DIVISION OF THE HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE

1. DIVISION OF THE HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE • Prehistorical/Stone Age (c.3.000.000.000 – 3.000 BC) • Historical Age (3.000 BC – nowadays) • c. 3.000 BC invention of writing by theSumerians (cuneiform writing)

2. Stone Age Mesolithic Age (12.000 – 6.800 BC) Paleolithic Age Neolithic Age (2.000.000 – 12.000 BC) (6.800 – 3.200 BC)

3. During the Paleolithic Age, the first human being appeared on Earth • The “Archanthropos” of the Petralona Cave (1960)in Chalkidiki (Greece) is the oldest anthropoid found in Europe. • His age is 700.000 years old!!! • Europe was first inhabited by anthropoids at least in 700.000 BC.

4. Archaeological finds in petralona

5. Paleolithic age (2.000.000 – 12.000 BC) • Hunting and gathering was the way of life in this age. • Paleolithic man moved in groups to scare away wild animals. • He used fire for cooking and to scare away the animals while living in caves. • To ensure protection he covered himself with coarse animal skin and large leaves. • He painted rocks and caves with pictures of everyday’s life.

6. Greece in the Paleolithic age • Geomorphologic and climatic changes • Strong and constant earthquakes • Fluctuation of the level of the Aegean Sea • Changes in flora and fauna and in the human living Flora: conifer-trees, wild-beans, etc. Fauna: bears, mammoths, deer, wild-boars, etc. • More finds after 100.000 BC

7. Greece in the Paleolithic Age • Most important archaeological points: Theopetra (Thessaly) Fragthi Cave (Peloponnese) Characteristics: • Residence in caves, under rocks or outdoors • Living in groups of 10-30 persons, sometimes related • Hunting in groups in deep forests or passages or collecting snails, herbs and fruit

8. Greece in the Paleolithic Age • Characteristics: • Tools from stone, bone or horn (even some utensils from wood or clay) • Using yellow or red ochre to paint the face or the body of the dead (paleolithic“gold”) • Burial in graves with funeral gifts (tools, flowers, horns)  Belief in life after death

9. Mesolithic age (12.000 – 6.800 BC) • People started making semi-permanent houses • They probably lived in light wooden frameworks covered with thatch or sods, which could have been erected and dismantled quickly and easily • They started using boats for transport and fishing • They started making flint tools with handles and stone tools from microliths, set into toothed slots in bone or antler shafts, in order to create a variety of harpoons, arrows and fish hooks

10. Greece in the Mesolithic age • Stabilized geomorphologic and climatic conditions • Most important archaeological points: Sidari (Corfu) Fragthi Cave (Peloponnese) Maroulas (Alonnesos) Gioura (Aegean Sea)

11. Greece in the Mesolithic age • Characteristics: • Residence in outdoor points or in caves near the sea • Living in groups of 10-30 persons, sometimes related • Almost permanent installation • Accommodation with stone-made foundations • Graveyards next to the installation points

12. Greece in the Mesolithic age • Characteristics: • Hunting in groups, collecting herbs and fruit AND systematic fishery with developed equipment • Limited domestication of some wild plants and animals • Long, organized naval trips in the open sea (tuna fishing OR transporting essential materials)

13. Greece in the Mesolithic age • Characteristics: • Import of tougher materials, in order to make more effective tools and weapons • Construction of blades and bladelets • Cremation of dead (in some cases) for the first time • Construction of some kind of jewels as ornaments or even funeral gifts (according probably to the social position)