news and book reviews, and visit the learning center for educational activities and lessons. The Human Lineage Though Time is an excellent interactive timeline. The site also features a glossary of terms and recommended web sites.
Human Origins ★★★★☆
National Geographic provides map, articles, and videos that detail the ongoing quest to find the origin of humankind. Most of the content is aimed at grades five through eight.
Prehistory General Resources
Hall of Human Origins ★★★★☆
The Anne and Bernard Spitzer exhibit from the American Museum of Natural History offers a broad and detailed general introduction to the history of human evolution. It explores evidence of early human origins, follows early man through Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Ice Age, examines what makes us human, and ponders the future of evolution. Interesting features include Meet the Ancestors which provides a visual side-by-side examination of man, chimpanzees, and neanderthals. There are many educational materials available for download and related resources include a guide to finding fossils, a Tree of Life “Cladogram,” Darwin resources, and tools of early man.
Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial ★★★★☆
A Peabody Award-winning documentary produced by PBS, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial is a thorough investigation of the landmark Kitzmiller v. Dover School District case. The docmentary mainly features trial reenactments and interviews with the key participants, including expert scientists and Dover parents, teachers, and town officials. Overall, it provides a comprehensive view of one of most recent clashes over teaching evolution in American public schools. The film is not available for streaming on PBS website, but mirrors can easily be found elsewhere online.
BBC Prehistoric Life ★★★★☆
This informative and engaging site, part of BBC Science and Nature, has many detailed sections, including Caveman Profiles, Lucy’s Legacy, Dinosaurs, Walking with Monsters, and more. In the caveman section you can click on a skull for handy facts about hominids. Lucy’s Legacy is a broad introduction to human evolution and discusses why Lucy is so important to human evolution. It then branches out to discuss Earth’s climate, new homo species, development of human intelligence, First Europeans, Ice Man, and more. In other parts of the site you can listen to Radio 4 programs on evolution and related topics and watch a 3D tours of dinosaur landscapes. The Human Evolution section provides an overview of a three million year human journey “from the treetops of Africa to civilisation.” The presentation is a mix of text and graphics supplemented with related BBC links.
BBC History: Archaeology ★★★★☆
This is an informative and engaging site from the BBC. There are special sections on excavating human remains and the story of carbon dating as well as archaeology news stories from the BBC. The Ages of Treasures Timeline showcases some of Britain’s finest archaeological artifacts while The Multimedia Zone has several fun simulations, including Hunt the Ancestor, Iron Age Life, Diver’s Quest, Wetwang Chariot, Roundhouse, and the Dig Deeper Quiz. Visit the Stonehenge Dig section for video of the historic Timewatch dig.
Creation Stories From Around the World ★★★★☆
Actually a fifty-page online book from University of Georgia with links to various chapters. There are two Hebrew stories, a brief and accessible creation myth, and stories from Japanese, Chinese, Cherokee, and other folk traditions.
Fossil Fragments: The Riddle of Human Origins ★★★★☆
This offering from Yale University is based on a 2004 exhibition and explores the history of fossil hunting and fossils themselves. The history section is essentially an essay, but the rest of the site is highly visual and features great up-close photos of bronze age and neanderthal skulls. It also features a helpful (thought somewhat-outdated) Timeline of Evolution, a video tour of the exhibition and related links and books.
Mr Dowling’s Electronic Passport: Prehistory ★★★★☆
Mr. Dowling’s Electronic Passport helps kids browse the world in his virtual classroom. He introduces many civilizations with clear explanations, graphics for kids, and “cool links”. His study guides, homework assignments, and exams are free and available for you to print or to edit. Mind you, most kids would not find the site so “cool.” Its design and graphics hark back to the 1990s and it lacks multimedia interactivity seen on many other sites aimed at kids.
Archaeology: From Reel to Reel ★★★★☆
This National Science Foundation site introduces students to archaeology and separates the truth of what archaelogists do from the popular fiction of “Indiana Jones.” This teaching tool explains what archaeologists do and how they do it, who helps them, and why it matters. It also explains how satellite technologies help locate lost cities and has specific sections on ancient Egypt and the American Southwest. Mostly essay format with supplemental images, but little engaging multimedia.
