World History I SOL WH1.2 Mr. Driskell
A. Modern people are called homosapiens, meaning wise man. B. Homo-sapiens first existed in East Africa, several hundred thousand years ago. C. Home-sapiens spread from East Africa to other places around the earth. Traveling by foot (and sometimes small boat) over thousands of years, they eventually spread to Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
A. Homo-sapiens were hunter-gatherers, meaning that they relied on hunting animals and gathering fruits and berries to eat. In general, the men did the hunting and the women did the gathering. B. Because hunter-gatherers relied so heavily on eating animals, they had to move wherever the animals moved. Thus, they could never settle down in one place and establish villages or towns. They were always on the move.
A. The Paleolithic Era was the Old Stone Age. B. During this period of time, most people were huntergatherers. They traveled around looking for animals to hunt and berries to pick. They never stayed in one place for long. C. People lived in groups called clans. A clan was basically several families that banded together for mutual protection. Even today, some remote societies in places like Africa and New Guinea still live together in clans.
A. People living during the Paleolithic Era invented the first tools and weapons. In fact, the first ever weapon was a rock. A person would pick it up and hit an animal over the head with it. Later, more advanced tools and weapons, such as the knife and the spear, started to be produced. B. Paleolithic societies were the first to learn how to make and control fire. With this ability, they could begin to cook their meals instead of eating them raw. That probably made the meals taste a whole lot better.
C. Paleolithic Era humans were the first to use an oral language. In other words, they could talk to each other. No other species in the history of the world has ever managed to do this. D. Paleolithic Era people created cave art. They took colorful rocks and used them to paint on the walls of caves. Some of these ancient paintings still exist today in various caves in Europe, and they help us learn about these ancient people.
A. The Neolithic Era was the New Stone Age. Remember, neo = new.
B. Sometime during the Neolithic Era, somebody figured out the most important thing that humans have ever discovered. They discovered how to plant crops, and thus discovered farming. This meant that people no longer had to wander from place to place chasing animals, but instead they could stay in one place and eat the crops they grew. This made villages and towns possible. Without planted crops, none of our modern world would be possible.
C. By the way, the word farming and the word agriculture mean the same thing, just like the agriculture classes here at this school.
A. Neolithic societies learned how to domesticate animals. This meant that they could raise cows or other animals in their villages instead of going out and hunting them. This made life a lot easier. The first ever domesticated animal was the dog, who was used to help herd other animals and protect the farmer s land.
B. Neolithic people created advanced tools and weapons, such as the plow, the bow and arrow, and the ax. C. Pottery was invented during the Neolithic era, which meant that they could make pots and bowls to keep food and water in. This allowed them to preserve and transport food and water.
D. Weaving was also invented during the Neolithic, which meant that for the first time, instead of just wearing animal furs, people could actually begin to make their own clothes. This probably made things much more comfortable for them.
A. You might be wondering how we know so much about what happened thousands of years ago, before books had even been invented. The answer is that we use archaeology, the study of the artifacts of the past, to find out information that isn t written down in books. B. Archaeologists mainly study human remains, fossils, tools, and settlements to find out about how humans lived thousands of years ago. C. One major technique that archaeologists use is called carbon dating. With carbon dating, we can figure out approximately how old an artifact is.
A. One major archaeological discovery was the site called Stonehenge in England. It is an elaborate stone monument built during the late Neolithic Era. B. Another major find were the cities of Aleppo and Jericho in the modern day Middle East. These were among the world s first cities. While not nearly as large as New York or Tokyo today, they were the first places where humans came together in large numbers. C. Archaeologists are currently exploring another ancient city, the city of Çatalhöyük in modern day Turkey.