Chapter 1- World History

• Objectives: • 1. To familiarize students with the spread of

human societies in the Paleolithic Era• 2. To explore the conditions of life in gathering

and hunting societies• 3. To examine factors that led to change in the

gathering and hunting societies.

First Peoples 240,000 years ago -10,000B.C.E

• B.C.E.- Before Common Era rather than B.C (before Christ)

• C.E. – Common Era rather than A.D. (Anno Domini)• Gathering hunting societies– Way of life existed for 95 percent of species existence– First societies with worldview

• Paleolithic Age (2.5 million to 12,000 years ago) stone tools. Erroneously (false) dismissed as unimportant.

• Why was the Paleolithic Age considered unimportant?• Language was not written• No monumental structures• Mesolithic Age (12,000-10,000 years ago) transitional• Why are tools significant?• Defines people, survival, hunting, ceremony, food prep., shelter

construction, needles, hooks

• Australopithecines- – Earliest humanlike creatures in Africa 3-4 million years

ago – First hominids –walked upright, made simple tools.– Lucy- bipedal, sizable brain, larnx

• “Multi regional” theory– All primates developed independently

• “Out of Africa” theory – Homo Sapiens- (wise ones) emerged in eastern and

southern Africa (Rift Valley) 250,000 years ago • Stayed in Africa about 150,000 years• Migrated north into Europe and Asia then Oceania (Pacific

Islands to Aus.)• Africa - “human revolution” , culture shaped human

behavior

• Humans inhabited new environments– Technological innovations: • Stone tools, fire, clothing, fishing, hunting techniques

• Patterns of exchange develop about 100,00 years ago and trade settlements develop– Ornaments and burial relics indicated a growing

sense of culture and identity– 200 mile trade networks– What are the results of exchange between people?

• What may burial indicate?• Burials indicate a world view such as after life belief

systems• Neanderthals in Europe buried dead and made flutes

• Beringia-Peak of the Ice Age 20,000 years ago created land bridges across the Bering Strait allowing for transcontinental migrations

• Into Eurasia– 45,000 years ago expansion from Africa to the

Middle East, Europe, then Asia– Atlatl (spear thrower) and bows develop

• Rituals and sacred rites – Totemic thinking (descended from animals) are

evidenced in cave paintings – Animistic- all things possess a spirit

• Paleolithic Venus figurines date back 35,000 years ago– Figurines found across Europe– Indicates a diffusion (spread of a cultural practice)

• Shelters found, made of mammoth bones.– Nomadic life style waned (diminished)

• Into Australia 60,000 years ago from Indonesia– Use of boats and remained gatherer hunters – Complex worldview Dreamtime • Past experiences, oral tradition and songlines that

define migration routes

• Into the Americas– Settled later 30,000-15,000 years ago and first

culture of the Americas – Last area to be settled• Crossed the Bering land bridge 15,000 years

ago• Developed the Clovis point

• Pacific– The last phase of human migration 3,500 years ago– Water migration from the Bismarck and Solomon

Islands.• Spoke Austronesian languages originated in southern China• Austronesian language the most widespread • Settled New Zealand ca. 900 C.E.

• Pacific settlers colonized (expanding political, social and economic institutions to another land)– Brought plants and women to colonize– Established highly stratified societies or chiefdoms

• “Big Man” concept develops– Collect and distribute

– Deforestation, extinction of animals led to famine and conflict

• First Human Societies– Paleolithic societies were small 25-30– Kinship groups– Very low population density

• Nomadic lifestyle and low gathering and hunting provided little surplus of food

• Egalitarian (equal distribution of rights) develop– No land means little wealth or power– Free from tyranny and oppression

• Relationships between men and women were more equal than later societies.– Confirmed by Captain James Cook in 1770 – Roles of men and women were defined• Gender division of labor

– Men hunted, women gathered and food was equally distributed

• Economy and Environment– Gatherer and Hunting societies not considered primitive today

• Worked fewer hours than agricultural and industrial societies-more leisure time.

• Life expectancy -35 years• How did fire altered environment and lives? • Encourage growth of plants. • Travel north• Cure wood tools such as a bow• Expand their diet by cooking food.• Large animals became extinct

• Scholars have noted that Paleolithic humans played a role in shaping their environment in which of the following ways?

• (A) They deliberately set fires to encourage the growth of particular plants.

• (B) They regulated their hunting to avoid the extinction of various large animals.

• (C) They drove wild animals into new regions to increase their numbers.

• (D) They regulated the human population so as not to overtax the environment.

• Answer A

• Realm of Spirit– Why was it difficult to interpret spirit world? – Lack of written sources– Rich ceremonial life• Determined by burial sites• Venus figures -a Goddess culture /feminine

rejuvenation and life giving force– Cyclical view of time based on the moon and cycles of

feminine fertility

• View of the cosmos was cyclic rather than the Western linear line. – Some cultures believing in monotheism (one god)

and others that believed in spirit realms. • Shamans were often used as intermediaries

Choose best answer

• 1. The religious or spiritual dimension of Paleolithic culture included

• (A) no ceremonial life.• (B) full-time religious specialists with over-riding power • (C) a belief amongst some in a cyclical view of time

which emphasized endlessly repeated patterns of regeneration and disintegration.

