Early Man Paleolithic and Neolithic Era
Early Humans in the Paleolithic & Neolithic Ages Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains. It is a subfield of anthropology, the study of all human culture. From million-year-old fossilized remains of our earliest human ancestors in Africa, to 20th century buildings in present-day New York City, archaeology analyzes the physical remains of the past in pursuit of a broad and comprehensive understanding of human culture. Archaeology helps us understand not only where and when people lived on the earth, but also why and how they have lived, examining the changes and causes of changes that have occurred in human cultures over time, seeking patterns and explanations of patterns to explain everything from how and when people first came to inhabit the Americas, to the origins of agriculture and complex societies. The key tool used by archeologist is carbon dating - the process of measuring radioactivity to determine the age of objects. In addition, these archeologists search the world for artifacts (things like pottery, tools, and human remains) that can help explain the events of the past. The First Humans Although science has given us more precise methods for examining prehistory, much of our understanding of early humans still relies on considerable conjecture. Given the rate of new discoveries, the following account of the current theory of early human life might well be changed in a few years. Theories on prehistory (the before written records) and early man constantly change as new evidence comes to light (Louis Leakey). The earliest humanlike creatures know as hominids lived in Africa some 3 to 4 million years ago. Called Australopithecines, or southern ape-men, by their discoverers, they flourished in eastern and southern Africa and were the first hominids to make simple stone tools. In 1959, Louis and Mary Leakey discovered a new form of hominid in Africa that they labeled Homo habilis (skilful human). The Leakeys believed that Homo habilis, which had a brain almost 50% larger than that of Australopithecines, was the earliest tool-making hominid. Their larger brains and ability to walk upright allowed these hominids to become more sophisticated in searching for meat, seeds, and nuts for nourishment. A new phase in early human development occurred around 1.5 million years ago with the emergence of Homo erectus (upright human). A more advance human form, Homo erectus made use of larger and more varied tools and was the first hominid to leave Africa and move in to Europe and Asia. Emergence of Homo sapiens & Neanderthals Around 250,000 years ago, a crucial stage in human development began with the emergence of Homo sapiens (wise human being). The first anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens remains were found in Africa. Recent evidence indicates that they began to spread outside of Africa around 70,000 years ago (see map). These modern humans soon encountered other hominids, such as the Neanderthals, whose remains were first found in the Neander valley in Germany. Neanderthals lived in Europe and Asia between 200,000 and 30,000 years ago and riled on a variety of stone tools. Moreover, Neanderthals were the first early humans to bury their dead. At first archeologist believed that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals competed for survival, with Homo sapiens ultimately driving Neanderthals to extinction. However, in recent years, thanks to the Human Genome Project that broke down the human DNA code, it was determined that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals were having scandalous liaisons dating back tens of thousands of years. Researchers conclude that Neanderthals had mated with humans. They estimated that the DNA of living Asians and Europeans was (on average) 2.5 percent Neanderthal. They had to reject a pure version of the out-of-africa model. Instead, their model was closer to out-of- Africa-and-get-to-know-some-Neanderthals-very-well.
Paleolithic Age One of the basic distinguishing features of the human species is the ability to make tools. The earliest tools were made of stone and so this early period of human history (2,500,000-10,000 BCE) has been designated the Paleolithic Age (Greek for old stone ). For hundreds of thousands of years, humans relied on hunting and gathering for their daily food. Paleolithic peoples had a close relationship with the world around them, and over a period of time, they came to know which animals to hunt and which plants to eat. However, they did NOT know how to grow crops or raise animals. The hunting of animals and gathering of wild plants no doubt led to certain patterns of living. Archaeologists have speculated that Paleolithic people lived in small bands of twenty to thirty individuals. They were nomadic (they moved from place to place) because they had no choice but to follow animal migrations and vegetation cycles. Hunting depended on careful observation of animal behavior patterns and required a group effort for success. This can be seen in the cave painting to the right. Found in Vallon-Pont-d Arc, France, it depicts the animals that Paleolithic man hunted for survival. The invention of the spear and later the bow and arrow made hunting considerably easier. Paleolithic peoples found shelter in caves and over time, they created new types of shelter as well. Perhaps the most common was simple structures of wood poles or sticks covered with animal hides. These shelters could also have been constructed with Mammoth bones as the