PREHISTORY

1º ESO Geography and History

HISTORICAL PERIODS Historians have divided the

past in different periods or

stages to help people

understand past events:

Prehistory

Ancient Age

Middle Ages

Early Modern Age

Contemporary History

Prehistory: is the historical

period that began with the

appearance of the first human

beings on Earth and ended with

the invention of writing (3500

B.C.)

STAGES:

Prehistory is divided in different

stages or ages usually connected

to the material of the tools used

at the time:

The Stone Age: dividided into

Palaeolithic and Neolithic.

The Metal Age: dividided into the

Copper Age, the Bronze Age

and the Iron Age.

THE PROCESS OF HOMINISATION

Hominids: upper

primates who walked

upright and all their

descendants, including

human beings.

The evolution of

hominids does not

follow a direct line.

Hominisation had different stages starred by

different species that developed several features that

distinguish them from apes:

Bipedalism (upright walking)

Cranial changes: smaller jawbone and teeth, vertical

forehead, increased brain size.

Changes in the hand: opposable thumb which made

holding objects easier.

PRINCIPAL HOMINIDS

Australopithecus

Homo Habilis

Homo Erectus

Homo Antecessor

Homo

Neanderthalensis

Homo Sapiens

Chronology: 5-1 million years ago

Geographical location: Africa

Height: 1 m

Characteristics:

Brain not very developed

Bipedalism, walking erect

Used tools but did not make them (sticks and stones in their natural state)

Australopithecus

Chronology: 2,5-1,6 million years ago.

Geographical location: Africa

Height: 1,55m

Characteristics:

Small brain but bigger than the Australopithecus

Legs better adapted to bipedism.

First hominid to make tools (by knocking one stone against another to sharpen it)

Homo habilis

Chronology: 1,5-0,3

million years ago

Geographical location:

Africa and Asia

Height: 1,70 m

Characteristics:

Bigger brain

Made fire

Made tools: bifaces (two-

sided stone tool for

cutting)

Animal hides as clothes

Homo erectus

Chronology: 800 000 years

ago

Geographical location:

Europe (found in

Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

Height: 1,60 m

Characteristics:

Mixed physical features:

old ones as protruding

eyebrows, new ones as fine

jaw.

Made more evolved tools to

cut, break…

Homo antecessor

Chronology: 130 000-35 000

Geographical location: Africa, Europe and Asia

Height: 1,60 m

Characteristics:

Strong complexion

Big face, protruding eyebrows, sunken forehead and no chin.

Brain similar size to a human brain today.

Various stone tools.

Buried their dead (culture)

Homo Neanderthalensis

Chronology: 195 000-today

Geographical location: Europe, Asia, Afirca, America and Oceania

Height: 1,70 m

Characteristics:

Human beings of today: spherical skull, straight forehead, prominent chin

Developed inteligence: same size of brain as the neanderthalensis.

Varied tools made of stone, bone, animal horns…

Art (culture)

Homo sapiens sapiens

PREHISTORY IS DIVIDED IN DIFFERENT STAGES:

The Stone Age:

dividided into

Palaeolithic and

Neolithic.

The Metal Age: dividided

into the Copper Age, the

Bronze Age and the

Iron Age.

THE STONE AGE

Palaeolithic: 4.2 million

years ago to 10,000 B.C.

Neolithic: 10.000 B.C. to

3.500 B.C

THE PALAEOLITHIC

4.2 million years ago

to 10 000 B.C.

ECONOMY IN THE PALAEOLITHIC

Hunter-gatherers: they

consumed nature’s products

but did not produced

anything by themselves.

Stone and bone tools.

Made fire for light, heat and

cooking.

Used animal hides to make

clothes, bags, vessels, etc.

SOCIETY IN THE PALEOLITHIC

Humans lived in small groups

(20-30 members)

Nomadic hordes or tribes:

caves and huts. When

resources run out in a place,

they moved to another one.

Hierarchy within each group:

the strongest warrior, the

wisest old man, the witch

doctor or sorcerer…were the

most important members.

RELIGION IN THE PALAEOLITHIC

Worshipped the natural

elements (rain, thunder,

lightning) as they

depended on them.

Practised magic rituals to

promote fertility (food and

members).

Buried and

commemorated their dead

ART IN THE PALAEOLITHIC

Realistic style (tried to copy nature).

