The Dawn of Civilization: Paleolithic, Neolithic and Beyond

Standard: Students examine the lives of the hunting and gathering people of

the ancient world during the beginnings of human society.

Thinking Like an Archeologist: The Iceman Mystery

Objective: Evaluate the types of evidence and methods of investigation by which scholars have reconstructed the early history of domestication, agricultural

settlement, and cultural development.

Historical Inquiry: Uncovering the Past• First Clue: We have

learned more about early history from this person than from anyone else. Yet this person never knew the meaning of the word history.

• Warm-up: Please use a separate piece of paper to think through your ideas about who this might be and how you came up with your conclusion.

What do you already know about pre-history? What do you already know about the iceman?

What do you want to learn about the iceman?

THE ICEMAN MUMMY: FINALLY FACE TO FACE

• Feb. 25, 2011 -- Brown-eyed, bearded, furrow faced, and tired: this is how Ötzi the Iceman might have looked, according to the latest reconstruction based on 20 years of research and investigations.

• Realized by two Dutch experts, Alfons and Adrie Kennis, the model was produced with the latest in forensic mapping technology that uses three-dimensional images of the mummy's skull as well as infrared and tomographic images.

• The new reconstruction shows a prematurely old man, with deep-set eyes, sunken cheeks, a furrowed face and ungroomed beard and hair.

• Although he looks tired, Ötzi has vivid brown eyes. Indeed, recent research on the 5,300-year-old mummy has shown that the Stone Age man did not have blue eyes as previously thought.

• Believed to have died around the age of 45, Ötzi was about 1.60 meters (5 foot, 3 inches) tall and weighed 50 kilograms (110 pounds).

• The model will go on display beginning March 1 to Jan. 15, 2012, at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.

• Called "Ötzi 20," the exhibition celebrates the 20th anniversary of the mummy’s discovery. • The Iceman’s frozen body was found in a melting glacier in the Ötzal Alps -- hence the Ötzi name

-- on Sept. 19, 1991.

• FROM: http://news.discovery.com/history/otzi-face-reconstruction-110225.html

Key Terms: Otzi The Iceman• Anthropology/Anthropologist• Archeology/Archeologist• Paleolithic Era (Old Stone Age)• Neolithic Era (New Stone Age) • Otztal Alps• Mummify• Artifacts• Culture• Observation• Inference• Inquiry

Artifact Study: What can you infer about the life and death of Otzi?

OBSERVATION • What do you see in the

drawing?

INFERENCE• What story do the artifacts

tell us?

PAPER #1: THE ICEMAN AND ME• You will write a 1-2 page paper

about your archeological research.

• Your paper should be double spaced and presented in standard format. (Leave the settings alone!)

• Your paper should represent your best work, and should be free of grammar errors.

• Your paper is due Friday. No excuses!

• You need an introduction that sets the scene and makes us want to read your paper.

• You need a few paragraphs that analyze your findings. Choose at least two artifacts and explain your process of making observations and inferences. Be as clear and concrete as possible in this part.

• You will need a conclusion that sums up your theory of who the iceman was and what happened to him.

From Hominids to the Old Stone Age:The Paleolithic Era

Objective: Trace the approximate chronology and territorial range of early communities, and analyze the

processes that led to their development.

Time Warp: History of our planet

• 1• 10• 100• 1000• 10,000• 100,000• 1,000,000• 10,000,000• 100,000,000• 1,000,000,000

• Think, Pair, Share: List something that was going on in each time frame.

• What is one event that happened one year ago?

• What is one even that happened ten years ago? Etc. Etc. Etc.

• Discuss your answers with a partner.

Chronology You Should Know: Billions of Years Ago

• One billion years ago: Yes, there was a planet—the earth is estimated to be over 4.5 billion years old. Yes, there was life on earth—scientists believe that bacteria and other single-celled organisms date back 3.8 billion years. Things have been getting more and more complicated since then!

Chronology You Should Know: Millions of Years Ago

• 100,000,000 years ago: dinosaurs, mammals, fish, flowering plants, bees, etc.

• 10,000,000 years ago: dinosaurs have become extinct; apes are on the rise; your history book starts its timeline at 5 million years ago!

• 1,000,000 years ago: Hominids developed in Africa 4-5 million years ago; the last ice age was 1.6 million years ago; hominids were living across Europe 500,000 years ago. NO PEOPLE YET!

Human Origins and Really Cool Skulls

Early Human Migration

Adapt or Die: Man vs. Nature

Paleolithic Era: OLD STONE AGE

• 200,000 BCE: Modern humans (homo-sapiens) appear in Africa.

• 9,000 BCE: Modern humans (homo-sapiens) have spread to all continents except for Antarctica.

• This time is know as the Paleolithic Era, or Old Stone Age.

• CHARACTERISTICS• Nomadic bands of hunter-

gatherers• Use of simple, chipped

stone tools• Use of fire• Development of language • Creation of cave paintings

figurines• Burial of the dead

How did human society become more complex over time?

• 1 million years ago: Hominids, but not humans. • 100,000 years ago: Human migration and

diffusion (started in Africa around 200,000 BCE and spread to all continents by 9000 BCE)

• 10,000 years ago: Hunter-gatherer societies were becoming more complex. Agricultural begins to develop by 8000 BCE.

• 1,000 years ago: Oopps….too late—that is next year’s history class!!!!!!!

The Beginning of Agriculture

Objective: Analyze and compare how peoples of West Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Americas domesticated food

plants and developed agricultural communities in response to local needs and conditions.

Regions of Early Agricultural Settlement(Neolithic Period)

How did stone age people use technology to adapt and survive?

