The Paleolithic Age: 95%

Or we were gatherers and hunters most of our time on planet earth

Some 5 million to 6 million years ago, our ancestors diverged from African apes and the line leading to chimpanzees

20 to 30 different species of hominid or humanlike creatures developed

In eastern and southern Africa

The Origin of Man

All hominids were bipedal Bipedal = To walk upright on two legs

Bipedalism

In 1976, Mary Leakey uncovered in what is now Tanzania a series of footprints of three such individuals, preserved in the cooling volcanic ash about 3.5 million years ago

Two of the hominids appeared to be holding hands

Mary Leakey

About 2.3 million years ago, one particular hominid’s brain grew larger

Scientists believe this brain growth was due to extreme and rapid climate change that required the ability to adapt

Homo Habilis or “Handy Man” had evolved

Then something really remarkable

Some 250,000 years ago, Homo sapiens emerged in Africa

And sometime after 100,000 years ago, Homo sapiens began to migrate out of Africa

They eventually settled every habitable region of the world!

And then Homo Sapiens

95% of humanity’s time on earth Food-collecting or gathering and hunting

way of life Refers to food-collecting or gathering and

hunting way of life Foraging societies Small groups, mobile, nomadic

Paleolithic =The Old Stone Age

Inability to store food Few personal belongings due to nomadism Did not build permanent settlements

But at the mercy of nature

Development of spoken language Ability to make simple tools out of stone Ability to control and use fire Ability to adapt to a multiplicity of

environments

But accomplishments too

The Stone Age lasted from 2.5 million years ago to 5,000 or 6,000 years ago

But three phases of the Stone age1. Paleolithic2. Mesolithic3. Neolithic

Homo sapiens=Wise humans

Paleolithic (“Old Stone Age”) -ending 12,000 years ago and overlapping

with the Great, or Pleistocene, Ice Age Mesolithic (“Middle Stone Age”) -lasting from 12,000 to 10,000 years ago Neolithic (“New Stone Age”) -beginning around 8000 BCE

Stone Age Periodization

Ensuring a steady and plentiful food supply Food collectors not food producers

Greatest Concern

Earliest clothes: Furs and animal hides As time passed, learned to use plant fibers By 26,000 years ago, some Stone Age

peoples were weaving cloth and even dyeing it to add color

Clothing

Based on family unit Extended families clustered together Extended families formed clans bound by

ties of kinship Clans formed bands and tribes

Social Organization

Scarce resources led to the practice of nomadism

Moved on to other areas in search of resources

Scarce Resources

Worshipped many deities Made sacrifices to gods and spirits Buried their dead

Worship

Assigned by gender Men = Hunted Women = Gathered But men’s roles were not necessarily seen

as superior to women’s roles This division continued after Stone Age and

gave rise to long-standing gender inequality that did favor men

Gender Division of Labor

In what significant ways did the Paleolithic period differ from the world we live in today?

Essential Question