CHAPTER 1: BEFORE HISTORY Unit 1: Early Complex Societies.

CHAPTER 1: BEFORE HISTORY

Unit 1: Early Complex Societies

What distinguishes history from prehistory?

Prehistory: period before writingHistory: period after invention of writing, allowed communities to record & store info.

Forming the Complex Society

Basic development: Hunting and foraging Agriculture Complex society (Major

development of first complex societies 3500 B.C.E. – 500 B.C.E.)

Key issue: surplus capital

Development of Hominids

Animals adapt themselves to environment (Evolution) http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=faRlFsYmkeY (Homer Simpson’s Evolution)

http://news.discovery.com/videos/news-lizards-show-evolution-in-action.html (Lizard)

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/other-shows/videos/assignment-discovery-shorts-evolution-adaptation.htm (Evolution)

Hominids adapt environment to themselves Use of tools Language Complex cooperative social structures

Evolution of Homo Sapiens

What discovery have researchers made about the link between humans and large apes? (L1)

Researchers (archaeologists, paleontologists, evolutionary biologists) have shown similarity between humans & large apes (i.e. only 1.6 % difference between humans & chimp DNA) Differences = (1) intelligence (able

to form language, tools and communicate) (2) ability to control environment.

Australopithecus

Australopithecus = “southern ape” 4 – 1 million yrs. Ago Walked upright Used tools & opposable thumbs Able to communicate

Discovery of skeleton AL-288-1, north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Nicknamed “Lucy”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGFlkcnZRFI

Homo Erectus

Compare and contrast australopithecus, homo erectus, and homo sapiens. (L2)

Homo erectus = “upright walking man” 2 million – 200,000 yrs. Ago Larger brain Used more sophisticated tools Started to use FIRE!

Cook food Defense (weapon) Source of heat (able to migrate to

cooler climates) Increased intelligence,

communication complex ideas & language skills (i.e. coordinated hunts)

Homo Sapiens

What type of hominid was “Lucy”? How do you know? (L1)

Which hominid species made the most gains from previous species? Explain your answer. (L3)

Homo sapiens = “consciously thinking man” 200,000 yrs. ago Skillfully adapted to environment Brain size similar to modern

humans (conscious thought; able to understand world)

More efficient way to exploit natural resources

Communicate/cooperate on more complex tasks i.e. make clothing for cooler

climates Migrated throughout world via

land bridges

http://www.handprint.com/LS/ANC/disp.html

Global Migrations of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens

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The Natural Environment

By 13,000 B.C.E., Homo sapiens in every part of world

Archaeological finds: Sophisticated tools

Choppers, scrapers, axes, knives, bows, arrows

Cave and hut-like dwellings Use of fire, animal skins

Hunted several mammal species to extinction Climatic change may have

accelerated process

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Paleolithic Society

Paleolithic Era = “Old Stone Age” Hunting-gathering peoples NO individual accumulation of

property or social distinctions based on wealth = egalitarian existence.

Social distinction based on age, strength, courage, virility/fertility

How does Paleolithic society differ from present-day society? (L2)

Neanderthals in middle Paleolithic age

Hunting and gathering

Describe the foraging lifestyle. (L1)

Make a case for men (hunters) or women (gatherers) as being most essential in Paleolithic societies. (L3)

Hunting and gathering (foraging) lifestyle

Women (gatherers)

- Provides plants, fruits,

nuts, roots

Interdependent

Equal contribution

Men (hunters) - Provides meatLive in small bands (more efficient)Exploit env. systematically (seasonal migrations)Hunt with purpose & use brain

• Development of weaponry• Animal-skin disguises• Stampeding tactics

• Lighting of fires, etc., to drive game into kill zones

Paleolithic Settlements

Natufian society (c. 13,500 – 7,800 BCE) Modern Israel and Jordan Wild wheat, herding

Jomon society (c. 14,000 – 300 BCE) Japan Wild buckwheat, fishing

Chinook society Pacific northwest Berries, acorns, salmon runs

Groups of 1000 or more

Creativity of Homo sapiens

Able to accumulate/transmit info.

