From Human Prehistory to Early Civilizations

1
Chapter 1
Rafal

• From Human Prehistory to Early Civilizations

2
Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers

• Hunting and gathering (HG) economies dominated
  until 9000 BCE. HG groups were small and roles
  were separated between men and women, but no
  social inequalities yet existed.
• Population growth was slow, partly because
  fertility rates among women were limited due to
  longer years of breast-feeding.

3
Late Paleolithic Developments

• During the Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age) which
  ran up until about 12,000 BCE, humans first
  learned to use only simple tools of wood and
  stone.
• The development of cave paintings, rituals,
  goddesses, speech, and languages increased
  communication and gave way to various cultures.

4
Human Migration

• The human species, homo sapiens sapiens, was
  thought to have originated in Africa. Gradual
  migration, facilitated by innovations like fire
  and clothing, pushed humans out of Africa about
  750,000 years ago (ya) and to China, Britain, and
  Australia.
• Most scholars believe that humans crossed the
  Bering Strait, the ice bridge from Siberia to
  Alaska, about 30,000 ya.

5
The Mesolithic Age

• During the Middle Stone Age from 12,000 to
  8,000 BCE humans improved their ability to
  sharpen tools to make better weapons and cutting
  tools. Mesolithic peoples domesticated animals
  like cows, which led to increased food supply and
  population growth. This acceleration in
  population, though, led to more conflicts and
  wars.

6
The Neolithic Revolution Agriculture!

• The New Stone Age was a result of better tool
  use, more elaborate social organization and
  population pressure. The Neolithic Revolution saw
  the development of agriculture, which had its
  roots in the Middle East as early as 10,000 BCE.
• Farming led to the domestication of more animals
  and the ability to support more people.
  Agriculture methods were initially difficult to
  learn and were often mixed with older and more
  reliable HG techniques.

7
The Spread of Agriculture

• Agriculture spread to almost all geographic areas
  with more concentrated zones of farming in the
  Andes, Mesoamerica, West Africa, the Middle East,
  India, North China, and Southeast Asia. Societies
  became mostly agricultural, in which most people
  were farmers and the production of food was the
  main economic activity.
• Farming led to increased curiosities about
  scientific matters like weather patterns.

8
The Bronze Age

• The discovery of metal tools dating back to 4000
  BCE marks the beginning of this next age of human
  existence. Copper was the first metal to be used
  and in the Middle East stone tools were no longer
  used. Metalworking greatly aided agriculture as
  farmers were able to work the land more
  efficiently. Because farming took less work and
  time specialization of jobs came about with
  occupations for artisans, toolmakers, and
  woodworkers.

9
Civilization

• The earliest civilizations formed in Mesopotamia,
  Egypt, the Indus River Basin and China. A society
  can only be called a civilization if it has
  developed a writing system. Cuneiform was the
  first type of writing. HG peoples did not
  develop civilizations due to lack of stability
  and not all agricultural societies were
  civilizations. Nomads were often considered
  barbaric for their lack of civilization.

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Civilization, cont.

• Civilizations often have stronger class divisions
  and greater separations between the rulers and
  the ruled. Male superiority was very evident and
  women were subject to subordinate roles.

11
Tigris-Euphrates Civilization

• Located between the two rivers in an area called
  Mesopotamia, it was the very first civilization.
  The Sumerians, who invaded and then inhabited the
  area around 3500 BCE, developed the first
  cuneiform alphabet. Ziggurats, massive towers,
  were the first architectural monuments. City-
  states were the primary form of govt., in which
  slavery did exist.

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Tigris-Euphrates Civilization cont.

• After the Sumerians the Akkadians and then the
  Babylonians invaded Mesopotamia. The Babylonian
  king, Hammurabi, devised Hammurabis Law Code.
  After the Babylonians came the Semitic peoples,
  the Assyrians and then the Persians.

13
Egyptian Civilization

• This 2nd center of civilization, formed around
  3000 BCE, was located along the Nile River. The
  pharaoh was the king and had a great deal of
  power. Pyramids served as tombs for pharaohs. The
  economy was much focused on irrigation along the
  Nile. Egypt was later invaded by the kingdom of
  Kush. The Egyptians made great achievements in
  mathematics (creating the concept of a 24 hour
  day) art (hieroglyphics and tomb art) and
  architecture.

14
Indus River Valley Civilization

• Emerging around 2500 BCE along the river. This
  civilization supported the large cities of
  Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. The Indus River
  peoples created their won alpahbet, writing
  system and artistic forms.

15
Chinese River Valley Civilization

• Developed along the Huanghe (Yellow River) in
  China, it flourished in considerable isolation.
  Their govt. was compromised of a well organized
  state and they produced advanced technology.
  Chinese River Valley peoples were the first to
  devise a ideographic writing system, and made
  great accomplishments in astronomy, art, and
  music. Massive structures were not a part of
  their culture. A line of kings called the Shang
  ruled around 1500 BCE (Shang Dynasty).

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Final Thought

• Be able to describe each of the ages of human
  existence. (Paleolithic, Mesolithic)
• Compare and contrast the development of two of
  the four early civilizations.
• Be able to describe each of the four
  civilizations in terms of geographic locations
  and other relevant terms.