Writing into the day• In the absence of written historical sources, we often turn

to science in the form of genetics and archeology. How reliable do you think that this is?

• Should historians rely on science when interpreting history? Why or why not?

• How and why do you think different races originated?• How and why do you think different languages originated?• How and why do you think different religions originated?• Do you think that all people had common ancestry? If so,

why do you think we have evolved into such diverse groups.

In the Beginning, Day One:

The Transition from Prehistory to “Civilization”

I. Hunters and gatherers

A. What were the early humans like?

• tool users• Tool makers• Fire users (by 750,000 years ago)• High and low context communication• High reproduction rate• Omnivores• Highly developed brain• Spark of the divine?

B. What was the hunter-gatherer timeframe?• Modern humans may have appeared

as early as 2.5 million years ago• Hunter gatherer domination

occurred until 9000 BCE

C. What were the drawbacks to these early humans?

• Aggression• Extended dependency period for

babies• Physiological health problems• Awareness of death

II. Life before agriculture

A. Periodization-Paleolithic

• 2.5 million years to 14,000 years ago. • Simple tools• Use of fire latter half of Paleolithic• Two distinct breeds of humans

»Homo erectus »Homo Sapiens Sapiens

B. Developments of the Paleolithic

• No elaborate societies• Slow population growth• Short working day• Equality between the sexes. • Creating stone and wooden tools, not simply

found objects• Artistic expression• Religious rituals• Eventual development of distinct cultures

C. Human Diaspora

• Origination in Africa Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda• Need for food led movement out

750,000 years ago»China by circa 600,000 years ago»Britain by circa 250,000 years ago»Australia by circa 60,000 years ago»Crossing Siberian land bridge circa

30,000 years ago

D. Periodization-Mesolithic• Middle stone age• 12,000 to 8,000 BCE• Manipulating tools: sharpen stone• Utilized bone• Fishing increased due to log rafts and dugouts• Manufacture of pots and baskets• Specialization begins• Large animals domestication• Population growth accelerated• Wars and conflicts according to fossil record (broken

bones)

III. The Agricultural revolution

A. Periodization- Neolithic

• Better tool use• More elaborate social structure• Population growth and

movement• Invention of agriculture• Creation of cities

B. Causes of Agricultural Development

• End of ice age• Climate caused population boom• Hunting yield declined• By 9000 BCE, regular harvest of grains and

berries began• By 9000 BCE, humans started raising pigs

sheep, goats and cattle

C. Changes brought about by agricultural development• Humans could settle in one area• Elaborate social patterns emerged• Population boom (8 million to 100 million in 3000

years)• Economic specialization occurred• Political and religious development• Hunting and gathering replaced by a more

sedentary lifestyle• This “revolution” took over 1000 years. • Large animals and disease

D. Wealth led to specializations

• Need for storage led to development of pottery

• Water needs to increased scientific understandings of weather and flooding patterns

• Need for tools led to invention of metals

E. Periodization-Bronze age

• 4000 BCE metal tools were first discovered in the Middle East.

• Copper was the first metal people worked.• Bronze soon replaced copper due to its resiliency.• Metal took over completely in the middle east by

3000 BCE, though stone was still in use elsewhere.

• The Bronze Age led into the iron age, around 1500 BCE. We still essentially rely on Iron today.

IV. Civilization

A. What is a civilization?• Economic surplus• Division of labor• Social hierarchy• Writing-cuneiform

Recording data Make contracts, treaties Taxes, census Write down religious texts Intellectual progress (philosophy, literature)

• “The Other” Barbarians Hunter gatherers Nomadic peoples Sometimes agriculture did not bring other advances-Kush

• Negative impacts Lack of equality Environmental impact

B. Catal Huyuk

•Southern Turkey•Founded in 7000 BCE•Covered 32 acres•Mud brick•Religious imagery-male hunters and mother goddesses•Toolmakers and jewelers•Forrunner of the first civilization, in nearby fertile cresent

C. Tigris-Euphrates Civilization

CuneformCalled MesopotamiaUsed bronze and copperPotteryInvented the wheelIrrigation from rivers nearbyRegion invaded by Sumerians, who brought cneformStatues and frescoes of gods and goddessesScience, astronomey10, 60, 360-we still use for calculating circles and time.Religious shrines-zigguratsCity statesDivine authority of kingsInvasion of Babylon-HammurabiSucceeded by the Assyrians and then the Persians.

D. Egypt

•Nile river•3000 BCE•Stayed unified due to its being less open to invasion•Pharaoh-God king•Government directed economy•No independent business class like Mesopotamia•Irrigation from the Nile•Pyramids (from 2700 BCE)•Some interaction with the Kingdom of Kush•Art, mathematics(24 hour day)•Egypt heavily influenced Mediterranean cultures

E. Indus river valley

• 2500 BCE-indus river in India

• Large cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro

• Running water• Trade contacts with

Mesopotamia• Distinct alphabet

and art

F. Yellow river•(Huanghe) in china•Considerable isolation•Some overland trading with india•Godlike kings of myth-P’an Ku•By 2000 BCE, they had advanced technology•Riding horses•Skilled pottery•1000 BCE they had iron•Ideographic symbols on bone •Science and astronomy arose early on•Music develops early according to oral legend•Simple mud houses•Shang dynasty(1500 BCE) created massive tombs and palaces•The invasions of the Shang by neighboring groups led to a temporary decline in Chinese civilization.