Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Human Society Section 1 Geography and History

Introduction In 1991, 2 hikers discovered a body in the Alps Mts. in Italy. They found a well preserved body, clothes , and tools. The tools were not “modern”. The body, tools, and clothes had been well preserved by the ice and snow on the mount. Archaeologists have studied the man and his belongings and have made some assumptions about his life and death

His copper ax means he lived some time after 4000 BC. His clothes- his village had skilled seamstresses. His grass cape - traveling in cooler weather He had pouches containing a repair kit, a medicine kit, and a survival kit (long journey?) He was- 5 foot 2inches with dark hair, a beard. He may have been 45 when he died Evidence suggests he died in an armed struggle. (homicide)

http://www. mummytombs. com/otzi/theories http://www.mummytombs.com/otzi/theories.htm - for more theories about his death

I. History People are curious about the past we want to know about life 1000’s of years ago 5,000 years ago cultures in Southwest Asia and Africa developed systems of writing That marks the beginning of History. History is the written and recorded events of a people History is easier to study because we have many ways to study the past and the people who live it

* There are two types of sources used to study history: Primary source-written by someone who was involved or saw event Secondary source-written by someone who consulted a primary source II. Prehistory Prehistory is the time before the development of writing. Much harder to study. A special group of scientists study this time period called Archaeologists. * They must rely on the physical remains (artifacts) of prehistoric people in order to study them *They deal with one BIG problem- Many artifacts have been destroyed or lost But, each new piece of evidence has the potential for changing old theories about a group or people.

III Oral traditions Written records may have at one time been oral traditions. Oral traditions are stories passed down by word of mouth. Stories that are passed down help historians know what a group found to be important. One problem-they are hard to prove. Portions may have been added to, forgotten or exaggerated

IV. Geography A. Geography has played a part in history since it refers to the features of a place, its climate, water supply and landscape that are also examined B. Historians study Geography to see what kind of impact it had on the people who settled an area and the success of a civilization

Skill-timelines Timelines are used to visually show the order in which events happened (chronological order) BC-refers to the years before Christ’s birth. In BC time you are counting backward. The bigger the number the further back in time. AD-Latin for Anno Domini (in the year of our lord) refers to time after Jesus’s birth C-stands for circa which means “about”. This means no exact year has been pinpointed for this event