Teacher Notes

The York Hoard

Yorkshire Museum YORYM : Various Theme: Farmers and Traders

What are they?

How old are they?

This is a hoard of 19 flint tools of various different types. There are axe heads, blades, scrapers and leaf-shaped arrowheads. The tools probably represent the stock of a skilled flint knapper who may have travelled around, selling or exchanging the things they made. Not everyone would have had the skill to make flint tools and the quality of these suggests they were made by a specialist.

The tools date to the Neolithic period and are about 6000 years old.

Why are they important? This hoard represents the earliest evidence for people on the site of York. They may reflect someone passing through the area rather than living on a settlement here, but nevertheless they show that there was human activity within the landscape on the site of the city of York, 4000 years before the Romans arrived.

Where were they found? These tools were all found together in a hole the size of a top hat at the North East Railway Gas Works in the centre of York, in 1868.

What are they made of?

CH I N EA

G

T

The tools are all made of grey flint. Flint is very durable and can be polished to a beautiful smooth surface.

Y

OR

E

<$45?@;>5

Although we do not know exactly where the flint used to make these objects came from, we know that the material was in plentiful supply in Yorkshire. People collected flint from sites along the Yorkshire coast, such as Flamborough Head. It remains a ready source of flint today.

K S HIR

>>

PAGE: 1 of 2

Yorkshire Museum

Teacher Notes How were they made?

National Curriculum Links

The tools were all made using a process called knapping. The maker would have used a harder stone to gradually chip away at a large piece of flint until they had created a tool of the right size and shape. Flint knapping is a very skilled process. The maker needs to know and understand the properties of the material as well as having technical ability. Some of the tools in this hoard have been re-sharpened, suggesting they were used often. The tools were obviously important enough to their owner to be re-sharpened when they became blunt rather than thrown away.

Key Stage 2 (Ages 7-11)

Because flint knapping was a specialised skill, the person who made these objects would probably have trained and practised for many years. He or she would have made these objects then sold or traded them to other people to use in their everyday tasks.

Who would have used them?

History Pupils should be taught about changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. This could include Iron Age hill forts: tribal kingdoms, farming, art and culture. All pupils should understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts and frame historically-valid questions Pupils should continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study.

These tools were used for a wide range of activities. Men, women and children would have used tools like these in going about their daily lives.

Places to Visit

Axe heads would be attached to wooden handles and used for chopping wood, digging earth, killing and cutting up animals, and even for fighting. The long, thin flint blades were useful for cutting and slicing, particularly cutting up plants. The round scrapers were effective for removing the hide (skins) from animals and for cutting through animal sinews. The leaf-shaped points would have been attached to long, wooden shafts and used as arrowheads or spear heads for hunting and fishing.

After the Ice Exhibition www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/exhibition/after-the-ice/

Yorkshire Museum

Other Resource Links British Museum Image Bank: Neolithic Britain http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/ resources/all_resources/neolithic_britain.aspx

Where are they now? The tools are on display at the Yorkshire Museum in York.

PAGE: 2 of 2