TECHNOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS (8000-600 B.C.E.) Unit 1 TECHNOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS (8000-600 B.C.E.)

What is B.C.E. and C.E.? B.C.E. and C.E. replaced B.C. and A.D. B.C. was Before Christ and is now B.C.E or Before Common Era A.D. was Anno Domini which is Year of Our Lord in Latin. That has now been changed to C.E. which is Common Era.

Paleolithic Age (2.5 million years ago until 10,000 BCE) Humans traveled in small hunting-gathering groups Migrated from origins in East Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas Mobile and adaptive to various climatic and geographical settings Use of fire: to aid in hunting, protection against predators, and adapt to cold environments Mostly hunter-gatherers; some groups exchanged people, ideas, food, and goods CULTURAL DIFFUSION!!!!!!!!!!

   

Hominids Earliest Humans

5 Stages of Hominids – Pre-History Australopithecus – “southern ape” “Lucy” (Johansen) Great Rift Valley – Ethiopia diggers; lacked language, short, furry, omnivores Homo Habilis – “handy man” Louis and Mary Leakey – Kenya Used stone tools; lacked complex language Homo Erectus – “upright man” - bipedal Not only in Africa but Asia and Europe used complex tools and fire; first spoken language Homo Sapiens – “wise man” Neanderthal Man Lived all over the world, religious rituals, advanced spoken language, cave painting, sculpting, identified by clans Homo Sapiens Sapiens – “wise, wise man” – US!

Lascaux Caves, France

The Lion Panel in Chauvet Cave, France.

Altamira Cave, Spain

Cave of Hands, Argentina

Paleolithic Old Stone Age

Hunters & Gatherers Spent 3-5 hrs/day hunting/gathering Fruits, berries, seeds, edible roots

Early Hominid Finds Notice where the homo sapiens were found.

Neolithic Agricultural Revolution 9,000 B.C.E.

Fire 1.4 million yrs ago: deliberate fires 500,000 yrs ago: sustainment of hearths Cooking “invented” through wildfires (probably) Meat/veggies become easier to digest and better to the taste when cooked Gave light for after dark hours Provided heat in colder climates/seasons Provided protection against animals Helped in hunting Scare animals into traps Smoke out bees to get honey

Hunter-Gatherer Society Community Enough people to defend/protect the group Enough people to hunt/gather and support the group NOT so many as the food will not feed the entire group Mobile (most) Follow herds/seasonal plants Lived under overhangs/caves Sedentary (some) Fishing villages that relied on the sea Did not move according to weather Created solid structures to live in Gender Roles Women: gathering, cooking, child care Men: hunting, shelter (patriarchy!!)

The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization     Homo sapiens emerged in Africa 250,000 years ago 100,000 years ago they began to migrate

Neolithic Revolution Neolithic Revolution began after the last Ice Age (10,000 BCE) Humans began settling and adapting to their environments Some remained hunter-gatherers Switch to agriculture and settling in an area created a more reliable food supply (but not diverse) Begin using domesticated animals for food and for labor Settlements lead to population increase Food surplus led to specialization of labor (division of labor)

Animals Dogs were the first to be domesticated Used in Siberia for hunting Sheep/goats: provided meat, milk, skins Cattle/donkeys: beasts of burden Llamas: only domesticated beast of burden in the Americas Domestication of Animals. Carved in Egypt ca. 2380 B.C.E., this limestone relief sculpture shows two workers leading a prize bull. It is from the funerary chapel of Ptahhotep, a high-ranking official who lived in the period of the Old Kingdom (see Chapter 2).

Agriculture vs. Pastoralism Mobile groups that followed/depended on large herds of animals Central Asia/Africa Arid areas where agriculture could not thrive

Surplus Irrigation Food Surplus Civilization

City-State Sumer - 3200 B.C.

Ziggurat

Initial Civilization Centers

Fertile Crescent Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

Nile River

Eight Components of Civilization: 1. Cities Agriculture allowed for a surplus (which was difficult to move) River valleys: agriculture required a stable source of water

2. Government Issues laws, collects taxes, organizes defense, monitors/rations food supply Bureaucracy – managing government through departments of officials Protecting the surplus was of the utmost importance

3. Religion People believed in higher beings Polytheistic – many gods People wanted to gain favor with the gods

Abraham: Root of Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Wisdom Literature Hymns and prayers to gods, proverbs, accounts of battles

4. Writing Crucial skill for early civilizations Pictograms – simple drawings to show words Scribes – as writing became complex these trained experts learned to read and write

Cuneiform First Written Language

Hieroglyphics

Rosetta Stone Advanced the modern understanding of hieroglyphic writing

5. Social Classes People were ranked according to their jobs/occupations Priests and nobles were at the top level of society Next, came merchants, artisans, peasant farmers, and finally…..slaves.

6. Public Works Monumental architecture – temples, palaces Irrigation systems, roads and bridges Defensive walls

7. Job Specialization Specialization brought expertise Artisans – skilled craft workers who made pottery or woven goods

Phoenician Sea Traders Also invented the Alphabet – “phoenemes”

8. Art and Architecture Expressed the beliefs and values of people who created them Temples and palaces reassured people of the strength and power of their government and religion

Defensive Walls

Assyria 1100 B.C.

Hittites Invaders; learned to extract iron from ore 1400 B.C.