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Chapter 1

Chapter 1. From Human Prehistory to the Early Civilizations. Human species existed around 2 to 2.5 millions years ago (1/4000 of the time the earth has existed) Humankind has spread to every landmass (with the exception of the polar regions). Human beings have some drawbacks as a species.

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Chapter 1

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  1. Chapter 1 From Human Prehistory to the Early Civilizations

  2. Human species existed around 2 to 2.5 millions years ago (1/4000 of the time the earth has existed) • Humankind has spread to every landmass (with the exception of the polar regions)

  3. Human beings have some drawbacks as a species. • Ex) Human babies are dependent for a long period, which requires some special family or childcare arrangements and often has limited the activities of many adult women.

  4. Like other primates, but unlike most other mammals, people can manipulate objects fairly readily because of the grip provided by an opposable thumb on each hand. • Human beings have a relatively high and regular sexual drive, which aids reproduction; being omnivores, they are not dependent exclusively on plants or animals for food. • Distinctive human brain and a facility for elaborate speech are very important (knowledge, inventions, social contracts)

  5. Paleolithic (Stone Age) • Most of the 2 million plus years during which our species has existed are described by the term Paleolithic, or Stone Age (runs to about 14,000 years ago) • Learned simple tool use (Stone Tools) • Fire tamed about 750,000 years ago • Homo erectus • Homo sapiens

  6. Many great mammals such as wooly mammoths, wooly rhinoceros, and cave lions inhabited places like Siberia during the Paleolithic Era.

  7. Most hunting groups were small and they had to roam widely for food. • Population growth was slow. • Equality between the sexes. • Cultures (languages, religious pantheon) Paleoindians hunting a glyptodon. Glyptodons were hunted to extinction within two millennia after humans' arrival to South America.

  8. Greatest achievement? Spread of human species over much of the earth’s surface. • Species originated in eastern Africa • First people moved out of Africa 750,000 years ago

  9. Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) • 12,000 to 8,000 B.C.E. • Human ability to fashion stone tools and other implements improved greatly • People learned to sharpen and shape stone, to make better weapons and cutting edges • Improved fishing techniques • Domesticated more animals (cows) • Population growth accelerated – more conflicts and wars

  10. Neolithic (New Stone Age) • The invention of agriculture, the creation of cities, and other foreshadowings of civilization • Settle in one spot • Drastic population increases • Farming was initially developed in the Middle East (fertile land) • Agriculture began as early as 10,000 B.C.E. and spread to other centers, including India, North Africa, and Europe.

  11. Combination of farming and hunting/gathering • Agriculture could support more people, allowing people to settle in one place • Supported larger populations, better food supplies, houses and villages • Some groups of people resisted agriculture • Created different occupations (ex. Storage facilities for grains and seeds promoted the development of basket making and pottery)

  12. Discovery of metal tools (4,000 B.C.E.) • First metal – copper • Later – bronze (much better) • By 3,000 B.C.E., metalworking had become so commonplace in the Middle East that the use of stone tools dissipated

  13. Metalworking was extremely useful to agricultural or herding societies • Metal hoes – allowed farmers to work more efficiently • Metal weapons were superior to stone weapons • We are still living in metal ages today (rely primarily on iron)

  14. Civilization • Agriculture encouraged the formation of larger as well as more stable human communities • Slash and burn – agricultural technique • Advantages to staying in one place (houses, water wells, accumulation of wealth)

  15. Civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Indus River (had some interaction with each other) • Developed writing – cuneiform (Middle East) • Firmer class divisions (including slaves) • Inequality between men and women

  16. Tigris-Euphrates Civilization • First example of human civilization called Mesopotamia founded in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers • Invented the wheel for transportation • Irrigation required serious coordination among communities (complex political structures)

  17. Around 3,500 B.C.E., a people who had recently invaded this region, the Sumerians, developed a cuneiform alphabet (first known case of human writing). • Only a few were literate (upper-class)

  18. What is the purpose of writing? • Allows people to share their ideas • Creates History (allows people to share their thoughts and ideas permanently) • A permanent form of communication (Record keeping, trading, land ownership, marriage, taxes) • Creates social order (laws and government)

  19. Sumerian art developed steadily – statues and painted frescoes were used to adorn the temples of the gods. • Founded the science of astronomy • Employed a system of numbers (10,60,360)

  20. Sumerians developed complex religious rituals. • Each city had a patron god • Ziggurats • Profession priests conducted rituals • Believed in many powerful gods (polytheism) • Believed in an afterlife of punishment (concept of hell)

  21. Sumerian political structures stressed tightly organized city-states • Ruled by a King who claimed divine authority • Carefully defined boundaries • Government regulated religion, provided court system • Kings/noble class/priesthood controlled considerable land, which was worked by slaves • Warfare was important to ensure supplies of slaves

  22. Learned about fertilizers • Adopted silver as means of exchange for buying and selling (early form of money)

  23. The region was hard to defend – Sumerians fell to a people called Akkadins, who continued much of Sumerian culture • Babylonians brought a civilization to the Middle East – King Hammurabi introduced the most famous early code of law • Hammurabi’s code established rules of procedure for courts of law and regulated property rights and the duties of family members, setting harsh punishments for crimes (pg. 18)

  24. Egyptian Civilization • Second civilization along the Nile River • Formed by 3,000 B.C.E. • Benefited from trade with Mesopotamia • Less open to invasion (compared to Mesopotamia) • King possessed immense power (godlike status for the pharaohs) • Pyramids (tombs)

  25. Neither Egyptian science nor the Egyptian alphabet was as elaborate as its Mesopotamian equal, although mathematics was more advanced in this civilization • Day divided into 24 hours

  26. Indian and Chinese River Valley Civilizations • Prosperous urban civilization emerged along Indus River by 2,500 B.C.E. • Had several large cities (Harrappa and Mohenjo-Daro) • Running water • Contacts with Mesopotamia, but developed their own distinctive alphabet and artistic forms • Invasions by Indo-Europeans led to complete destruction of culture

  27. Civilization along the Hwang He (Yellow River) in China developed in considerable isolation • Some overland trading contact with India and the Middle East • Godlike kings of early civilization • Existence of organized state that regulated irrigation in the fertile but flood-prone river valley

  28. By 2,000 B.C.E. the Chinese had produced an advanced technology and developed an elaborate intellectual life • Learned to ride horses • Skilled in pottery • Used bronze well and introduced iron by 1,000 B.C.E., which they soon learned to work with coal

  29. Writing progressed from knotted ropes to scratches of lines on bone to the invention of ideographic symbols. • Lived in simple mud houses • By 1,500 B.C.E., a line of kings called the Shang ruled over the Hwang He valley

  30. Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations • Egyptian pyramids • Invention of the wheel • Taming of the horse • Creating of usable alphabets and writing implements • Key mathematical concepts (square root) • Well-organized monarchies and bureaucracies • Functional calendars/division of time

  31. Most river valley civilizations were in decline by 1,000 B.C.E. • Mesopotamian art and Egyptian architecture had a more measurable influence on Greek styles • Phoenicians – simplified alphabet with 22 letters (1300 B.C.E.) • Lydians – introduced coined money

  32. Jews – Semitic people influenced by Babylonian civilization; settled near the Mediterranean around 1200 B.C.E. • Jews had belief in one god (monotheism) • Formed the Hebrew Bible • Judaism served as a key basis for the development of both Christianity and Islam

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