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PREHISTORY

PREHISTORY. PERIOD IN WHICH OUR ANCESTORS EXISTED ON EARTH BUT HAD NOT YET INVENTED WRITING OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THEM COMES FROM SCATTERED AND SCARCE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

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PREHISTORY

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  1. PREHISTORY • PERIOD IN WHICH OUR ANCESTORS EXISTED ON EARTH BUT HAD NOT YET INVENTED WRITING • OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THEM COMES FROM SCATTERED AND SCARCE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE • BECAUSE OF LACK OF WRITTEN EVIDENCE WE CAN ONLY SPECULATE ON WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT, HOW THEY ORGANIZED THEMSELVES, HOW THEY INTER-RELATED WITH EACH OTHER, AND WHY AND HOW THEY BEHAVED THE WAY THEY DID

  2. MOST LIKELY THEORY FOR THE ORIGINS OF HUMAN BEINGS • 3 MILLION YEARS AGO • SMALL APE-LIKE CREATURES APPEAR ON SHORES OF SEVERAL EAST AFRICAN LAKES • BECAUSE OF LARGER BRAIN CAPACITY THEY BECOME DOMINANT SPECIES IN REGION • DEVELOPED COMPLEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATION • ABILITY TO MAKE AND USE TOOLS AND WEAPONS

  3. EVOLUTION • NATURAL SELECTION • BIOLOGICAL PROCESS IN WHICH THE BEST TRAITS IN A SPECIES ARE PASSED ON AND AMPLIFIED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION WHILE NEGATIVE TRAITS GENERALLY ARE NOT • RESULTED IN DEVELOPMENT CREATURES WHICH WERE STRONGER, SMARTER, AND LESS APE-LIKE IN APPEARANCE

  4. MIGRATION • MIGRATION TO OTHER PARTS OF AFRICA AND FINALLY OUT OF AFRICA • SIMULTANEOUS EVOLUTION, POPULATION INCREASE, AND MIGRATION RESULTED IN APPEARANCE OF HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS AROUND 200,000-100,000BCE • MARKED BEGINNING OF PALEOLITHIC AGE

  5. VARIATION • Behavior patterns developed based on environment where humans lived • People in northern climates developed custom of wearing clothing and use of fire • People in southern climates were not under similar pressure to wear clothing and were slower to use fire • Minor biological variations also appeared in response to environmental conditions • People in southern climates retained high proportion of melanin in their skin pigment • Protects skin from sun • Makes skin darker

  6. PALEOLITHIC LIFESTYLE • EXCLUSIVELY HUNTERS AND GATHERERS • NO PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS • LIVED IN TEMPORARY SHELTERS AND MOVED WHENEVER FOOD SUPPLIES RAN LOW • LIVED IN BANDS OF APPROX. 30 PEOPLE • COOPERATED TOGETHER TO OBTAIN FOOD AND FOR DEFENSE • PRIMITIVE, NOMADIC PEOPLE BY MODERN STANDARDS

  7. PALEOLITHIC ACHIEVEMENTS I • MADE AND USED TOOLS • VARIETY OF MATERIALS • STONE • WOOD • BONE • CORRESPONDED TO IDEAS THEY HAD IN THEIR MINDS FIRST • PRESERVED THEM FOR FUTURE USE • TAUGHT OTHERS HOW TO MAKE AND USE THEM • LATER GENERATIONS WOULD IMPROVE ON WHAT THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT AND MAKE BETTER ONES • RESULTED IN CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT IN HUMAN TECHNOLOGY

  8. PALEOLITHIC ACHIEVEMENTS II • SPOKEN LANGUAGE • CAPACITY TO DESCRIBE THINGS • TO NAME THINGS • SHARE KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCES, AND FEELINGS WITH OTHERS • RELIGIOUS BELIEFS • BELIEVED FORCES OF NATURE WERE LIVING THINGS THAT HAD TO BE APPEASED IN ORDER TO PERSUADE THEM TO BEHAVE IN A BENEFICIAL MANNER • PRACTICE OF BURIAL OF DEAD • INDICATED BELIEF IN AFTERLIFE

  9. PALEOLITHIC ACHIEVEMENTS III • ART • PAINTED ON ANY AVAILABLE SURFACE BUT ONLY ONES DONE IN CAVES HAVE SURVIVED • MOTIVATED BY MAGIC • DESIRE TO ENSURE SUCCESSFUL HUNT

  10. BIRTH OF NEOLITHIC AGE • DISCOVERY OF AGRICULTURE • 8000 BCE • MIDDLE EAST • BARLEY AND RYE • MOST LIKELY DISCOVERED BY WOMEN • ANIMAL HUSBANDRY • SHEEP AND GOATS • TOGETHER, THEY MADE POSSIBLE A MORE RELIABLE SOURCE OF FOOD THAN HUNTING AND GATHERING HAD

  11. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NEOLITHIC AGE I • ESTABLISHMENT OF PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS • POPULATION GROWTH AND CONCENTRATION OF PEOPLE • TRADE • TRADED FOOD SURPLUS TO OTHER REGIONS IN EXCHANGE FOR COMMODITIES FARMERS NEEDED BUT DIDN’T PRODUCE THEMSELVES • SALT • VOLCANIC GLASS • IRON ORE • INTERNAL TRADE WITHIN NEOLITHIC VILLAGES ALSO DEVELOPED • EXCHANGE OF FOOD FOR ITEMS SUCH AS POTTERY, TOOLS, ETC. • DIVISION OF LABOR

  12. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE NEOLITHIC AGE II • AWARENESS OF PRIVATE PROPERTY • DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL HIERARCHY AND GOVERNMENT • RULING ELITE EMERGES AS SOME PEOPLE ACQUIRED MORE LAND THAN OTHERS • GAINED POWER OVER THOSE WHO DIDN’T OWN AS MUCH AS THEY DID

  13. SPREAD OF AGRICULTURE I Catal Huyuk Oldest Neolithic settlements found in the Middle East 8000 BCE Jarmo Jericho

  14. SPREAD OF AGRICULTURE II • AGRICULTURE LATER APPEARED IN OTHER PARTS OF WORLD • EITHER INDEPENDENTLY OR AS RESULT OF EXPOSURE TO OLDER AGRICULTURAL REGIONS • NEOLITHIC AGE DID NOT APPEAR EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME • FIRST IN MIDDLE EAST • LATER IN OTHER PARTS OF WORLD

  15. NEOLITHIC TECHNOLOGY I • POTTERY CONTAINERS • FOR STORING FOOD AND WATER • WHEEL AND SAIL • IMPROVED WATER AND LAND TRANSPORTATION • PLOW • MADE AGRICULTURE EASIER AND MORE PRODUCTIVE

  16. NEOLITHIC TECHNOLOGY II • DISCOVERY OF METAL • FIRST METAL TO BE USE WAS COPPER • EASILY SHAPED • ENABLED BROKEN TOOLS AND WEAPONS TO BE RECAST AND RESHAPED • NEXT METAL WAS BRONZE • ALLOY OF COPPER AND TIN • HARDER AND MORE DURABLE THAN COPPER • MADE POSSIBLE BETTER TOOLS AND WEAPONS WITH SHARPER CUTTING EDGES

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