Understanding Early Human History: Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods

1. Historians • People who study and write about the past • Anthropologists • People who study society • How people interact and how they are related How do we know what happened in the past?

2. Archaeologists • People who hunt for evidence about the past • Artifacts • Early weapons or tools • Fossils • Preserved animal or plant How do we know what happened in the past?

3. Paleolithic Period • Old Stone Age • ~2.5 million years ago until 8,000 BC • 10,000 years ago What do we know about early humans?

4. Nomads • People who move from place to place • Usually groups of about 30 • Hunter-gatherers • Spent most of their time looking for food What do we know about early humans?

5. Nomadic men • Men did the hunting • Early nomads chased animals off cliffs • Later nomads developed spears, traps, & bow and arrows What do we know about early humans?

6. Nomadic women • Stayed at campsite • Looked after children • Foraged for berries, nuts, grains What do we know about early humans?

7. Nomadic shelter • Near water • Warm climates • Didn’t need much • Cold climates • Often stayed in caves • Later: animal hides held up by poles What do we know about early humans?

8. Fire! • Rubbing pieces of wood together • Helped fend off cold weather • Ice Age from 100,000 BC to 8,000 BC What advancements did humans make during the Paleolithic Period?

9. Language • Developed spoken language • Work together and pass on knowledge • Art • Created paint and made cave paintings • Possibly religious? What advancements did humans make during the Paleolithic Period?

11. Technology • Tools and methods that help people perform tasks • Flint • Could be sharpened for axes, spears • Fishing hooks • Needles to make clothes What advancements did humans make during the Paleolithic Period?

12. Neolithic Period • New Stone age • ~10,000 BC to between 4,000 and 2,000 BC • After the Ice Age What happened during the Neolithic Period?

13. Domestication • Definition: the taming of animals or plants for human use What happened during the Neolithic Period?

14. Domesticating animals • Dogs • Sheep, goats, pigs • Ox, yak, horses, llamas, alpacas, camels What happened during the Neolithic Period?

15. Domesticating plants • Wheat, barley, peas, rice, beans, potatoes, maize What happened during the Neolithic Period?

16. Farming • Historians called this the “farming revolution” • Allowed people to move away from hunting and gathering • Could stay in one permanent place • Fewer living the nomadic lifestyle What happened during the Neolithic Period?

17. Reasons to settle • Farmers needed to be near their crops • To water them • To harvest them • To protect them What did early villages look like?

18. Located all over the world • Europe, India, Egypt, China, Mexico • Land bridge linked Asia and North America during Ice Age What did early villages look like?

19. Jericho • Located in modern day Israel • 8,000 BC What did early villages look like?

20. Çatal Hüyük • Located in modern day Turkey • 6,000 BC • 6,000 residents • Mud-brick houses • Decorated with wall paintings • Farmers and hunters What did early villages look like?

21. Security • They had an abundance of food • Shelters were sturdier • If they grew enough food, they could trade Why did people decide to settle in one place?

22. Specialization • Different kinds of jobs for those that didn’t farm • Potters used clay to store food • Weavers made baskets and clothes • Toolmakers made farming tools like sickles Why did people decide to settle in one place?

23. Copper • Heated rock, melted copper • Mixed with tin created much harder material called bronze • Bronze age 3,000 BC to 1,200 BC Why did people decide to settle in one place?

24. Civilizations are complex societies • Cities • Cities grew out of villages • Organized government • Governments grew out of the need for organization • Class system • Organization of society meant division of labor • Different people had different jobs • Others depended on you for stuff • You depended on them When did villages become civilizations?

25. Civilizations are complex societies • Religion • Art • Less time working meant more leisure time to think about things • Written language • In order to pass on their ideas, they had to develop a writing system When did villages become civilizations?

26. First civilizations arose in river valleys • Good farming conditions • Soil fertile from flooding • Wetlands are abundant in wildlife When did villages become civilizations?

