Transcript Early Humans

Early Humans
Tools of Discovery
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Historians = people who study & write
about human past
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History = began about 5,500 yrs
ago when people began to write
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Prehistory = time b4 people dev.
writing
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Archaeologists = hunt for evidence of
civilizations buried in the ground
Artifacts = weapons, tools & other
things made by humans
Fossils - plants/animals preserved in
rock.
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Anthropologists = Study how humans
developed and how they relate to
each other
Stone Age = early period of human
history when people used stoned to
make tools and weapons
Paleolithic = Old Stone Age
How did people get food?
Searched for food
Hunted animals, caught fish, ate
insects, gathered nuts, berries,
fruits, grains and plants.
“Hunter-gatherers”
Nomads = (paleolithic people)
Moved from place to place
searching or food & shelter.
People traveled in lrg. groups b/c it
was safer and easier to search for
food.
Tasks of Men & Women:
Men:
Hunted animals
Women:
Close to campsite
Made tools
Watched the
children
Sometimes had
to travel far
for food.
Searched for
berries, nuts &
grains.
Language, Art & Religion
Humans dev. Spoken language in
Paleolithic times
Easier for people to work together &
pass down knowledge
People also expressed themselves
through art (paintings on cave walls of
animals)
Invention of Tools
Paleolithic people were 1st to use
tech. (tools & methods to help
perform tasks)
What are some examples of
technology used by Paleolithic
people?
Neolithic Times:
(New Stone Age 8,000 BC-4,000 BC)
After last Ice Age life changed
People began to tame plants & animals
Animals provided milk, meat, wool &
transportation of goods.
People learned how to grow food
People could now stay in one place
The Growth of Villages:
People who farmed began to live in villages
& building permanent homes
Where were villages started?
Europe, India, Egypt, China & Mexico
Earliest Communities were found in the
Middle East as early as 8000 BC
Benefits of Settled Life:
Steady food supply
Healthy growing population
More workers to produce more crops
Began to trade
Practice of Specialization (Diff.
Jobs)
Mesopotamia’s Civilization:
Civilization = Complex societies
that have cities, organized gov’t,
art religion, class divisions and a
writing system.
Why did the 1st civilizations
start in river valleys?
1.
Good farming conditions made it
easy to feed a lot of people
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Fish & fresh water
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Travel & trade
As cities dev. Govt’s were formed to
make plans & decisions about
matters
Leaders were in charge of food
supplies, building projects, made
laws & created armies
People began to dev. Religion & arts
Invented ways of writing to pass
on information
Created calendars to keep time
Dev. Class structure
Held diff. places in society based
on work they did & wealth/power
they had
The Rise of Sumer
Mesopotamia = Earliest known
civilization
Location: Present day Iraq b/w Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers
Climate: Hot & Dry
Rivers flooded in Spring leaving
behind rich soil (not predictable)
•Every yr. farmers worried
about crops & believed they
needed gods to bless their
efforts
- Farmers learned to control
seasonal floods w/ dams &
channels
Dev. Irrigation(waterways to
bring water to fields)
Now that farmers could grow
plenty of food, many cities
formed in southern Mesopotamia
(Sumer)
Gods & Rulers
Sumerians believed in many gods
Each god had power over a natural
force or human activity. (Flooding
or basket weaving)
* People wanted to please the gods
Each city-state built a grand
temple called a ziggurat
Priests & Priestesses were
powerful & controlled most of the
land
Later Kings ran the gov’t, led the
army & organized building
projects