Artifacts are ancient objects that people have left behind. These artifacts are anything made or used by people including clothing, tools, weapons and coins. Artifacts tell us a lot about humans where they lived, when they lived and what they liked. Although many people believe that early humans (or cave men as some might say) had little knowledge, artifacts tell us they very smart and able to survive with limited resources. For example, cave paintings and artifacts show us what animals existed and how hominids hunted these animals for their families to eat and how they used their skin and fur for clothing. Some scientists think that these cave paintings of animals were created because the hominids worshiped them and believed the animals had special powers to influence their lives.
When scientists find new artifacts, they answer lots of questions about the lives of early humans but also find new questions to work on. As the book states, some people believe that caves were a place of worship where ceremonies were held. This shows the hominids were spiritual people and who used cave paintings in both their rituals and ceremonies. Various artifacts indicate these people were physically fit and strong as they used spears (as seen in the picture) to hunt animals. Hunting was very important to these people’s survival and their lives evolved around hunting and gathering. The clay bison sculptures shows if a clan had claimed a cave as their territory as it declares in the book. The other thought is that the bison were used in special coming of age ceremonies to show that a child had become an adult. Cave art tools (as seen in the picture) were used for grinding, cutting and carving. Scientists have studied these tools and guessed how they were used. As we can see artifacts tell us many tales about the lives of early humans in how they survived. 
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