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The Earliest Humans

The Earliest Humans. Outcome: Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture. Setting the Stage: Who are we? Ev idence suggests humans could be much older than originally thought Scientists use artifacts to search for answers

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The Earliest Humans

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  1. The Earliest Humans Outcome: Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture

  2. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Setting the Stage: Who are we? • Evidence suggests humans could be much older than originally thought • Scientists use artifacts to search for answers • Artifact: human made objects like tools and jewelry • Unfortunately, prehistory can leave more questions than answers • Prehistory: time before the invention of writing

  3. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Important: The story is not complete and there are many questions left to answer • Two prevailing ideas (you will not be forced to pick a side): • Creation: Idea that a higher power put humans on earth • Evolution: Theory that humans evolved from another being

  4. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Interesting Evidence Found in Africa • Anthropologists (people who study culture) and paleontologists (people who study fossils) attempt to use artifacts and fossils to understand early human’s culture • Culture: a people’s unique way of life

  5. Lucy

  6. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Lucy • Unusually complete skeleton of female hominid • Hominid: being that walks upright on two legs • Discovered by Donald Johanson in 1974 in Africa • Named after Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” • Dated to be 3.5 million years old

  7. Laetoli Footprints

  8. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Laetoli Footprints • Two hominid footprints preserved in volcanic ash in Africa • Found by anthropologist Mary Leaky in 1978 • Dated to be 3.6 million years old

  9. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Neither Lucy nor the Laetoli footprints were made by actual humans • Other beings such as Cro-Magnons, homo erectus, & Neatherthals walked the earth before we did • No link to these beings has been made; “missing link”

  10. Migration out of Africa

  11. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Humans Migrate • Humans are known as homo sapiens which means “wise men” due to brain size • Eventually homo erectus & homo sapiens migrated out of Africa • Early humans were nomads or highly mobile people who move from place to place foraging, or searching for new sources of food • All early humans were also hunter-gatherers • Hunter-gatherers: those whose food supply depended on hunting animals and collecting plant foods • Estimates show they started leaving Africa around 125,000 years ago

  12. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Settled in Europe 33,000 years ago, China 67,000 years ago, Australia 38,000 years ago, North America 12,000 years ago, and South America 12- 33,000 years ago • We know this due to similar stone tool artifacts found in different regions that date to roughly the same time period • Shows that early humans used technology: applying knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet their needs

  13. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Why did they leave Africa? • Competition with other humans • Following animal herds • Human curiosity

  14. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Agriculture Changes Everything! • Early nomadic humans lived in bands of 25-70people • Around 10,000 years ago, the Neolithic Revolution began: the beginning of farming • It started accidentally when some women scattered seeds near a campsite and noticed crops growing there when they came back next season • Rising temperatures worldwide provided longer growing seasons • Farming produces more food than hunting or gathering

  15. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • More food means a higher population, thus more labor • Due to labor and farming methods, permanent settlements developed • Permanent settlements turn into villages, villages turn into cities, cities turn into civilizations • Once you reach a certain population, you can begin specialization • Specialization: the development of skills in a specific kind of work (other than farming)

  16. Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture • Slash & burn farming was used (cut a field and burn it for nutrients) • Domestication or taming of animals began as well

  17. Coming Up Next…! • Eventually all of this led to the creation of the first civilization on Earth in Mesopotamia called Sumer

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