Why Study History?HISTORY:• Helps Us Understand People and Societies• Helps Us Understand Change and How the Society

We Live in Came to Be• Gives Importance of History in Our Own Lives• Contributes to Moral Understanding• Provides Identity• Is Essential for Good Citizenship

vs.

HISTORHISTORYY

What is Culture?

• People’s unique way of life

When Did History Begin?Prehistory – period of time before writing

History- the study of the past, w/ attention to written records

Writing – Began ca. 3000 BC

Dating HistoryBC / AD - “Before Christ“ / “Anno Domini" -Latin

"in the year of our Lord."

BCE / CE – “Before Common Era” / “Common Era”

Studying Ancient History• Archaeologists

• Anthropologists

• Paleontologists

• Artifacts

• Fossils

The Dawn of Man

Origins of Man Hominids - Early Humans First found in Africa- cooler then, Sahara was

fertile grasslandsAustralopithecus Afarensis (4-1 million BC)• “Lucy”- 3.5 million BC - found by Donald

Johanson in Africa • Average: 4 feet tall, 75 pounds.

Homo habilis

• “Handy man” used stone tools

• 2.2 - 1.6 mil. BCE• Eastern - Southern Africa• Omnivorous diet.• Louis and Mary Leakey found

artifacts in the Great Rift Valley

Homo Habilis

Homo Erectus“Upright Man” 1.6 mil. – 300,000 BCE• advanced tool making

1st to use fire, skilled hunters, language, migrated to other continents- Europe and Asia.

. Neanderthal

(100,000 -40,000 BCE)• Rituals for a successful

hunt• Buried dead - Left items in

the graves showing they believed in an afterlife

• Neanderthal disappeared???

• Cro-Magnon Man (40,000 – 8000 BCE) similar

to modern man, bow & arrow, jewelry, cave art, planned hunts, huts, fish hooks, Flute - music

Homo Sapien (thinking man) - About 300,000 years ago. (first discovered in Germany)

Homo Sapien Sapien - About 10,000 years ago. Oldest found

so far in Colorado, about 8,000 years old.

Paleolithic Age – Old Stone Age Hunters and Gatherers - Nomads

What They Were Like:1. NO permanent dwellings-

(caves/tents)2. Moved w/ the animals3. Tools4. Primitive language5. Fire- warmth, cooking, light, smoke

to preserve food and torches to drive animals off cliffs

Neolithic Age - New Stone Age 8000BC – 3000BCAgricultural Revolution - Farming– Polished stone tools– Pottery– Raised animals (domestication)– First farming- near Tigris & Euphrates Rivers (present-day Iraq and Iran)

Influence of Farming

                                                                                          1. Irrigation - By a river2. Permanent housing – mud brick, wood3. Social structure – Men- hunt/farm; women/children- chores & farm.4. Artisans – make things - pottery, jewelry, cloth, etc.5. Barter system - trade b/t the artisans and the farmers

Early Farming Villages • Jarmo - Oldest farming site (Iraq)

• Catal Huyuk - first farming town (Turkey)

Early religion – polytheistic – many gods

Ziggurats – temples – also used for storage & sacrifices

Neolithic RevolutionFarming methods:

Slash & Burn• Plow (pulled by oxen)

• metal tools

• Bad Erosion

High Tech Metals

• Bronze age ( melt tin & copper)

Civilization - what is it?• Advanced cities– Large buildings

• Centers of trade– Near water or roads

• Specialized workers– Artisans

• Institutions(Complex)– Gov’t– Religion– Economies

• Record keeping– Scribes

• cuneiform