Understanding Evolution ★★★★☆
Understanding Evolution is an excellent introduction to teaching the science and history of evolutionary biology. It explains “for a general audience” the mechanisms of evolution through varied resources and provides as overview of the history of evolutionary thought and the history of life on Earth history of ideas, research, and contributors in the study of evolution. A helpful chart Understanding Evolution for teachers is a subsite within Understanding Evolution dedicated to helping teachers with the subject of evolution.
Darwin ★★★★☆
The Darwin website by the American Museum of Natural History puts Darwin and his theories in historical context and provides much scientific, social, and personal information about the man and his theory of evolution. Of note is the “Controversies Timelines” that chronologically outlines the (often fiery) debate over his theories. The site is primarily text-based, aside from images there is limited multimedia, apart from a video of Darwin’s home and a few audio excerpts.
DIG into History ★★★★☆
DIG was a colorful children’s magazine about archaeology published by Cricket Media. Although it is now out-of-print, back issues can still be ordered from Cricket’s website. We also recommend checking out cobblestone and FACES, two current kids’ magazines that focus on American history and world cultures, respectively.
Evolution ★★★☆☆
The PBS Evolution web site compliments a seven-part, eight-hour television broadcast series. This rich and impressive site features video clips from the series, simulations, animations, interactive timelines, expert commentary, primary sources, and extensive links to evolution-related learning resources worldwide. Among the special educational features are a free, 40-page teacher’s guide available and an eight-session course for high school teachers, four 15-minute videos that highlight the teaching of evolution in real classrooms around the country, online lessons that use multimedia formats to enhance students’ understanding of evolutionary and a multimedia library that provides Web access to more than 150 multimedia resources and concepts. The site is old, so some of the features may no longer be functional.
Atlas of the Human Journey ★★★☆☆
This broad but engaging site from the National Geographic Society employs an animated map to explore key historical events and a “genetics journey” to explain personal lineage over tens of thousands of years. Highly visual presentation.
The Story of Africa: Early History ★★★☆☆
This BBC site features Africa’s top historians and analyzes the events and characters that have shaped the continent from the origins of humankind to the end of South African apartheid. The Early History focuses on Homo Sapiens in Africa, their switch from hunting to farming, and their tools and culture. A special feature of the section is several audio excerpts featuring experts discussing various aspects of early Africa. Unfortunately the site is not maintained as many of the external links are broken.
The Talk Origins Archive ★★★☆☆
This site presents scholarly evidence and views regarding human origins. It also synthesizes current scientific thinking on human evolution. Unfortunately, Talk Origins Archive came under a cyber attack in 2007 and the site is no longer updated regularly. That said, the archives do contain detailed information.
Mything Links ★★★☆☆
This is a hobbyist site dedicated to myths, folklore, and ancient history. Although it doesn’t have many articles yet, it is well-organized, and appears to update regularly.
The Story of Pech ★★★☆☆
This offering from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology focuses on Pech de l’Azé IV, a Neanderthal site in southern France. today’s sophisticated technologies. The multimedia Web site tells the story in detail. The dig site contains many hearths, an uncommon find and a special small stone artifacts. The story of Pech is detailed in essay format with a FAQ and glossary and supplement by images.
Web Geological Time Machine (UCMP) ★★★☆☆
The Time Machine introduces the visitor to prehistoric geology and prehistoric sites around the world. Simple information site with pictures and hyperlinked text articles.
Prehistoric Art
Natural History Museums ★★★★☆
A good clearinghouse of links to natural history museums.
The Cave of Lascaux ★★★★☆
This is a visually engaging and informative site produced by the French government that offers a visual tour of the famous cave art at Lascaux. There are more than 600 animals depicted in Lascaux.
The Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc ★★★★☆
This is a another visually engaging and informative site produced by the French government. It features animals rarely-depicted in cave art.
The Great North Museum★★★★☆
The Great North Museum has put together a very high-quality VR tour of their Ice Age to Iron Age exhibit, which has been faithfully recreated in 3D. The tour features narration by museum staff and is fairly interactive. Virtual tours of their biology and ethnography stores are also offered.