27. Fertile Crescent • Area of land known as Mesopotamia When did villages become civilizations?

28. Mesopotamia had a very dry climate • Farmers depended on floods to make soil fertile • Didn’t flood every year • Began to pray • Irrigation When did villages become civilizations?

29. Irrigation • Process of building walls, waterways, and ditches to bring water to fields • Allowed farmers to grow food even if the rivers didn’t flood When did villages become civilizations?

30. Sumer • First civilization • About how many years ago? • Formed by many cities in Southern Mesopotamia When did villages become civilizations?

31. What was life like in Ancient Sumer?

32. Sumer • Between Tigris and Euphrates River • Mesopotamia • “Land between the rivers” What was life like in ancient Sumer?

33. Government • Cities separated by desert • City-states • Independent • Often went to war with each other • Glory and land What was life like in ancient Sumer?

34. Religion • Polytheism • Belief in many gods • Ziggurat • Grant temples for worship • Centers of the cities • Priests and priestesses • Very powerful What was life like in ancient Sumer?

35. Citizens • Mostly farmers • Artisans • Made things out of metal, cloth, or clay What was life like in ancient Sumer?

36. Class system • Upper class • Kings, priests, and government officials • Middle class • Workers and artisans • Lower class • Slaves What was life like in ancient Sumer?

37. Class system • Upper class • Kings, priests, and government officials • Middle class • Workers and artisans • Lower class • Slaves What was life like in ancient Sumer?

38. Writing • Invented writing • Cuneiform • 100s of symbols • Cut into clay • Scribes • Record keepers • Important and powerful What was life like in ancient Sumer?

39. Literature • Epic of Gilgamesh • Oldest known story • King who travels the world and does great things • Tries to live forever, but not a god •  What was life like in ancient Sumer?

40. Science & math • Irrigation • Water crops even if the climate was dry • Wheel • Made traveling between city-states easier What was life like in ancient Sumer?

41. Science & math (cont) • Plow • Turned up the land and made farming easier • Sailboat • Relied on wind, rather than manpower, to sail What was life like in ancient Sumer?

42. Science & math (cont) • Geometry • Used to make buildings and plot land • Numbers • Based on 60—hours, minutes • Calendar • Based on moon • 12-month calendar What was life like in ancient Sumer?

43. Assyrian Empire • Empire: group of different people under one ruler • Assyria: largest empire to date • Arose about 1,000 years after Hammurabi • Fertile Valleys How did the Assyrians rise to power in Mesopotamia?

44. Assyrian Empire • Similar lifestyle to Babylonians • Capital at Nineveh • On Tigris River • Collected taxes • Divided into provinces • Political districts How did the Assyrians rise to power in Mesopotamia?

45. Assyrian Empire • Similar lifestyle to Babylonians • Similar religion • Polytheistic • Same writing system • Cuneiform • Similar laws, but with harsher punishments How did the Assyrians rise to power in Mesopotamia?

46. Assyrian Empire • Libraries • Largest library in the world with 25,000 stories and scripts How did the Assyrians rise to power in Mesopotamia?

47. Assyrian Empire • Large army • Other groups jealous of fertile land • Needed army to defend land • Used army to take over Mesopotamia in 900 BC How did the Assyrians rise to power in Mesopotamia?

48. Assyrian Army • Spears and daggers • Bows and arrows • Chariot riders • Men on wheeled carts pulled by horses • Cavalry • Soldiers on horses How did the Assyrians rise to power in Mesopotamia?

49. Assyrian Army • Better weapons • Hittites produced stronger iron • Battering rams • For walled cities • Burned buildings, kidnapped people • Harsh punishments for people who disobeyed How did the Assyrians rise to power in Mesopotamia?

50. Fall of the Assyrian Empire • Harsh treatment left people unhappy • Led to uprisings • Fighting after king died • Chaldeans rose to power What caused the fall of the Assyrian Empire?