The Neolithic: Rise of Civilization

Notes: The Neolithic Begins Neolithic comes from 2 greek words. Neo – means new, & lithic – means stone, hence Neolithic has the meaning of “new stone age” At the end of the last Ice Age, or approximately 8-10,000 years ago mankind began to change their way of life and begin the first civilizations through what would come to be known as the Neolithic Revolution.

No longer living on the Move… The big change in the way mankind began to live during the Neolithic was the fact that humans no longer relied EXCLUSIVELY on hunting and gathering to survive. 2 innovations occurred about 10,000 years ago. a.) Systematic Agriculture – growing foods on a regular basis. 3 of the earliest food crops to be grown by mankind were Wheat, Barley and Beans. b.) Domestication: Changing animals to meet human needs. The earliest animal to be domesticated was the Timber wolf. ALL domestic dogs today are descendants of wolves. Other animals which were domesticated early in the human experience include sheep, horses and camels.

Notes: Benefits of Systematic Agriculture 1.) Stable Food Supply. A given quantity of food can be grown EVERY year in the same location, and can be relied upon. 2.) You need less land per person when using agriculture than hunting and gathering for subsistence. (1 acre can feed 20 people as compared to 20 acres when hunting and gathering) 3.) Extra food supply results in a growth in populations which in turn give a surplus of labor which was used to create skilled trades and ultimately civilization.

End of The Neolithic… Beginning of the Bronze Age Between 5,000 and 4,000 BC… individuals in Europe and Asia discovered that you could heat rocks with metal ores inside and obtain the metal from within to make tools and weapons. Copper was the first metal to be worked by mankind due to the low temperatures which it melts and the fact that it was available in measureable quantities in the late Neolithic. The first alloy – combination of metals, was Bronze. Bronze began to be used from 3,000-1,200 BC and historians call this period the Bronze Age because it was the primary material used for tools, weapons and structural components in early cities in Mesopotamia, Egypt and India.

Bronze To make Bronze, early metal smiths combined copper, and tin inside a crucible in a forced induction furnace. The copper and tin were covered in a high heat silica, or sand to isolate the new alloy from the air and reduce imperities. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6vVMdyQi0M&feature=PlayList&p=212FC0C96C413919&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=49

Characteristics of Civilzation Civilization Description Picture/ Diagram There are 6 characteristics of civilization. Get with the same partner you had before. READ pages 30-31 in the textbook and each partner will draw a chart which describes the characteristics of civilization which arose in the late Neolithic.