framework. The systematic use of fire, which began 500,000 years ago, made it possible for the caves and human-made structures to have light and heat. The making of tools and the use of fire are two of the most important technological innovations of Paleolithic peoples and shows how crucial the ability to adapt was to human survival. The Neolithic Revolution The end of the last ice age around 10,000 BCE was followed by what is called the Neolithic Age (Greek for new stone ). The Neolithic age (10,000-4,000 BCE) was a time of significant change in the living patters of the people of the world. The greatest change during this time was the shift from hunting animals and gathering plants for sustenance to producing food by systematic agriculture. The planting of grains and vegetables provided a regular supply of food, while the domestication of animals, such as sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs, added a steady source of meat, milk, and fibers such as wool for clothing. Larger animals could also be used as beasts of burden. The growing of crops and the taming of food producing animals created a new relationship between humans and nature. Historians like to speak of this as an agricultural revolution. This ability to acquire food on a regular basis gave humans greater control over their environment and enabled them to give up their nomadic ways of life and begin to live in permanent settled communities. This increase in the food supply led to a noticeable expansion of the population. These settlements are referred to by historians as Neolithic farming villages or towns. These towns could be found in Europe, India, Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica, the oldest and most extensive ones were located in the Middle East. Jericho, in Canaan as well as çatal Hüyük are two of the very oldest. Çatal Hüyük was 32 acres in size and had an estimated population of six thousand people. The Neolithic agricultural revolution had far-reaching consequences. As communities stored food and accumulated material goods, they began to engage in trade. In the Middle East, for example, the new communities exchanged such objects as shells, flint, and semiprecious stones. People also began to specialize in certain crafts, and a division of labor developed. The change to systematic agriculture in the Neolithic Age changed the relationship of men and women. Men assumed the primary responsibility of working the fields and herding animals, keeping them out of the home. Women stayed behind caring for the children and tending to the performing other household tasks required considerable labor. These new roles would lead to the practice of patriarchy, or a society dominated by men. Between 4,000-3,000 BCE the use of metals marked a new level of human control over the environment and its resources. These new metals would lead to new tools and weapons that were far more useful than the older stone instruments.
Entry Ticket P Paleolithic or Neolithic? N Created Cave Art Developed Agriculture Developed Oral Language Developed Weaving Skills Domesticated Animals Invented the first tools, including simple weapons Learned how to make and use fire Made Pottery Lived in Clans Nomadic Used Advanced Tools
Vocabulary Terms List - Prehistory (Paleolithic and Neolithic) Directions: Use p. 7-18 in the textbook to find the definitions. Then, draw a picture or symbol of the term to help you remember. Term Definition Symbol or Picture Archaeologists Fossils Technology Paleolithic Age Artifacts Huntergatherers Nomads Cave paintings Neolithic (Agricultural Revolution) Neolithic Age Domestication Civilization Specialization Artisans
INSTRUCTIONS FOR MIGRATION MAP (USE PAGE 10 IN BOOK) **For each step use a different color unless otherwise noted 1. Draw a square around the Cradle of Life 2. Mark the spot Mary Leaky discovered hominid footprints 3. Mark the spot Louis Leaky discovered 2 million year old tools 4. Mark the spot Donald Johanson finds Lucy 5. Using 2 different colors indicate 3 Homo erectus and 3 Homo sapiens fossil sites 6. Using the same 2 colors you chose for number 6 draw the migration route for both Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. 7. Shade in the area where Neanderthals where known to exists ***Do NOT glue instructions into notebook***
Migration KEY Early Human Migration 1,600,000 10,000
Early Cave Art 1. Why is the picture on the left important to early man? 2. What do you believe the handprints on the right are a symbol of? 3. What purpose does cave art have for early humans, why was it necessary? Neolithic Revolution Document The Neolithic Revolution also changed the way people lived. In place of scattered hunting communities, the farmers lived in villages. Near groups of villages. small towns grew up, and later cities too. Thus the Neolithic Revolution made civilization itself possible. (The Ancient Near East). Within the villages, towns and cities, it was possible for people to specialize in the sort of work they could do best. Many stopped producing food at all, making instead tools and other goods that farmers needed, and for which they gave them food in exchange. This process of exchange led to trade and traders, and the growth of trade made it possible for people to specialize even more. Source: D.M. Knox, The Neolithic Revolution, Greenhaven Press 1. How did the Neolithic Revolution change how people live? 2. Instead of producing food, what did some start doing? 3. What is the advantage of specialization and why is it important for a civilization to grow?
