Transcript The Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras

The Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras
AP World History
Chapter One
Ms. Tully
The Emergence of Humankind
• Hominids – 2-2.5 mil
years – Eastern &
Southern Africa 
Bipedalism
• Larger brains – Tools –
Meat
• Homo Erectus
• Homo Sapiens – 250,000
years ago  Modern
Humans
• Uniqueness of humans
 pros and cons?
The Paleolithic Era (2.5 Million BCE
– 10,000 BCE)
• Hunting & foraging
societies
• Development of belief
systems & culture
• Development of
technology
• Peopling of the Earth
The Spread of Human Populations
1.
2.
Where did the human species originate from?
In what part of the world are the most “sites” of humans?
The Beginning of Agriculture and
the Neolithic Revolution
• End of the Ice Age
• Domestication of
plants and animals
• New way of interacting
with the environment
• New mutual
dependence
• Slow “revolution”
Consequences of the Neolithic
Revolution
• Permanent settlements
& population growth
• Greater wealth 
specializations
• New technologies 
Iron & Bronze Ages
• Environmental
transformations
• Beginning of inequality
• Globalization of
Agriculture  diffusion
& colonization
The Spread of Agriculture
1. Where are the core areas of agriculture?
2. Where did specialty agriculture originate from?
Catal Huyuk
• Neolithic settlement
in Anatolia
• Irrigation & defense 
villages
• Larger village w/
connected homes
Defining Civilization
• Civilization  Based
on Latin term for city
• Economic surpluses
• Division of labor
• Social hierarchy 
social inequalities
Defining Civilization
• Formal political
organization
• Continued
technological
development
• Writing, intellectual
thought, artistic
expression
Does the history of civilizations include
everyone?
Is “civilization” a synonym for “good”? Have
civilizations been beneficial to humans
and/or the environment?
Mesopotamia – The Birth of
Civilization
• “Land Between the
Rivers”  Fertile
Crescent
• By 4000 BCE  wheel,
bronze & copper
metallurgy
• By 3500 BCE 
Sumerians developed
cuneiform (writing)
Mesopotamia – The Birth of
Civilization
• Ziggurats  massive
towers  Ishtar
• Organized by citystates  Babylon, Ur,
Uruk
• Sumerians 
Akkadians 
Babylonians
Egyptian Civilization – The Gift of
the Nile
• Developed along Nile
River ca. 3000 BCE
• Unified state under at
pharaoh
• Dynasty rule  Old
Kingdom, Middle
Kingdom, New
Kingdom
Egyptian Civilization – The Gift of
the Nile
• 3 distinct social classes
• Polytheistic belief
system with emphasis
on afterlife
• Writing system 
Hieroglyphics &
cursive script
• Success in
mathematics & science
Indus River Valley Civilization
• Two large cities by 2500
BCE  Harappa and
Mohenjo Daro
• Evidence of strong
ruling class
• Major trading centers
• Conservative and
resistant to innovations
• Demise of Harappa 
environmental changes,
administrative decline,
nomadic migrations
Early Civilization in China
• Civilization developed
along Yellow River by
3000 BCE  Xia
Dynasty
• 1500 BCE  Shang
established kingdom
• Divine monarch w/
feudal system
• Emphasis on
shamans/oracles  led
to writing
New Societies in the Middle East
• River Valley Civs in
decline by 1200 BCE
• Phoenicians 
Levant, 1300 BCE
• Jews  Levant, 1200
BCE