Pre-History

Definition:
Period before people kept written
records
Earth= 6 billion years old
 •Timeline
◆ Age of Earth = 6 billion years
◆ Human-like- creatures on Earth - 3-5
million years
◆ Species= Homo Sapien on Earth at least
50,000 years
◆ Writing invented (end of Pre-History) =
5,000 -6,000 years ago
 Dating System
◆ B.C. =Before the Christian Era (Pope
Gregory miscalculated birth of Christ by 4
years, according to modern scholars. Jesus
thought to be born in 4 B.C.
◆ A.D.= (Anno Domini) In the year of our
Lord
◆ B.P.= Before the present (years ago)
 Unwritten Evidence
◆ Fossils= human and animal bones & teeth
or traces left in rocks of plants & animals.
Example - footprints
◆ Artifacts= Objects shaped by humans
Marine Fossils
Artifacts
 Dating Processes:
Carbon 14
◆ most commonly used
◆ based on radioactive carbon in living
organisms decaying at a fixed rate
◆ discovered in 1948 by Willard Libby
◆ Limitation: can be used only on once living
things (not minerals)
◆ Limitation: not accurate for items over
100,000 years old.
 Other processes:
Amino Acid Racemization
can be used to date items up to 1
million years old
 Other processes
◆ Potassium -40
◆ Uranium
◆ Thorium
◆ each is used to date rocks and minerals
 Man Superior to Other
Animals?
◆ Thumb- ability to grasp something
◆ Upright Posture- frees hands for
manipulation and carrying
◆ Speech- allows us to think abstractly and
pass on culture to next generation
◆ Large Brain- allows more complex thought
and memory
 Human-Like creatures
◆ Australopithecus
◆ 3.7 million years old
◆ walked upright on two legs
◆ found in Tanzania, Africa
◆ uncertain of relationship between them and
modern Humans
 Paleolithic Age
or Old Stone Age
◆ called so because almost all of the artifacts
were made of stone
◆ used caves as shelter
◆ ate seeds, nuts, fruits, plants
◆ began to hunt small animals
◆ made tools and weapons
◆ Developed spoken language to pass on
information and skills to next generation
Early Flint Tools
 Early People
Java Man or Peking Man
◆ Hunters migrated long distances in search
of food.
◆ Expanded into Asia 1-1.5 million years ago
◆ Remains found on island of Java in
Indonesia in 1891
◆ Remains also found in 1929 near Beijing,
China (Formerly called Peking)
 The Ice Age
◆ Periods of Glaciation
◆ Actually there were 4 periods
◆ Each period lasted 10-20 thousand years
each
◆ During each the Earth had periods of
extremely cold weather
 Ice Ages
◆ Ice covered 1/3 of the Earth’s surface from
each pole
◆ Normally 1/12 Earth’s surface covered
◆ Water becomes trapped in great sheets over
1 mile thick
◆ Ocean levels dropped several hundred feet
as more and more water is trapped.
◆ Moving ice changed the shape of Earth’s
surface
 Ice Ages (3)
◆ As sea level dropped underwater ridges
were exposed and became “land bridges”
◆ Example: BERINGIA - Connected America
and Asia across Bering Strait
Extent of Ice during Ice Age
 Cause of Ice Ages?
◆ Large Meteorite crashing into Earth causing
smoke and dust to be thrown up into the
stratosphere blocking out the Sun
◆ Volcanic action worldwide causing smoke
and dust to be thrown up into the
stratosphere blocking out the Sun
◆ Large Meteorite causing volcanic action.
 Neanderthal Man
◆ lived 100,000 to 30,000 years ago
◆ Remains were first found in Neander Valley
in Germany in 1856 and also in Asia and
North Africa
◆ Buried their dead with tools and weapons
and thought to have religious concept of life
after death.
◆ Powerful builds, thick eyebrow ridges
 Neanderthal Man (2)
◆ Lived in caves
◆ Wore clothing made of animal skins
◆ Were first people to cook food
◆ Nursed sick and helped weak to survive
◆ Disappeared for unknown reasons during
last Ice Age
 Cro-Magnon Man
◆ Appeared almost as modern man does today
◆ lived on Earth many thousands of years
◆ By end of Old Stone Age no longer existed
as a distinct type of people. Became HOMO
SAPIEN
 Mesolithic Age
Middle Stone Age
◆ from 10-12,000 years ago to 5,000 years
ago.