• (D) a complete lack of a feminine dimension to religion as reflected in universally male images and statues.

• Answer C

• “The Great Transition”– Gradual change 25,000 years ago when tools

were miniaturized called micro blades.– People began to interact more – Collection of wild grains – Ice Age ends 16,000 years ago which generates a

global warming.

• Richer environments develop that are more compatible for humans– People begin to settle and larger, more complex societies

develop• Households are capable of storing more goods

– Egalitarianism diminishes / competition arises• Hierarchies of power burgeon (grow) and material possessions

increase.

• People settle 12,000-4,000 years ago– Jamon people (Japan) settle near the sea, expanded

food sources and created earliest pot (innovation)– Bow and arrows develop separately in Africa, Europe,

and the Middle East then spread to the Americas– Dogs were domesticated as evidenced by cemeteries

• Comparing Paleolithic Societies of the San of southern Africa and the Chumash of southern California

• Both survived into the modern era as gathering and hunting societies

• The San live in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa – Occupied for 5,000 years and are part of the

Khoisan linguistic family– Gatherers and hunters– Oldest rock art

• Most Khoisan speakers absorbed by the Bantu • Settled into agriculture with domesticated

animals.• Geography of the San made it difficult for them to

be assimilated (brought into another culture)• There was diffusion from the Bantu, iron arrowheads and

drums

• San society characterized by mobility• Why mobile?– Harsh, unpredictable resources – Bands of 10-30 people

• No formal hierarchy of leadership (no priests, chiefs)

– Only 28 tools, even distribution of labor between men and women

– Free time

• Egalitarian society– Negative comments about the size of a kill was

referred to as “insulting the meat”• This combats boastful pride• The owner of the arrow, not the hunter could decide

on how to distribute the meat. – Arrows were widely shared and sometimes owned by

women.

• Trading of gifts did not have to be of equal value. – Connection between two people who were in debt

• Divorce was permitted – Polygamy (more than one wife) was permitted• Resources were challenging -too many people upset

balance of the band• Disputes were handled through discourse (talk)

• Belief system – Creator god is Goa Na, gave rise to humans, plants, animals– Capricious (at a whim) and used humans to his delight. – Gauwa was destructive, spreading disease. – Ancestor worship/ fear exercised in a ritual all night dances. – Curing dances established community.

• Please do now: List political, social, economic and religious developments of Paleolithic people and analyze how these did or did not develop.

• The Chumash of Southern California– Chumash are representative of later post-Ice Age Paleolithic Era

(settled, some agriculture, trade, division of labor, hierarchies, complex economy)

– Permanent villages, more complex societies.• Lived near sea

– Drew from more resources and densely populated.– Nearly 20,000 and discovered by the Spanish in the. 16th Century

• Created a new society in 1150 C.E. – Major contribution to change the tomol, an ocean canoe-

carried two tons– Building or owning a tomol contributed to social inequality

Why?• Contributed to island trade and possession of trade items. • Deep sea catches were also highly prized.• Created those who had/ had not

• Market economy– Extensive resources and trade established a market

economy (supply/demand) among gatherer and hunting society.

– Money was beads– Bearskins were worn only by tomol owners – Attire indicating economic hierarchy – Specialized labor (certain skills for specific jobs)

• Burials included parts of the canoe for a special group of people called the Brotherhood of the Tomol.– Chiefdom was hereditary (sometimes women)• Big Man concept

– They led war, trade, tomol ownership, religious rituals, and taxed the rich to redistribute to the poor.

• Reflections:– What have we lost in our quest for modernity?

Doing World HistoryBig Picture- a time line of the most important events of those under study, accompanied by an explanation of their ultimate significance.Diffusion- the spread of natural elements, people, artifacts, ideas or other cultural creations from one civilization to another.Syncretism – mixing of elements from two or more cultures that result in something new.Comparison- the pointing out of similarities and differences between two civilizations in terms of their histories, institutions, cultural accomplishments and economies.Common Phenomena- natural or historical events and developments that two or more societies share. Examples could be climate, disease, natural disasters, shared technologies or other human developments. Basically, “What is shared.”

• Do now please: Create diagram of the San and Chumash people and list their political, social and economic traits for each.

• Now create a 2 to 1 ratio of groups. Two similar groups and one difference or vice versa.

Compare/ Contrast Essay• Compare and contrast the San and Chumash people as defined by

their geography.• Must Have:• Thesis statement- must had three qualified groups. Type of political

structure (egalitarian or chiefdom), social structure (kinship groups or defined hierarchy) or economic (gather/ hunt or market).

• 2 to 1 group ratio. Two similarities, one difference or two differences and one similarity

• Each of the three groups should have a minimum of three pieces of evidence that support the thesis and provides analysis or WHY something developed as it did.

• Give time period