Unit 2Early Humans

&

The Rise of Civilizations

The Paleolithic Era-Early Man

• How does archaeology provide knowledge of early human life?

• What were the characteristics of life in the Paleolithic Era?

Defining the Time

• Paleolithic Period, also called the Old Stone Age

• 2,500,000 years ago to 200,000 years ago

• Hunter-gatherers

• Used chipped stone tools

• Lived in family based clans

• Nomadic lifestyles

• Used a spoken language

http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens

What’s Been Found

• Cave Art

• Tools & weapons made of stone & bone & probably wood

Africa as a Starting Point

• Lucy: Found in Ethiopia by Donald Johanson & Maurice Taeib in 1974. The remains are 3.2 million years old. She is part of the Australopithecus Afarensis species.

The Qesem Cave

• Remains (teeth) found at Qesem (in Israel) in 2010 date back 200,000 to 400,000 years ago.

• This presents the possibility that man was spreading out faster than first thought OR that man originated from a different area than first thought. No final answers have come from testing yet.

The Great Migration

• What were the push/pull factors that influenced the movement of people throughout the world?

• What factors influenced the location of the earliest civilizations?

Climate Change & the Ice Age

• About 1.6 million years ago the world starting experiencing long period of freezing weather called ice ages.

• This freezing weather cycled; & glaciers expanded & retreated exposing land that is underwater today.

• The Bering Strait was transformed into the land bridge called Beringia. This is how early hominids spread around the world.

Adapting to New Environments

• As humans migrated around the world they adapted to new environments.

• The adaptation process caused humans to develop some of the genetic variety that exists today.

• Depending upon where they settled the resources they had differed

RIVERS!

• The development of farming & permanent settlements depended on locating reliable rivers.

• Fertile Crescent: The heart of Mesopotamian civilization

• Yellow River: The heart of Ancient Chinese civilization

• Indus River: The heart of Ancient Indian civilization

Neolithic Revolution

• What are the characteristics of the Neolithic Revolution?

• What did the religions of the early civilizations have in common?

• How were most of the early civilizations governed?

• How did the Neolithic Revolution improve the lives of humans?

Characteristics of the Time

• AKA the “New Stone Age.”

• 10000 years ago

• Used polished or grinded hard stone tools

• Depended on domesticated plants & animals

• Settled in permanent villages

• Developed pottery & weaving

The Agricultural Revolution

• Occurred in Neolithic Period.

• Refers to the discovery of farming.

• It took most groups 200 to 400 years to fully rely on farming for survival.

Effects of the Agr. Rev.

• Better nutrition, population grew

• Perm. villages & domesticated plants

• The idea of land ownership evolved & people accumulated material goods

• Farmers could trade surplus food for anything else

• Codes of law developed

• Division & specialization of labor was created

• Women were in public more

• Land & water was more valuable-so armies were created to conquer & take it

Changes in Labor

• Division of labor: specific jobs for men & women

• Specialization of labor: Each person had a specific job-carpenter, farmer, weaver, etc.

Metallurgy

• Eventually people began to use metal-first copper, then bronze (a mix of copper & tin).

• Bronze is stronger than copper.

• The Stone Age then lead into the Bronze Age.

Religion

• Stone Age people may have practiced animism-the belief that all things in nature have spirits.

• They may have also believed in life after death, because they buried their dead.

• As settlements became permanent people began to come up with creation stories & more organized rituals.

Management of Power

• Early governments probably formed because managing a growing population took a lot of planning.

• Often rulers lead under the belief of Divine Right (having the blessing of the god(s)).