Transcript Human Origins - Mr. Lilly

Human Origins:
The Stone Ages
SOL 8.2
Human Culture
• Culture=WAY OF LIFE
– knowledge people have
– language they speak
– ways they eat and dress
– religious beliefs,
– achievement in art and music
Human Origins
• History began with the invention of writing- 5,500
years ago
• Prehistory: Time period before writing
developed
• Hominids: Human beings and the humanlike
creatures that preceded them.
• Anthropology: Scientific study of hominids
• Physical anthropologists compare hominid
bones and other fossils, looking for changes
Human Origins
• Paleontologists: study fossil remains to
determine the characteristics of various
prehistoric periods
• Archaeologists: investigate prehistoric life by
unearthing and interpreting the objects left
behind by prehistoric people
• Artifacts: objects that were shaped by human
hands. Ex) tools, pots, and beads
VIDEO
Dating Early Artifacts
• Easy to determine relative sequence in which
events happened
• More recent remains are found above older
ones
• Problems arise in assigning a definite age to fossil
bones, tools, and other remains
• Radiocarbon Dating: used for organic matter
that is less than 50,000 years old
• Researchers can date older remains- up to 26
billion years ago
Discovery of Lucy
• Hadar, Africa• Donald C. Johanson and
Tom Gray uncovered the
3.2 million year old
skeleton of a hominid
nicknamed “Lucy”
• Hers was the most nearly
complete skeleton of any
erect-walking pre-human
found up to that time
• 1994- assembled first
almost complete skull of
Lucy- proving that males
and females were different
sizes
• Hominids like her spent
time climbing trees and
could walk upright
• Earliest known evidence of
upright walking comes from
Kenya• 1995 discovery of a
fossilized shin bone
Replica of Lucy
Human Origins
• The first “humans” appeared 2,000,000
years ago.
• Homo sapiens emerged in East Africa
between 100,000 and 400,000 years ago.
– migrated from Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and
the Americas.
• Millions of years ago the continents were
connected as one large continent called
Pangea.
Australopithe
cus
Homo
Homo Neand
Habilis Erectus erthals
Time
Way of
Life
“Culture”
5 types of Hominids Video
Homo
Sapiens
CroMagnum
Human Origins
• First pre-human hominids date back- 4.4 million
years
– Australopithecus (add to chart on Pg. 4)
– Lived in humid forests of Africa
– Fed on fruits, leaves, nuts, fish, and meats
from animals killed by other predators
– No evidence of making or using tools
Human Origins
• Hominid groups
– Homo=human (Latin)
– Scientists divided homo into three groups that
arose at different times in prehistory
• Homo habilis- person with ability
• Homo erectus- person who walks upright
• Homo sapien- person who thinks
3 Periods of the Stone Age
1. Paleolithic Age – Old Stone Age
• Lasted from 2 million BCE to around 8,000 BCE.
2. Mesolithic Age – Middle Stone Age
• Lasted from 8,000 BCE to 6,000 BCE.
3. Neolithic Age – New Stone Age
• Lasted from 6,000 BCE to 3,500 BCE.
Horrible Histories Stone Age Video
Paleolithic Age
• Early humans were hunters (men) and gatherers
(women and children)
– survival depended on the availability of wild plants
and animals.
– nomadic – migrated from place to place in search of
food, water, and shelter.
– invented the first tools and simple weapons from
stone.
Paleolithic Age
• Were nomadic (migrated in search of food,
water, shelter)
• Invented the first tools,
including simple weapons
• Learned how to make fire
• Lived in clans
– Group joins for a purpose
• Developed oral language
• Created “cave art”
Fire Video
Paleolithic Age:
Homo Habilis
• Oldest hominids to make
tools
• Lived in Africa- 2.5-1.5 million
years ago
• Larger brains indicate more
physically and mentally
advanced
• Most evidence for them came
from researchers Louis and
Mary Leakey and later their
son, Richard
Video
Homo Erectus
• Appeared in Africa and lived from 1.6
million years ago to 250,000 years ago
• Female movement restricted by constant
demands for child care
• Learned to make fire
• Made clothing
• May have spoken a language (not sounds)
Worksheet
Paleolithic Age:
Homo Erectus
• Homo erectus – manlike creature who walked
upright and could “speak”.
• Men were hunters and gatherers and women
and children helped gather food.
Homo Erectus
Paleolithic Age: Cave Art
• Purpose is not known: ???
