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Explore the journey of early humans from primitive beings to the rise of the first civilizations. Discover their advancements in tools, hunting, agriculture, and technology. Witness the origins of government, trade, and religion.
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Dawn of Civilizations From early man to the creation of the first civilizations.
The first creatures to walk upright were our earliest ancestors. They were not much better than other animals. They had powerful jaws and low foreheads.
Neanderthals advanced a little, but not much. They wore animal skins and learned how to use fire.
They used very simple tools and weapons: like a rock and a stick tied together! Genius, I know.
Next came the Cro-Magnons! You know these guys really well.
These people began to use tools and weapons. They became proficient at hunting and making things.
Cro-Magnons even left us records of what they could accomplish in the form of cave drawings.
Seldom would one cave be sufficient for them to survive all year. So they followed the food. Hunting and gathering, helped them live all year. Yes, even back then it was the women who had the hard jobs!
Depending on the season, they would follow wherever the food was. By traveling in small groups, they could have some protection from other people and animals.
Eventually, they figured out how to grow some of their own food. So they built houses and stopped living in caves.
The settlement of people to grow crops is called the Agricultural Revolution. People could now take care of all their needs in one place. They no longer had to travel around to satisfy their needs.
A settlement would usually contain a house, field, pen for the animals, and be located close to a river.
Irrigation allowed them to grow crops easily and quickly.
The domestication of animals also made their lives easier. Once tamed, they could replace human labor and provide protection.
Water was crucial to early man’s survival and advancement. All of these innovations helped man discover free time. They could now have time to do more than just provide for their needs. Man began to have wants.
Tools took on more importance to men. Better tools meant more free time. More free time meant more time to invent and discover new ideas and technology.
Settlements close to each other could unite in defense against invaders. Working together also allowed them to share crops and technology. They then had more time to develop even more tools and weapons.
Disruptive technologies lead to even more technologies. The cart was the predecessor of the car.
These small groups would take over others and start to form cities to defend the land and people they controlled.
Farms were outside the city walls to make the defense of the city easier.
Whoever was the strongest warrior would be the king. This was the first form of government the world had.
The leaders would create laws to govern the city. If you didn’t like a law, you had to be stronger than the king and his friends.
A way to get even more free time was to capture slaves from another land.
Craftsmen could now produce many items that brought them money. People could now rely solely on a skill in making something and not have to farm.
Traders would travel between major cities and exchange goods (making a ton of money doing it). They would also trade technology and religions.
Priests realized they could steal power away from kings by using religion to sway the people.
The earliest religions focused on nature. There were gods of: weather, disasters, and the sun.
Ziggurats were giant temples built to worship the gods. The more powerful you were, the higher up on the temple you got to worship.
So that they could survive without doing ‘real’ work, the priests demanded a tax from the people. The money was used to build temples, feed the priests, and provide sacrifices to the gods.
In order to maintain power, cities had to conquer other cities. This brought more slaves to their cities. Armies were built to spread the power, language, religion, government, and technology of a city to other lands.
THE END!
