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Living in the Stone Age

Living in the Stone Age. Examining History: Prehistory. PRE-HISTORY - period before written history Approximately 1.75 million years ago, the earliest people first began using small pieces of rock as tools. Oldowan stone tools - earliest known. Homo Habilis – the Tool Maker.

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Living in the Stone Age

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  1. Living in the Stone Age

  2. Examining History: Prehistory • PRE-HISTORY- period before written history • Approximately 1.75 million years ago, the earliest people first began using small pieces of rock as tools Oldowan stone tools - earliest known

  3. Homo Habilis – the Tool Maker • Lived 2 million years ago • Upright walking • Made stone tools • No clothes, no fire • Brain about 2/3 size of modern

  4. Homo Erectus – Fire and Travel • Larger brain than Habilis • Walked upright • Used fire to cook • Ate animals – scavenging or hunting? • More complex tools • First human to leave Africa- spread to Mediterranean, Asia Homo Erectus Family Acheulean Hand Axe

  5. Homo Sapiens – The Thinker • Lived 250 000 y.a. • Includes us today • Had • art • rituals • complex tools • language • complex society Cave painting Early Homo Sapiens Tools

  6. Who Were the Neanderthals? • Variety of early Modern Humans • Large brains • DNA suggests they intermarried with other modern humans • Lived in Ice Age Europe Reconstruction of a Neanderthal woman - National Geographic • Really did live in caves • Had complex tools Mousterian tool kit

  7. The Great Leap Forward 35 000 years ago • Two Fundamental Changes • Development of modern anatomy • Beginning of innovative behaviour • More complex tools and more sophisticated weapons • Trade for raw materials and ornaments • Art, sculptures, paintings and crafted objects for beauty and religion Paleolithic Bone tools Cave Art

  8. Paleolithic Age Greek “paleo” means “old” Upper Paleolithic age was 50 000 – 10 000 years ago Neolithic Age Greek “neo” means “new” Neolithic Revolution occurred between 9000 – 4000 BCE “Lithos” = stone

  9. PALEOLITHIC (Older) Small groups of 5-10 families Nomadic to semi-nomadic Probably egalitarian NEOLITHIC (Newer) People began farming Crops planted Animals domesticated More complex tools & weapons Stratification begins Comparing Stone Ages Scottish neolithic house Paleolithic dwelling at Gönnersdorf

  10. Factors influencing the start of agriculture End of the Ice Age 9500 BCE Population growth (cause or consequence?) Permanent towns and cities first city was Jericho, in Mesopotamia between 8000 – 7000 BCE Trade by barter system obsidian – most valued traded material traded for farm produce Development of hierarchical class system, occupations Social Structure: Neolithic Age The earliest agricultural sites

  11. Religion & Art in Paleolithic Age • The Paleolithic Age was the first to develop fine art – drawing and sculpture • Cultural explosion • more tools, jewellery, and sculptures/ figurines of clay, ivory and stone emerged • Spiritual practices – • graves found jewellery and spears made of mammoth tusks • suggests a ritual burial with a view of an afterlife

  12. Paleolithic Cave Art Painting at Lascaux Caves France 15 000 BCE Clay bison found 900m from entrance of cave at Tuc d'Audoubert, Ariege

  13. Venus of Willendorf • Figures similar to this are common at Paleolithic sites • 30 000 years old • Fertility and goddess worship?

  14. Major Innovations of the Stone Age • More complex human societies • from semi-nomadic to permanent cities; • domestication of animals; leisure time • Development of social hierarchies • Development of alliances and cooperation • Marriage customs • Development of trade goods and routes • Religious rituals • Refined sense of artistic beauty

  15. OTZI/ STONEHENGE These are both significant finds that date to the Neolithic period. One person from each pair come up and grab an article on both Otzi and Stonehenge Each person read one article and take notes; swap information so that in the end, you have information in your notes on both finds.

  16. STONEHENGE • Stonehenge is located on Salisbury Plain in England • Created 2800-1500 BCE • Stonehenge is an example of a Neolithic megalith (megalith = Greek for “big stones”) • Exact purpose is unknown: religious rituals, agricultural markers or astronomical observatories?

  17. Mystery of Stonehenge • Built in 3 major stages over 1300 years • Tribal, Beaker, Battle Axe folk people • Megaliths stones 45 tons and Heel Stone is 31 tons • Understanding of astronomy and mathematics • sunrise, eclipses of sun and moon • Show changing seasons for agriculture? • Religious ritual?

  18. Otzi- The Iceman • Discovered by two hikers in the Otzal Alps, Italy/Austria • 3300 bce

  19. All these lead to:The first Civilizations

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