Magical purposes

Cave paintings

Mobile art

Cave paintings:

Colours obtained from natural elements (blood, coal, minerals…)

mixed with grease.

Isolated animal figures (bison, deer, horse…) and their own hands.

Used the parts of the rock and the cave ceilings to give an

impression of relief

Purposes:

Magical

Personal expression of what they saw

Examples:

Altamira cave (Santillana del Mar, Cantabria, Spain)

Lascaux cave (France)

Mobile art:

Portable artistic objects. Animals,

amulets, Venus.

Venus statues: female figurines

made of stone, ivory or bone.

Large pregnant bellies and breasts

symbolising fertility.

Purposes:

Magical

Ornamental

Examples:

Venus of Lespugue (France)

Venus of Willendorf (Austria)

Baston of deer/horse

THE NEOLITHIC

10.000 B.C. to

3.500 B.C.

(invention of

writing)

ECONOMY IN THE NEOLITHIC: THE NEOLITHIC

REVOLUTION

It started in the Fertile

Crescent (Middle East) located

between River Tigris and River

Euphrates (Mesopotamia) and

around river Nile (Egypt).

Invention of farming:

agriculture and livestock.

Humans became producers:

cereals, goats, sheeps, pigs…

Animals provided: meat, milk,

hides and dung (fertilise)

Bartering: exchange of products

among groups

Specialised tools: axes, sickles, mortars, hoes

Pottery, textiles, baskets to contain the food.

SOCIETY IN THE NEOLITHIC

Sedentary as they produced

their own food.

Houses made of clay and

wood. Later also of stone

Population increased:more

food meant more safety.

Social division according to

their activity (division of

labour)

RELIGION IN THE NEOLITHIC

Worshipped the natural

elements such as the stars and

the sun as their crops

depended on them.

Believed in spirits.

Cult of the dead: necropolises

close to the villages. The dead

were buried with their

personal possesions (pots,

jewels, tools, etc.)

ART IN THE NEOLITHIC

Realistic style and abstract

style

Idols

Rock painting

Ceramic pots

THE METAL AGE

5000 B.C. to

1000 B.C

ECONOMY IN THE METAL AGE

It started in the Fertile Crescent

(Middle East).

Metal tools:

Cooper Age (from 4000 B.C)

Bronze Age (from 2200 B.C.)

Iron Age (from 1000 B.C. to the Roman

Empire)

Metallurgy (extraction an use of

metals)

More durable and resistant tools

Weapons

Agriculture and livestock

Specialised tools: axes,

sickles, mortars, hoes

Pottery, textiles, baskets

to contain the food.

Metalworking: the ore was

extracted with stone picks.

The ore was smelted in an

oven and left to cool, then

the slag was removed by

hitting the metal with a

hammer. Then it was

smelted again and poured

into a mould in the shape

of the required object.

SOCIETY IN THE METAL AGE

Permanent settlements in

high places (watch and

defense)

Surrounded by palisades or

walls.

Circular or rectangular

dwellings with a stone base,

wooden or adobe walls, and

roofs made of thatch and

branches.

Greater specilisation of labour which brought

greater social differences.

Metal became a symbol of wealth.

Conflict and war expanded. Possesing weapons

made some settlements gain power over others.

RELIGION IN THE METAL AGE

Worshipped the forces of nature

such as the stars and the sun as

their crops depended on them.

Believed in spirits.

Ceremonies in caves and sacred

places where they offered metal

objects to their gods.

Cult of the dead: constructions with

funerary function. The dead were

buried with their personal

possesions (pots, jewels, tools,

weapons,etc.)

ART IN THE NEOLITHIC

Megalithic constructions

Schematic paintings on

rocks and caves

Megalithic constructions:

Mega =big; lithos=stone

Funerary function and sanctuaries

Types:

Menhir: a big stone standing vertically on the floor

Alignments: parallel rows of menhirs. Carnac (France)

Cromlech: stones ordered in a circle. Stonehenge (United

Kingdom)

Dolmen: large standing stones supporting a larger

horizontal stone.

Schematic paintings:

On rocks and in caves

Often in red and black

Depicting simplified human

and animal figures.

Signs and geometric figures

(circles, spirals, dots, zigzag

lines…)

Idols: depicted with big eyes

and triangles with arms and

legs.