Early Civilizations

1. Early Civilizations

2. Early Man

4. Early HumansWhat we know about the earliest people comes from the things they left behind. • Archaeologists – hunt for evidence buried in the ground • Artifacts - weapons, tools, and other things made by humans • Fossils - traces of plants or animals • Anthropologists - focus on human society (how they developed and how they related to one another.

6. B.C. and A.D. • B.C. --- “Before Christ” • A.D. --- Latin words Anno Domini and means “the year of our Lord”. • B.C. is the time period before Christ and you count backwards from A.D. 1. • *-------------*-------------*--------------*-------------*--------------*---------------* • 3 B.C. 2 B.C. 1 B.C. A.D. 1 A.D. 2 A.D. 3 A.D. 4 • Common Mistake: Many people refer to A.D. and “after death” which is not accurate. This is not accurate because it does not account for the years that Christ was alive on Earth. • B.C. and A.D. are western and Christian oriented. Some people prefer the terms to be neutral to all global regions and religions. Instead people around the world use the abbreviations B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era).

7. Primary and Secondary sources

8. Differences? Primary Sources Secondary Sources PUBLICATIONS: Textbooks, magazine articles, histories, criticisms, commentaries, encyclopedias  interprets and analyzes primary sources • ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records  • CREATIVE WORKS: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art  • RELICS OR ARTIFACTS: Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings

9. Examples: Primary Sources Secondary Sources A journal/magazine article which interprets or reviews previous findings  A history textbook  A book about the effects of WWI  • Diary of Anne Frank - Experiences of a Jewish family during WWII  • The Constitution of Canada - Canadian History  • A journal article reporting NEW research or findings  • Weavings and pottery - Native American history  • Plato's Republic - Women in Ancient Greece 

10. Primary or Secondary?

11. Paleolithic or Old Stone Age Paleolithic means “old stone” in the Greek language. Roughly 2.5 million years ago – around 8000 B.C.

12. Hunters-Gatherers

13. Nomads • Traveled in bands of 30 or more and camped near streams or another water source (Why?) • Men – hunted • Clubs or drove off cliffs • Invented spears, traps, and bows/arrows • Women – looked after children, searched for berries, nuts, and grains

14. Adapting to the Environment • Climate – clothing/protection • Caves • Fire

15. Ice Ages • Long periods of extreme cold • Last Ice Age was from 100,000 B.C. – 8000 B.C.

16. Advancements • Development of the spoken language • How did they express themselves prior to this? • Paintings – religious meaning? (brought good luck for the hunt) • Taming of fire • Technology • flint used to make tools – axes and spears; • skilled tools – fishhooks and needles (animal bones)

17. Lascaux Cave in Dordogne, Francediscovered in 1940 by 4 teenage boys What does this tell us about life in the Paleolithic Age? Primary or Secondary Source?

18. Neolithic or New Stone Age8000 – 4000 B.C. People started farming, building communities, producing goods, and trading.

19. Why was farming important? • Farming revolution

20. Ӧtzi the Iceman • Discovered in 1991 • Named Ӧtzi after the Ӧtztal Alps where he was found

21. Earliest Villages Çatal Hüyük 8000 B.C.

22. Çatal Hüyük • Mud- brick homes packed tightly together and decorated inside with wall paintings • Spaces between were used as a garbage dump • Buried dead below floor of house • Babies buried wearing jewelry

23. Benefits of a Settled Life • Greater security • Steady food supplies  healthy, growing populations more workers to produce a bigger crop • Surplus  trade/barter • Specialization (i.e. pottery, weaving)

24. Advancements • Better farming tools – sickle • Domestication of animals • Worked with metals (copper) • After 4000 B.C., craftspeople in western Asia mixed copper and tin to form bronze, which was widely used. Bronze was harder and longer lasting. • Hence, the Bronze Age from 3000 B.C. and 1200 B.C.

25. The Neolithic Revolution

26. Effects of Farming

27. Migration of Man

30. Review Questions

31. Questions • Who are archaeologists and what do they study? • How did domesticating animals help with the Neolithic people? • Why were Paleolithic people nomads? • Why was the ability to make a fire so important?

32. 5. Complete the chart Cause:Farming begins

33. GEOGRAPHY influenced the development of river valley civilizations.

34. Early River Valley Civilizations

35. Why were River Valleys important? • Good farming conditions made it easy to feed larger #s of people. • Provided fish and freshwater • Travel and trade

36. Ancient Mesopotamia

37. Civilizations • Civilizations are complex societies that have cities, organized governments, art, religion, class divisions, and a writing system. • Into what body of water does the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers flow? • Why do you think the region of Mesopotamia was so well suited for the growth of civilization?

38. Mesopotamia

39. ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA (4000 B.C.)“land in between the rivers” Why was this a perfect place for the 1st civilization? • Fertile Crescent - large arc of fertile land in the Middle East • Tigris & Euphrates Rivers made it possible for farming • Cattle, pigs, goats & sheep were accessible

40. What was it like? • Hot, dry climate • Spring – rivers often flooded (not always) destroying crops, homes, etc. • Farmers believed they needed their gods to bless their efforts. • Irrigation • Some areas were marshy. • Vulnerable to attack and invasion

41. Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent • Sumer – The Earliest of the River Valley Civilizations • Sumerian Civilization grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Kuwait.

42. City-states • Their own gov’t • Often went to war with each other • To gain glory and to control more territory • Protection = wall made of river mud

43. Ziggurat – mountain of god or hill of heaven

44. At the top was a shrine or a special place of worship that only the priests and priestesses could enter. Ziggurat The area around the ziggurat contained palaces and royal storehouses. The surrounding walls had only one entrance because the ziggurat also served as the city’s treasury.

45. Social Classes • Upper class • Kings, priests, and gov’t officials • Kings lived in palaces. • Middle class • Artisans, merchants, farmers, and fishers • Lived in small mud-brick houses • Lower class • Enslaved people who worked on farms or in the temples.

46. Roles of Men and Women Men Women Had some rights Could buy and sell property and run businesses • Headed the households • Only ones that could go to school

47. Mesopotamia“cradle of civilization” Sumerians left a lasting mark on world history. Their ideas and inventions were copied and improved upon by other people.

48. Sumerian Writing: cuneiform Developed to keep track of business deals and other events.

49. Sumerian language

50. Sumerian Literature • Oldest known story comes from Sumer. • Epic of Gilgamesh