Paleolithic AgeBeginning of Mankind

2,000,000-15,000 B.C.E.

Essential Standards

• 6.H.2- Understand the political, economic and/or social significance of historical events, issues, individuals and cultural groups.

Clarifying Objective

• 6.H.2.3- Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed civilizations, societies and regions over time (e.g., agricultural technology, weaponry, transportation and communication).

Essential Question

Beginning of Time

• The Universe explodes into being

• Galaxies are created. Trillions of stars line the galaxies

• Around one star in one galaxy a blue planet appears

Earth

• This blue planet is our Earth

• No other known planet has an atmosphere and liquid water which are the two conditions needed for life

2.6 Million Years Ago

• 2.6 million years ago a unique species is born onto Earth

• That species is Mankind

• Now in the grasslands of east Africa the struggle for mankind’s survival will begin

Paleolithic Era• The Paleolithic Era was also

known as the 1st Stone Age

• The name Paleolithic comes from the word (Pale) meaning old

• The time period was characterized by being the first time humans used stone tools

Paleolithic Era

• Mankind of the Paleolithic period were nomads

• This was the time when mankind first started hunting & gathering

• This is when they started inventing & innovating

Rift Valley, East Africa• There is now evidence that points

to the start of mankind being in the Rift Valley of East Africa

• Early evidence of mankind has also been found in Europe & Asia & Australia but the earliest, earliest evidence was found in the Rift Valley in East Africa

• The Rift Valley is a very fertile place in the world which is why much life occurs there

Rift Valley, East Africa

• They are nomadic and move from place to place to follow their food

• This is where mankind hunts and gathers to feed his family

• http://www.history.com/shows/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-the-earliest-humans?m=5189719baf036&s=All&f=1&free=false

Hunting & Gathering• Hunting Animals & Gathering

berries was how the beginning of mankind fed themselves

• Mankind hunted large wild game animals of Africa (Pronghorn, Impala)

• They would employ a technique called Slash & Burn to section off the animals they hunted

Hunting & Gathering• Slash & Burn would not allow

the plants to grow where the burning took place so the animals would have to move back to where their food source was and the hunters would wait there

• They were nomadic and followed their food around

• Mankind Gathered berries, roots, & wheat

How did they Hunt• Mankind does not have any of the

other natural weapons of Africa’s other animal predators

• Mankind cannot outrun a Cheetah

• Mankind is nowhere near as strong as a Lion

• Mankind does not have the crushing jaws of a Crocodile

• So what do they do, They INVENT

Early Mankind Inventions• Because mankind realized

that they did not have the natural abilities of the animals they hunted they invented tools & weapons

• Mankind realized that tools and weapons would give them the advantage against the animals they hunted

Important Tools/Weapons• There were four simple early

mankind inventions that were greater than any other

• The first tools used by the Paleolithic mankind were wooden digging sticks

• These digging sticks were used to dig up plants and roots from the ground to eat (gathering)

Important Tools/Weapons• The second invention was the

spear

• The spear was just a stick with a sharp rock tied onto the end of the stick

• Revolutionized hunting for the earliest humans. Allowed humans to make up ground by throwing the spear instead of having to run and tackle the animals which would have been nearly imposable

Important Tools/Weapons• The third invention was

the Stone Axe

• This was a wooden handle with and a stone blade

• This is used to chop down trees to give early humans usable access to wood

Important Tools/Weapons• The fourth was the tool used to

make fire (control fire)

• This tool was a stick with string tied around it

• Being able to control fire for the first time allowed humans to survive without this tool there would be no humankind at all

• It was used to scare off animals that would attack humans

Fire• Our planet is the only known

place in the Universe for the right conditions for fire

• Cooking their food over a fire got rid of a lot of the fats and carbohydrates before they even ate the food making it easier to digest the food and get more nutrients from the food

Fire• Better nutrition boosts the

human brain

• Over the next 2 million years the brain more than doubles in size

• This allows mankind to think & communicate better than any other spices on Earth

• http://www.history.com/shows/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-fire?m=518971d79ac04

Communication• Early Paleolithic humans didn’t

have a language

• They communicated with others by drawing pictures on their cave walls

• These were called pictographs/cave paintings

• Pictographs/Cave Paintings would tell stories (big hunt, someone having a baby)

Mankind Spreads Out• Over the next 50,000 years

mankind spreads out

• They settle…– The Middle East– Asia– Australia – Europe

• But the temperature is starting to get colder

Important Points• 6.H.2.3- (Inventions) Invention,

Innovation, & Technology was the key to survival of mankind throughout the Paleolithic Era

• 6.H.2.3- (Communication) Paleolithic people used PICTOGRAPHS or CAVE DRAWINGS to communicate because they didn’t have language yet

• 6.H.2.3- (Inventions) The 4 most important inventions/Innovations were– Wooden digging sticks (first known

invention of mankind)– The Spear– The Axe– Fire ( Control of Fire)

• 6.H.2.1- (Migrations) The 1st evidence of human existence was in the Rift Valley in East Africa

• 6.H.2.1- (Migrations) The Paleolithic people were hunters & gatherers

• 6.H.2.1- (Migrations) The Paleolithic humans were NOMADIC meaning they would move place to place to follow their food

Earliest Humans

• http://www.history.com/shows/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-the-earliest-humans#