Mesolithic

The Mesolithic period began when: the last ice sheet over Britain melted, the climate became warmer and large areas of woodland began to grow. The sea level rose until Britain was no longer connected to mainland Europe and it therefore became an island on its own. Mesolithic people were nomadic which means that they rarely settled in places and usually lived in temporary campsites near water sources. Their 'tent-houses' would be made from a series of poles covered by animal skins or thatch. Often Mesolithic people are called hunter-gatherers because of the way they got their food to survive - they hunted for wild animals and they gathered wild nuts and berries. Their tools included: small, thumb-sized knapped pieces of flint called microliths which provided sharp tips for making lightweight spears and arrows; bone tools such as fish hooks deer antler tools which might have been used for digging. Small beasts such as: deer, wild cattle, pigs and horses were their main food source but fishing for: salmon, eel and trout was important too and this led to the development of dug-out canoes, known as logboats, and paddles.