◆ domesticated animals- dog -goat
◆ invented bow & arrow, fishhooks, spears
◆ first vehicle of transportation- (dug-out
canoe)
◆ People were NOMADIC- moved from
place to place
 Neolithic Age
New Stone Age
◆ Ground and polished stone tools to a fine
point or edge rather than chipping
◆ Made tools from wood
◆ Made specialized tools- awl-wedges-saws-
drills-chisels-needles
 Neolithic Revolution
◆ ECONOMY- the way in which a people
make their living
◆ Previous economy: HUNTING &
GATHERING
◆ New economy: FOOD PRODUCING
◆ 1. Herding- cattle, sheep, horses, pigs - for
food and clothing
◆ 2. Agriculture- plant and grow wheat,
barley, rice, and millet for food
Tools of Neolithic Revolution
Results of Neolithic Revolution
◆ Established permanent homes as farmers
were tied to the soil
◆ Formed villages of several thousand people
about 8,000 years ago
◆ Farming was so productive that not
everyone was needed for it
◆ Developed specialized skills for non-
farmers
 Neolithic Results
Specialized Skills
◆ Making tools and weapons
◆ Making shelter and clothing
◆ Weaving baskets
◆ Making pottery for cooking and storage
◆ ARTISANS= people skilled in these crafts
◆ Concept of PRIVATE PROPERTY
developed
 Neolithic Results (3)
◆ BARTER ECONOMY developed =
exchanging goods for other goods
◆ TECHNOLOGY = new methods and
materials to create new tools for their work
 Neolithic Technology
◆ Baking Pottery and bricks
◆ Potter’s Wheel & Transportation wheel
◆ Grinding Wheel and spinning wheel
◆ Plow pulled by oxen
◆ Looms for making cloth
◆ Sail for Transportation
◆ The use of metals
 Neolithic Metals
◆ COPPER- first metal to be used.
◆ easy to extract and work but tools were soft
and did not remain sharp
◆ BRONZE- made by mixing Copper and Tin
◆ much harder and more durable than either
metal
 Bronze Age
◆ Period in which bronze replaced copper and
stone as the main tool material
◆ First came from Southwest Asia
◆ about 5,000 years ago
◆ Spread to Egypt and China
Bronze Age Weapons
 Iron Age
◆ Began around 3,200 years ago in Asia
Minor
◆ Required the invention of the FORGE- a
furnace to hold and concentrate the heat
◆ Also invention of the BELLOWS to force
air on the fire to make it burn hotter
 First Civilizations
4 cradles of civilization
◆ MESOPOTAMIA- earliest location - in
South West Asia -land between Tigris River
and Euphrates River- located in what is
today IRAQ
◆ EGYPT- located in Africa on the Nile River
◆ INDUS- On the Indus River just West of
the Indian Peninsula
◆ CHINESE- On the Huang He River in
China
 Developing Civilization
Flood Control & Irrigation
◆ Involved building canals and dikes
◆ Cooperation needed for this
◆ Was the cause of the first Governments
 Spreading Civilization
◆ Merchants and Traders developed
◆ Bought goods from farmers and sold to
people in the towns
◆ Passed along ideas also
◆ CULTURAL DIFFUSION - is what this is
called
 Making a Calendar
◆ Observed changes in seasons
◆ When floods occurred
◆ Phases of the moon and stars
◆ Lunar month based of cycle of moon phases
◆ Lunar Year (12 months) = 354 days
◆ 11 days short of Solar Year= 365 1/4 days
 Writing
◆ Needed to preserve and pass on Information
◆ to record events and keep tax records
◆ step 1: Picture = a thing = PICTOGRAM
◆ step 2: Picture = an idea = IDEOGRAM
◆ step 3: Picture = a sound = PHONOGRAM
or a syllable
◆ step 4: Picture = single consonant or vowel
Early seal writing