This extract summarizes the findings of several archaeologists in the 1950s and 1960s. The first archaeological evidence for the domestication of cereals, and some of the earliest for the domestications of animals, comes from a broad region stretching from Greece and Crete in the west to the foothills of the Hindu Kush south of the Caspian in the east. Here are found the wild plants from which wheat and barley were domesticated, whilst it is only in this zone that the wild progenitors [ancestors] of sheep, goats, cattle and pigs were found together, for the latter two had a much broader distribution than wild sheep and goats. By the tenth millennium B.C.E. people who relied upon hunting and gathering were reaping wild barley and wild wheat with knives, grinding and grain and using storage pits. By the sixth millennium there is evidence of village communities growing wheat and barley, and keeping sheep and goats. In Greece and Crete in the west, in southern Turkey, and Galilean uplands of the eastern littoral [coastal region] of the Mediterranean, in the Zagros mountains of Iran and Iraq, the interior plateau of Iran, and in the foothills south east of the Caspian. Subsequently the number of domesticated plants grown was increased, including flax, for its oil rather than for fiber, peas, lentils and vetch [plants used for food]. By the fourth millennium the olive, vine fig, the crops which give traditional Mediterranean agriculture much of its distinctiveness, had been domesticated in the Mediterranean. Cattle and pigs are thought to have been domesticated after sheep and goats. Cattle were used as draught animals, and for meat; not until the late fourth millennium is there evidence of milking in South West Asia. Source: D.B. Grigg, The Agricultural Systems of the World, Cambridge University Press 1. What does it mean to domesticate and what resources were domesticated? 2. Which areas of the world were first to start this process? 3. How does domestication help a civilization become stronger? This is an artist's recreation of the village of Atal Hiiyiik in what is today Turkey. The village had a population of between 5,000 and 6,000people and was built around 6800 B.C. 1. List three reasons why you think the village may have been set up the way it was: i. ii. iii. 2. From what you know what would you find in the areas around the village?
Directions: In which era does each of the following characteristics belong? Write each of the following characteristics in the correct part of the Venn diagram. Paleolithic Era Neolithic Era 2.5 Million B.C.E. 8,000 B.C.E. 8,000 B.C.E. 3,500 B.C.E. Nomad Pottery First use of fire Cave paintings Permanent settlements New Stone Age Advanced projects Domesticated animals Migrated from Africa Advanced stone tools Animal skin clothing First spoken languages Hunter-gatherers Weaving Gender equality Old Stone Age Simple stone tools Cloth clothing Clans Ice Age Farming Stonehenge Villages
The Invention of Farming Ten years ago, someone in your clan discovered that if you plant some of the seeds that you gathered, they will grow even more food! The clan has started farming it has been very successful. The invention of farming has made three important changes in your lives: Permanent settlements you now live in one place, next to your farms, rather than wander as nomads chasing down food. Extra food since you continued to hunt and gather, in addition to farming successfully, there is more food than your growing clan can eat. Population increase with less travel and more food, there are more babies and more of them survive, which means there are more people. **For the first few years, you all worked together to farm (and do some hunting and gathering on the side) and build shelters. Now, it is clear that you have extra food and also extra workers, and your clan faces some issues that you ve never had to deal with before. Read the questions first and record your personal reactions. Next, in your group of village elders, discuss your solutions 1. You have too much food and some of it spoils before it can be eaten. There are too many people producing food. If some people do not work on producing food, what should they do? How will they eat? Personal Reaction Village Decision 2. In the past, you hunted during all seasons. Now, you harvest crops in the fall and eat them all winter, when there are no animals to hunt. Some people have complained that they believe their neighbors are taking more than their share of food during the winter. What should you do? Personal Reaction Village Decision
3. Some people believe that the land they work on and the tools they use should belong to them if their land produces more food, they should get more food. Are they right? Personal Reaction Village Decision 4. Your people are used to a small group roaming over a large land area. Now you have more people in a smaller space, and some of those people are starting to fight. One man even killed another man, and the dead man s family wants revenge. How can you stop the killing? Personal Reaction Village Decision 5. Your village is thriving to the point where other villages are starting to take notice. A messenger comes from a neighboring area wishing to trade. In the last elder meeting questions were raised about whether we should open up trade with other villages or risk attacking them and taking the land for ourselves. What should we do? Personal Reaction Village Decision
The Five Features of Civilization Advanced Cities Specialized Workers Complex Institutions is the development of skills needed for one specific kind of work Skilled workers who make goods by hands are called Record Keeping Advanced Technology Needed to keep track of, and Need for were people who used writing to keep records ( wedge-shaped ) was created in and was the refers to a time when people began using to make tools and weapons