Before History

1. Before History Chapter 1

2. Prehistory refers to the period before writing, while history refers to the era after the invention of writing enabled human communities to record and store information.

3. Australopithecus • “The Southern Ape” but not an ape, a hominid • Appeared in east Africa about 4-1 million years ago • Walked upright on two legs; well-developed hands • Stone tools; fire later • Short, hairy and limited intelligence • About 3 feet tall, 25-55 pounds • Brain size was 500 cubic centimeters

4. November 1974 • Hadar, Ethiopia • 25-30 years old • 3.5 feet tall • About 55 pounds • One of the most complete and best-preserved skeletons of any early human ancestor • Skull about the size of a grapefruit • Walked upright • 3.2 million years ago Lucy

5. Homo erectus • “upright walking human” • 2.5 million to 200,000 years ago • East Africa • Large brain (1000cc); sophisticated tools • Fire • Developed language skills in well-coordinated hunts of large animals • Migrated to Asia and Europe; established throughout by 200,000 years ago

6. Homo sapiens • “Consciously thinking human” • Evolved as early as 200,000 years ago • Brain with large frontal regions for conscious and reflective thought • Spread throughout Eurasia beginning more than one hundred thousand years ago • Ice age land bridges enabled them to populate other continents • Used knives, spears, bows, and arrows • Brought pressure on other species

7. Paleolithic Society Economy and society of hunting and gathering peoples • Economic life • Prevented individuals from accumulating private property • Lived an egalitarian existence • Lived in small bands, about thirty to fifty members in each group • Big game hunting with special tools and tactics • Some permanent Paleolithic settlements, if area rich in resources • Natufians in eastern Mediterranean • Jomon in central Japan • Chinook in Pacific northwest area of North America

8. Paleolithic Culture Neandertal peoples • Europe and southwest Asia, between one hundred thousand and thirty-five thousand years ago • Careful, deliberate burials were evidence of a capacity for emotion and feelings Cro-Magnon peoples (Homo sapiens sapiens) • The first human beings of fully modern type; appeared forty thousand years ago • Venus figurines--fertility • Cave paintings of animals--sympathetic magic • Better weapons, needles, jewelry, furniture

10. Neolithic Era The origins of agriculture • Neolithic era; new stone age; refined tools and agriculture • From about twelve thousand to six thousand years ago • Neolithic women began systematic cultivation of plants • Neolithic men began to domesticate animals • Early agriculture around 9000 B.C.E. • Agriculture emerged independently in several parts of the world • Merchants, migrants, and travelers spread food knowledge • Slash-and-burn cultivation involved frequent movement of farmers • Agriculture more work than hunting/gathering but steady, large supply of food

11. Neolithic Society Early agricultural society; population explosion caused by surplus • Emergence of villages and towns • Jericho, earliest known neolithic village • Mud huts and defensive walls • Specialization of labor • Neolithic site of Çatal Hüyük, eight thousand people • Prehistoric craft industries: pottery, metallurgy, and textile production • Social distinctions, due to private land ownership

12. Neolithic Culture • calendars • life cycle deities

13. Urban Life • Emergence of cities, larger and more complex than villages • Earliest cities in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, 4000 to 3500 B.C.E.