SewingBeads, necklaces SculpturesFish for added foodAdv. tools for huntingCave paintings (animals &

humans)Bow and arrow – a dramatic

improvement in humans’ power over nature

“Venus” figurines shows evidence of worship

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©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Neolithic Era

“New Stone Age”Beginning of agriculture

Agriculture = cultivating of plants and animals (aka farming)

Distinction in tool production Chipped vs. polished

Relied on cultivation for subsistence Men: herding animals rather than

hunting Women: nurturing vegetation

rather than foragingSpread of agriculture

Slash-and-burn techniques Exhaustion of soil promotes

migration Diffusion of crops

Agriculture became way to sustain life through continuous food source – before McDonalds.

Early Agriculture 10,000 – 2,000 B.C.E.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/lecture03/r_3-2.html

Origins and Early Spread of Agriculture

Early Agricultural Society

Why did agriculture have such a significant impact on population? (L1)

Most important change = population explosion

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Agriculture and Population Growth

©2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Early Agricultural Society

Neolithic Settlements

Agricultural economy and increasing population led to new forms of social organization.

Settled in permanent villages Earliest known = Jericho in present-day

Israel (before 8000 B.C.E.) w/ 2,000 ppl.Concentration of many people in

villages led to specialization of labor - with food surplus, some people did other work. Çatal Hüyük (modern-day Turkey)

7250 – 5400 B.C.E. 5,000 people Made pots, baskets, textiles, leather,

stone/metal tools, jewelry, etc.

The rectangular shape of the buildings: as there is no readily available stone to build defensive walls, the buildings were made to face inwards, with no windows on the outside. The only entrance to the city was through ladders leading onto the roofs of the outside buildings. The streetless city offered a high degree of

protection from outside attackers in this way - if under attack, the outside ladders were withdrawn, and any would be attacker was faced with a solid wall

and no gate or other weak point.

A reconstruction of the first city in the world, Catal Huyuk,

Anatolia, present day

Turkey. This city flourished from about 6250 BCE

to 5400 BCE, and was

excavated in part in 1961.

Çatal Hüyük

http://www.lwcag.org/sub-racial/chapter-the-late-paleolithic-age.html

Specialization of Labor

Pottery (needed to store/cook food)

Metallurgy Copper (jewelry/tools)

Textile (domesticated plants/ animals for better fiber) Mostly women

Accumulated wealth Trade surplus food/manufactured

goods for gems, jewelry Ownership of land (privatization)

= economic power (especially for families who passed down wealth)

How did specialization of labor affect social distinctions? (L1)

Social Distinctions

How are social distinctions today different/similar than in Neolithic societies? (L2)

Neolithic pottery, excavated from

Yung Long & Tuen Mun (Hong

Kong)

Neolithic Culture

How do religious and moralistic behaviors differ between Paleolithic and Neolithic peoples? (L2)

Science Neolithic people observed

natural world to ensure good harvest.

Learned weather was based on position of sun, moon and stars (early calendar system)

Religion Worshipped Venus figurines to

ensure fertility Celebrated/worshipped other

deities associated w/ cycle of life – death – regeneration (for humans and harvests)

Origins of Urban Life

What is the relationship between agricultural development and human population? (L1)

Agriculture begins

Population increases

Villages form (near water source)

Specialization of labor

Social classes emerge

Cities are born

Civilization begins

Neolithic Villages vs. Cities

What distinguished cities from Neolithic villages? (L2)

Cities

(1) cities = larger, more complex than villages (i.e. governors, administrators, tax collectors to run city & priests to transmit

values/traditions) (2) cities influenced political, economic, & cultural life of

larger region (i.e. political = extending authority/military power, economic =

marketplaces/trading, cultural = schools/temples to spread traditions/values)