WHAT IS PREHISTORY?Everything before writing

PREHISTO

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HOW CAN WE KNOW ABOUT PREHISTORY?Archaeology

study of past through left over artifactsAnthropology

study of human life and cultureBiology of humans and their ancestors

how we are relatedhow do we work

Dating Findsdetermining the ageC14 datingAr etc.

THIRD CHIMPANZEE?Title of book by Jared Diamond

argument over how man evolved, what makes man different and the same, and mankind’s future

Science has placed Humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) in the evolutionary tree like this

DEVELOPMENTHominids

apes that walk uprightearliest fossil evidence dates back 4 million years

Likely was a gradual developmentwalking upright thumbstools

Australopithecus afarensis

HOMO SAPIENS AND HOMO NEANDERTHALENSISEmerged about 200,000 years agoAs with most hominids probably emerged first in east AfricaNeanderthals found in Europe

colder climatesused furs

burial of dead

HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENSAnatomically the same as usAppear in Africa about 150-200,000 years agoSpread “out of Africa” about 100,000 years ago

replace/eliminate/out compete other hominids

MIGRATIONMoving to a new placeWhat does it take to migrate?

depends where your goingadvances in technology

clothing, fire, tools, etc.

PALEOLITHIC AGE

PALEOLITHIC AGEOld Stone Age

2,500,000 BCE to 10,000 BCEBCE= Before Common Era (before year 0)

HUNTERS AND GATHERERSEarly man lived in small hunting and food gathering groups

numbering 20-30 peopleIn general men hunted while the women and the children

gathered berries, fruit, nuts, wild grain, and sea food. Women were responsible for more of the caloric intake than

men. These early people were nomadsNomads- people who wander to find food

WHAT MAKES HUMANS DIFFERENT?Humans modify their environment NOT just adapt

fire, clothing, shelters, modern conveniences (AC, fridge, roads, etc.)

Early humans did this to migrate and surviveIce Age

100,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE

ARTRepresents daily life

hunting scenesAlso used for religious purposes

RELIGIONAround 30,000 years ago evidence emerges of man’s belief in a

spiritual worldMan believed spirits and forces resided in animals, objects, and

even dreamsThey drew paintings of these animals on cave wallsThese beliefs are called animism

RELIGIONWhy would people revere symbols of pregnant women?Why would they bury their dead?Why would they bury their dead with items from their life?Why would they paint drawings of their prey?

NEOLITHIC REVOLUTIO

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NEOLITHIC REVOLUTIONGuess what Neolithic means?

New Stone AgeStarts at the end of the last Ice Age ~8,000 BCEWhy do you think it is a revolution?

Start of systematic agriculturedomestication of animalswasn’t sudden it was a gradual process started before wasn’t that common at beginning

took thousands of years for more people to farm than hunt/gather

FARMING/DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALSHow do you think it started?

garbage heaps, leftovers grew came back to themanimals became dependent on humans for survival

What are advantages?free time, not everyone focused on food production

People can become specialists(pottery, writing, building, etc.)higher caloric intakelarger population

DISADVANTAGES OF AGRICULTURE?

1. Introduced inequality, women rear children men, do the farming, children work the fields.

2. More disease3. Altering local environment towards ecological shifts

including collapse in certain regions4. Less diverse diet as hunting and gathering, meaning less

healthy people. Fossil remains show a 50% increase in malnutrition.

5. Hunting and gathering societies spent about 3 hours a day on food acquisition. During planting season, people could spend 12 hours a day on food production.

WHERE IT STARTSAgriculture developed in 3 separate regions independently.

Maybe as many as 5 First, in the Middle East around 11,000 years ago along the

Black Sea Wheat/ BarleySecond, in Southern China along the Hueng He (Yellow River)

9,000 years ago- RiceThird, in Central Mexico around 7,000 years ago- Maize (corn).There is evidence that Sub-Saharan Africa and Northern China

might have developed agriculture independently. Wherever agriculture developed it spread. This is called

diffusion.What did they grow first?

grains types of grass

DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

Species Year Domesticated

Location

Dog 15,000 BCE Multiple Locations

Reindeer 14,000 BCE Scandinavia

Goat 10,000 BCE Iran

Sheep 8,000 BCE Middle East

END OF NEOLITHICDiscover metallurgy 4,000-3,000 BCE

heat metal it melts pour into moldsCopper first used

soft metal melts easilyBronze

copper and tinharder than just copper

Bronze Age 3,000-1,200 BCEIron Age

harder metal than bronze

FARMING VILLAGE TO CIVILIZATIONMore people living and working togetherMore need for organization

division of laborsocial organizationgovernmentsFirst types of government?autocracies (one ruler)monarchy, dictators, etc.writingart

Cities can compete better than villages