– religious, hunting, ceremonial, transmit info
• Paintings on cave walls and ceilings
• Found in areas not easily accessed
• Common themes: wild animals
– Bison, horses, deer
– Drawings of humans are rare
• Primarily found in France and Spain
– Lascaux, France
VIDEO
Paleolithic Technology
• Technology- skills and useful knowledge
available for collecting material and
making the objects necessary for survival
– Dug roots out of ground with wooden digging
stick
– Later made crude tools out of stone
– Improving technology lead to specialized tools
• Food choppers
• Skin scrapes
• Spear points
Prehistoric Tools
Paleolithic Age
• Neanderthals were people who lived about
230,000 years ago at the end of the
Paleolithic Age.
– About 5 feet tall.
– Brain was smaller than ours, but skulls larger
– Made tools (knives, spears) and used tusks to
create needles to sew “clothing”.
– Had strong family ties and even buried their
dead.
Video
Neanderthal
Prehistoric Tools
Paleolithic Age
• First Homo Sapiens
• Remains discovered in Germany in the
1850
• Lived in small groups
• No permanent houses
• Culture and Beliefs
– Cared for sick and aged
– Signs of serious injuries on fossils
– Belief in life after death
Modern Homo Sapiens
Paleolithic Age
• Cro-Magnon were people who lived about
38,000 years ago to about 10,000 years
ago.
• They replaced Neanderthals.
• With Cro-Magnon, technology improved.
– Used fish hooks, harpoons, knives.
– First shelters were built from bones and hides.
– Most famous for cave art.
– Group that developed fire.
Ice Ages
• Climatic changes played important role in
development of early human kind
• Ice Ages: 2 million- 10,000 years ago, Earth
experienced 4 long periods of cold climate
• Human Beings responded by:
1. Migrating to warmer places
2. Strategies to keep them warm- clothing and
fire
3. Died if they could not adapt
VIDEO
Mesolithic Age
• 8,000 – 6,000 BCE
• After the Ice Age as climates warmed and
grasslands grew.
• Developed better fishing techniques
– Boats, nets.
• Also began to domesticate animals.
– Domesticate = tame animals and plant foods
Neolithic Age
• 6,000 – 3,500 BCE
• Development of Agriculture
– Learned how to plant seeds and grow food.
– Agriculture freed people from hunting and
gathering and “towns” began to form and
grow.
• The beginning of settled agriculture was a
major step in the advance of civilization.
Neolithic Age
•
•
•
•
•
•
Developed agriculture
Raised and Domesticated animals
Used advanced tools
Made pottery
Developed weaving skills
Domesticated Plants
Neolithic Age
• First wheels and axels were used.
• First forms of government were
established.
– To protect themselves and food
supplies.
Bronze Age
• The discovery of copper about 4,000 BCE
changed the New Stone Age.
• Copper is better than stone, but very soft.
• Copper mixed with tin forms bronze
– Harder and more durable.
• Tool making moved from stone to bronze
to iron.
• Metal was expensive- only used by kings,
priests, and soldiers
Bronze Age
Bronze Age Weapons
Technological Advances
• Invention of plow and
training oxen to pull it
• Learned to fertilize
fields
• Invented loom and
began weaving
textiles of linen and
wool
• Baking bricks
• Hammered metal to
make jewelry
• Calendar created to
measure seasons
• Warfare
• Believed in many
gods (spirits/deities)
Ice Man: Otzi
• “Ice Man” found in Italian
Alps- 5,000 years old
• Europe’s oldest human
natural mummy
VIDEO
Stonehenge
• Stonehenge is an example of an
archaeological site in England that was
begun during the Neolithic Age and
completed during the Bronze Age.
• From study of these things we have
learned about the Stone Age.
VIDEO
First Villages
• 4,000 BCEpopulation rose to 90
million
• Villages of about 200
began to develop
where soil was fertile
and water abundant
• Aleppo and Jerichomodern Israel West
Bank- 8,000 BCE
• Çatal Hüyük- Turkey7,000-6,300 BCE
– Largest Neolithic village
that has been
discovered
– Rectangular flat-roofed
houses made of mud
bricks and placed in
wooden frames
– Villagers painted interior
walls
– Houses of several relate
families lived in a
compound with shared
walls (VIDEO)
Question: Jericho had a wall. What is the importance of having a wall?
Catal Huyuk
Jericho
• Aleppo
What is significant about the location of
Jericho, Aleppo and Catalhuyuk?
Questions for Understanding
1. What was a most important step in the
advancement of civilization during the
Neolithic Era?
2. In what era was fire discovered?
3. The first use of advanced tools was a part of
what era?
4. What does nomadic mean?
Which Stone Age is being represented in
this picture?