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PowerPoint Presentation Materials

For Instructor’s Online Learning Center

Traditions and Encounters

A Global Perspective on the Past 5th Edition

Jerry H. Bentley

Herbert F. Ziegler

PowerPoint Presentations Prepared by Henry Abramson

©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 1

Before History

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Forming the Complex Society

Basic development:

Hunting and foraging

Agriculture

Complex society

Key issue: surplus capital

Major development of first complex societies

3500 B.C.E. – 500 B.C.E.

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Prehistory

What is “history”?

Documentation

Written records

Archaeological discovery

Requisite human presence (or “natural” history)

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Development of Hominids

Animals adapt themselves to environment

Hominids adapt environment to themselves

Use of tools

Language

Complex cooperative social structures

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Australopithecus

“The southern ape” – despite name, a hominid

Discovery of skeleton AL-288-1, north of Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia

Nicknamed “Lucy”

3’5”, 55lb., bipedal, brain 500 cc (modern human:

1400 cc), limited speech but opposable digit

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Later Hominids

Homo erectus, “upright walking human”

Larger brain capacity (1000 cc), improved tool use, control of

fire, ability to communicate complex ideas

Homo sapiens, “consciously thinking human”

Largest brain, esp. frontal regions

Most sophisticated tools and social organization; flexible

language

Migrations of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens

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Global Migrations of Homo erectus and

Homo sapiens

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The Natural Environment

By 13,000 B.C.E., Homo sapiens in every

inhabitable part of the world

Archaeological finds:

Sophisticated tools

Choppers, scrapers, axes, knives, bows, arrows

Cave and hut-like dwellings

Use of fire, animal skins

Hunted several mammal species to extinction

Climatic change may have accelerated process

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Paleolithic Era (“Old Stone Age”)

Evidence:

Archaeological finds

Extrapolation from modern hunter-gatherer societies

Nomadic existence precludes advanced

civilization

Division of labor along gender lines

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Relative Social Equality

Nomadic culture precludes accumulation of

land-based wealth

Relatively egalitarian existence

More likely determinants of status: age, hunting skill,

fertility, personality

Possible gender equality related to food production

Men: protein from hunting

Women: plant gathering

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Big-Game Hunting

Evidence of intelligent coordination of hunting

expeditions

Development of weaponry

Animal-skin disguises

Stampeding tactics

Lighting of fires, etc., to drive game into kill zones

Required planning, communication

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Paleolithic Settlements

Natufian society

Modern Israel and Jordan

Wild wheat, herding

Jomon society

Japan

Wild buckwheat, fishing

Chinook society

Pacific northwest

Berries, acorns, salmon runs

Groups of 1000 or more

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Neandertal Peoples

Neander valley, western Germany

Flourished in Europe and southwest Asia,

200,000 to 35,000 years ago

Also found in Africa, east Asia

Evidence of spirituality: ritual burial

Inhabited some of the same areas as Homo

sapiens

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Creativity of Homo sapiens

Constructed flexible languages for communication of

complex ideas

Increased variety of tools – stone blades, spear throwers,

sewing needles, barbed harpoons

Fabricated ornamental beads, necklaces and bracelets

The bow and arrow – a dramatic improvement in humans’

power over nature

“Venus” figurines

Cave paintings

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Neolithic Era (“New Stone Age”)

Distinction in tool production

Chipped vs. polished

Relied on cultivation for subsistence

Men: herding animals rather than hunting

Women: nurturing vegetation rather than foraging

Spread of agriculture

Slash-and-burn techniques

Exhaustion of soil promotes migration

Transport of crops from one region to another

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Origins and Early Spread of Agriculture

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Agriculture and Population Growth

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Early Agricultural Society

Emergence of villages and towns

Discoveries at Çatal Hüyük – a prominent village

located in Turkey, occupied 7250-5400 B.C.E.

Pots, baskets, textiles, leather, stone, metal tools, wood

carvings, carpets, beads, and jewelry

Development of crafts – pottery, metallurgy, and

textile production

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Social Distinctions

Accumulation of landed wealth initiates

development of social classes

Individuals could trade surplus food for valuable

items

Archaeological evidence in variety of household

decorations, goods buried with deceased members

of society at Çatal Hüyük

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Neolithic Culture

Farmers closely observed the natural world – an

early kind of applied science

Elements of natural environment essential for

functioning

Archaeological evidence of religious worship:

thousands of clay figurines, drawings on pots, tool

decorations, other ritual objects

Fertility: Venus figurines

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The Origins of Urban Life

Craft specialization

Social stratification

Governance

Cultural workers

Development of the city – a gradual process

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