Cave Paintings and Rock Art ★★★★☆
Aimed at kids, this educational site by Mr. Donn provides a brief introduction to Cro Magnon art and some links to cave art websites.
Art History Resources on the Web: Prehistoric ★★★☆☆
This section of Art History Resources on the Web contains many links to sites on prehistoric art.
Oldest Art: The Top 50 ★★★☆☆
This is an image-supplemented list of the 50 oldest pieces of art in the world compiled by the encyclopedia of Irish and World Art. The period and location of each piece is identified though only a minority include images.
Lesson Plans, Teacher Guides, Activities, and more
Lesson Plan: Human Origins
This PBS Teachers Domain lesson plan uses various media clips to help students investigate hominid evolution. Students study the difference between a relative and an ancestor, study the emergence of bipedalism and the related physical adaptations and cultural ramifications, and chart patterns of hominid migration. Registration is required to use all resources.
Virtual Resources for the Ice Age
This section of the Creswell Crags museum site offers activites, maps, pictures, and print-outs for teaching about the Ice Age. The content is most suitable for very young students..
Mystery of the First Americans: The Dating Game
Play this PBS Nova Shockwave game to see how scientists use radiocarbon dating to learn about ancient people.
Human Evolution: You Try It
When did humans evolve? Who are our ancestors? Why did we evolve? This activity shows the major hominid (human or human-like) species discovered to date, when they lived, and possible connections between them. Requires Shockwave.
Ology – ArcheOlogy: Clues from the Past
Developed for kids, this American Museum of Natural History site has lots of quizzes, games, and other active-learning features to foster “student-centered” learning.
BBC History: Archaeology
In the Inside Archaeology there are several engaging multimedia simulations: Hunt the Ancestor, Iron Age Life, Diver’s Quest, Wetwang Chariot, and Reconstructing an Iron-Age Roundhouse.
BBC History: Ages of Treasure Timelines
From the Palaeolithic to the Norman Conquest, explore archaeological sites and treasures from the past, and then test yourself on the eras and events in the Ages of Treasure game.
BBC History: Iron Age Tasks
From forging iron to collecting water, feeding animals to grinding corn, Iron Age Britons were mostly occupied by many relentless tasks each day. Explore these BBC images and you will see that some of the Celts at least were skilled artists and craft workers.
Stonehenge: Solving Ancient Mysteries
How do we learn about the past? What clues help us piece together a picture of life long ago? In this high school lesson, students become detectives as they investigate a mystery at Stonehenge, featured on the Thirteen/WNET New York program, “Secrets of the Dead: Murder at Stonehenge”. They learn about archeologists and anthropologists and the tools and methods they use to gather and interpret scientific evidence. They research current archaeological excavations and contact the scientists working at these digs. As a culminating activity, students advise a colleague on how to proceed with the excavation of a mysterious skeleton.
The Dawn of Humanity: Searching for Clues to Human Origins by Exploring African Geography and History
In this New York Times lesson, students learn about recent archaeological challenges to theories of human origins. They then research the history and geography of various African regions to create proposals for future excavations.(August 7, 2002)
Mr. Donn’s Ancient History Page: Early Man
Don Donn of the Corkran (Maryland) Middle School provides a complete unit with daily lesson plans and unit test for sixth graders. There are also links to multiple K12 lesson plans and activities.
Mr Dowling’s Electronic Passport: Prehistory
Mr. Dowling’s Electronic Passport helps kids browse the world in his virtual classroom. His study guides, homework assignments, and exams are free and available for you to print or to edit.
Early Man in North America: The Known to the Unknown
This strong unit from the from Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute carries the premise that archaeologists must study the environment in which ancient man lived, along with what he has made, in order to better understand his way of life. This unit is divided into three parts: Prehistoric time scale, environment of North America, evidence of early map. transparencies, charts, diagrams and artifacts are supplements, but not available from the website.
MET Art History TImeline:
The Heilbrunn Art History timeline at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a quick way to find collections by area and time period. Many of the museums’ works have associated lesson plans and resources to help integrate them into the classroom.