How did toolmaking in the New Stone Age differ from toolmaking in the Old Stone age?

• New technologies meant that people could polish and grind stones to shape tools with sharper edges.

• Tools were now more specialized and included chisels, drills and saws.

• New materials, such as copper, were used in toolmaking.

How did people benefit from farming and the domestication of

plants and animals?

How did the development of agriculture effect Neolithic

society?

How did society become more complex over time?

Neolithic Era (New Stone Age)• 9000 BCE: Modern Humans

have spread to all continents except Antarctica.

• 8000 BCE: The Era begins as agriculture develops.

• 7000 BCE: Cattle herding begins in the Sahara in Africa.

• 6500 BCE: More than 5000 people live in a city in modern Turkey.

• 3500 BCE: The Bronze age begins.

• Farming and the domestication of animals and plants.

• Polishing of stone tools. • Settlements of farming

villages. • Increases in types of

activities; trade and differences in wealth.

• Pottery, weaving and the plow

Çatalhöyük: Early Farming Village

• Work in groups of 2-4 to explore the webpage and complete the worksheet. http://www.smm.org/catal/

From Villages to Cities

Objective: Describe social, cultural, and economic characteristics of large

agricultural settlements on the basis of evidence gathered by archaeologists.

The Bronze Age and Cities

• New Technology: IRRIGATION! • Farmers could produce more food and cultivate

soil in drier regions. Farmers often had a surplus of crops that could be traded for other goods.

• New Way of Working: DIVISION OF LABOR!• Less people were needed to farm, so people

looked to other ways to make a living, such as tool and weapon maker, weaver, potters or religious leaders.

How did early cities differ from farming villages?

• Cities were larger and more densely populated. • Cities were more diverse and included many

unrelated people. • Cities had more formal organization than

villages—there was often a city center and city walls.

• Cities served as centers of trade, which further fueled the economy.

Why did civilizations arise in regions with fertile river valleys?

Characteristics of Civilizations

1. Developed Cities: • Has organized social and

economic institutions• Serves as political, economic

and cultural centers for surrounding areas

• were fundamental to all early river valley civilizations. – Tigris and Euphrates (Ur and

Uruk)– Nile River (Memphis) – Indus River (Mohenjo Daro) – Huang He (Anyang)

2. Organized Government: • Creates laws and

established a system of justice

• Supervised food production and building projects, including irrigation systems

• Organized militaries for defense

• Had a leadership structure• Collected taxes

Characteristics of Civilization

3. Formalized Religion • Included ceremonies, rituals

and other forms of worship• Was closely connected to

the government and power structure of early societies

4. Specialization of Labor• Artisans: skilled craftspeople

(basketry, carpentry, metalwork, pottery, etc.)

• Merchants and traders• Soldiers• Public officials and tax

collectors• Engineers and city planners• Priests and other clergy• Farmers, herders, and

unskilled workers

Characteristics of Civilization

5. Record Keeping and Writing• Developed to keep track of

transactions such as traded goods and tax payments

• Became increasingly complex– Token system– Pictographs– Abstract symbols

• Calendars, based on the the phases of the moon, were used to predict flooding, seasons, etc. for farming!

6. Social Class• Based on occupation, wealth

and influence– Rulers, priests and nobles – Merchants and artisans– Farmers and unskilled workers– Enslaved people

7. The Arts• Styles and techniques

reflected culture—gods/goddesses, heroes, rulers, etc.

Understanding Economic Systems• People need things to survive (food,

water, shelter) and want things to make life better (jewelry, tasty food, tools and gadgets, etc.)

• Societies make three economic choices:

– What to produce– How to produce it– For whom to produce it

• As societies became more complex, other decisions had to be made:

– What do we need to prosper?– What do we want that we cannot

produce for ourselves? – With whom will we trade to obtain

those things? • Conquests, revolutions, alliances and

art almost always involve the interaction of societies in pursuit of their needs and wants.

• TRADITIONAL ECONOMY: People make economic decisions based on customs and traditions

• COMMAND ECONOMY: A central government makes all economic decisions

• MARKET ECONOMY: Private individuals make economic decisions based on competition

• MIXED ECONOMY: Uses a mix of traditional, command and market economies.

The only thing that is permanent is….

When you are finished changing, you’re finished. (Ben Franklin)

Environmental Influences• People in early civilizations were very connected

to their environment and nature. • Storms could wash out crops!• Flash floods could wipe out entire cities!• Drought could kill off livestock!• Soil would lose its fertility over time, causing food

shortages! • Other natural disasters could weaken a

civilization and leave it open to attack!• The quest to find natural resources shaped

societies and caused them to interact!

Cultural Diffusion: The Spread of People and Ideas

• CULTURAL DIFFUSION: The spread of ideas, beliefs, customs, and technology from one culture to another. – Trade– Migration– Conquest

• Results of cultural diffusion: learning languages, sharing farming techniques, developing writing, improving metalworking, incorporating different religions, inspiring artists to use different materials and designs, etc. A BLENDING OF CULTURES

Expansion and Warfare• To expand and become more powerful,

civilizations needed:– Rich farm land– Water – Sea ports and rivers – Other valuable resources

• Competition for land and resources often led to war. Expansion through conquest led to the development of states and kingdoms.

• Conflicts arose between civilizations and nomadic groups. Nomads were often skilled warriors, traders and raiders!

Presentations: Investigating Archeological Sites in the Neolithic Era

• See hand-out with directions.• You may work with a partner. • No two groups can do the same archeological

site. • You will have one week in class to work on

your projects. Presentations are due the following week.

• Have fun, work hard!