chapter 1 sec 2

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Paleolithic Era (Old Stone Age) – 2 million

BC to 10,000 B.C.

Neolithic Era (New Stone Age) – 10,000 BC

until end of prehistory



Early modern humans lived toward the end of

the Old Stone Age.

They were nomads, people who moved from

place to place to find food. About 20 or 30 people lived together in small

bands or groups.

They survived by hunting and gathering food

(men generally hunted and fished andwomen gathered berries,

fruits, nuts, grains, roots, or

shellfish)



1. Early people depended heavily on theirenvironment for food and shelter

a.) They also found ways to adapttheir surroundings to their needs

1. early humans made weapons outof materials at hand –stone,bone, or wood

2. they built fires for cooking andused animal skins for clothing

3. at some point they developed aspoken language

b.) Some Old Stone Age people alsolearned to travel across water,which helped them to spread to newplaces.



c.) Scholars think that our ancestors believed

in animism: that the world was full of spirits

and forces that might reside in animals,

objects, or dreams.

d.) In Europe, Australia, and Africa, cave or

rock paintings portray animals such as deer,

horses, and buffalo. 1. Some scholars believe cave paintings were

created as part of animist religious beliefs



A. The Neolithic Revolution – By producing their own

food, people no longer had to roam in search of

animals, fish or plants. They could now remain in

one place throughout the year. 1. As a result, early farmers settled into the

first permanent villages.

2. They developed entirely new skills and

technologies. 3. This shift from nomadic life to farming is

called the Neolithic Revolution.



These early farmers were the first todomesticate – raise them in a way that makesthem best suited to human use – plants andanimals.

1. Plant domestication may have begun whenpeople realized that seeds scattered on theground would produce new plants the next year.

2. Animal domestication may have begun withpeople deciding to round up the animals theyusually hunted.

3. Evidence shows that people began to farm in

different parts of the world at different times.



The biggest change in the way people liveduntil the Industrial Revolution of the late

1700s.

Farming led to the establishment of the first

villages and to significant advances intechnology and culture



1. Jericho – built between 10,000 and 9000 BC and

was the size of a few soccer fields

a.) population of a few thousand people.

b.) It was surrounded by a hugewall which suggests that it had a

government or leader who was able to

organize a large construction project.



a.) population of about 6,500 people b.) covered about 3 times as much land as Jericho

and had hundreds of rectangular mud-brick houses,

all connected and all about the same size.



1. In settled farming communities men came todominate family, economic, and political life

2. Heads of families (older men) formed a council

of elders and made decisions about when to plant

and harvest. a.) When food was scarce, warfare

increased and some men gained

prestige as warriors



3. Settled people had more personal

property than nomadic people.

a.) some settled people accumulated morepossessions than their neighbors and so

differences in wealth began to appear.



1. They needed to protect their crops and

measure out enough seed for the next year’s

harvest

2. They also had to measure time accuratelyto know when to plant and harvest

a.) This led to the development of

the first calendars

b.) farmers also learned to useanimals such as oxen or water

buffalo to plow the fields.



3. Archaeological evidence shows that some

villages had workshops where villagers made

tools

4. Some Neolithic people learned to weave clothfrom animal hair or vegetable fibers

5. Many people began using clay to create

pottery for cooking and storage

6. “the Iceman” – the body of a Neolithic manfound preserved in snow in the European Alps

alongside various tools and belongings.

chapter 1 sec 2

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