Ancient Ireland

Question 1

When did the first settlers arrive in Mesolithic Ireland?

Answer 1

8,000-3,500BC

Question 2

List several tools and weapons used during the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic)

Answer 2

Made from stone, wood and bone

-Needle made from antler
-Flint scraper
-Axe
-Arrowhead with flint
-Arrowhead

Question 3

Describe the food and how it was cooked in the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic)

Answer 3

-Hunter-gatherers: got food by hunting, fishing and gathering fruit, nuts and berries
-Food was cooked over a fire on a spit

Question 4

How did people clothe themselves in Mesolithic Ireland?

Answer 4

Animal skins sewn together by bone needles

Question 5

Explain housing in Mesolithic Ireland

Answer 5

-Mesolithic people were nomadic
-Temporary dwellings like:
-Tents
-Temporary basket like houses

Question 6

What does nomadic mean?

Answer 6

Regularly moving from place to placeq

Question 7

Describe burials during Mesolithic Ireland

Answer 7

-Cremation
-Buried with grave goods

Question 8

What are grave goods?

Answer 8

axes and other valuable items buried with dead people

Question 9

When was Neolithic Ireland?

Answer 9

4,00 to 3,500 BC

Question 10

What skills were brought during Neolithic Ireland and by who?

Answer 10

-Farming
-Bread-making
-Tomb-building
-Pottery-making

by new settlers

Question 11

Name 2 major Neolithic sites in Ireland

Answer 11

-The Céide Fields in Co. Mayo
-Lough Gur in Co. Limerick
-Boyne Valley in Co. Meath

Question 12

What tools and weapons were used during Neolithic Ireland?

Answer 12

-Stone mattocks and ploughs to plough land
-Saddle stone to grind wheat
-Pots to store foos, tools, ashes of dead

Question 13

Describe food in Neolithic Ireland

Answer 13

-Farmers grew crops like wheat and barley and domesticated animals like sheep and pigs
-Still hunted and gathered, but no longer main source of food
-Made bread by grinding wheat into flour on a saddle stone

Question 14

Describe houses in Neolithic Ireland

Answer 14

-Usually stayed in one place due to farming
-Wattle and daub walls
-Roof was thatched with straw or rushes

Question 15

What was wattle and daub?

Answer 15

Wooden sticks woven together like a basket (wattle) and covered with a mixture of mud, dung, sand and straw (daub)

Question 16

Explain burials in Neolithic Ireland

Answer 16

-Built tombs for cremated remains and grave goods
-Megaliths (huge stones) were used
-Evidence of skilled engineers

Question 17

Name and explain the different types of megaliths used for Neolithic burials

Answer 17

Passage graves: huge mounds built over a central passage which led to a chamber for the dead

Court Cairns: Had an open space in the front and a chamber, covered by a mound of stones for the dead behind.

Portal dolmen: 2 or more huge standing stones with a capstone resting on top