Early Humans for KidsHunters & Gatherers
Hunter/gatherer refers to how a group of people get their food. They find it growing wild or hunt and fish for it. They do not grow any food. Another name for a hunter/gatherer is a nomad.
As early humans left Africa and spread throughout the globe, they found fruits and nuts that were edible. They gathered seeds and roots. They became adept at catching fish. Fishing was done using spears, bow and arrow, nets, and even fish hooks. As time went on, some early humans built canoes and rafts to go out into deeper water to catch larger fish.
They became good hunters. Hunters mostly went after herd beasts such as deer, wooly mammoth, and saber-toothed tigers! They had bows and stone tipped arrows, stone spears, stone knives and axes, and they built snares and pits to catch animals. Over time, early man learned how to smoke and preserve meat to help feed themselves during the long cold winters. During the summer months, they would follow the herds and hunt. During the winter they returned to their winter camps.
It took a long time for man to settle down and learn how to plant and harvest crops. For millions of years, man was a hunter and gatherer.