World History I (0-1500) Virginia SOL Curriculum Chris Anderson Randolph-Henry High School

 AD v. BC  BC=before Christ  Dates go in reverse (ie. 255, 254, 253, etc)  AD=Anno Domini (in the year of our lord)  Dates go normally BCAD

 Pre-history—the time before writing  History—study of written records

Vocabulary—early Humans  Archaeologist  Study “stuff” (artifacts) left behind by early humans—ie. Pottery, tools, buildings, etc.  Anthropologist  Attempt to discover the origins of humanity  Hominid  Human like creature

Dating Artifacts (“stuff”)  “Stratography”  Artifacts location can tell relative age  Older artifacts are located deeper in the soil

Dating Artifacts (“stuff”)  Radio-carbon Dating  Can only be used for organic (once living) material  Measures the amount of Carbon 14 left in the material

The First Humans  November 30, 1974—Dr. Donald Johanson discovered “Lucy”—a nearly complete skeleton of a pre-historic female  She was bipedal—walked on 2 legs  Her discovery helped scientists in their studies for the origins of humans

Australopithecus  “Southern Ape”—not really human  Lived in humid forests of Africa about 4 million years ago  31/2 to 4 feet tall  Bipedal  Small brain  Flat nose  Large teeth

Australopithecus  Africa’s climate changed about 3 million yea  The climate became cooler and drier  Tropical rainforests disappeared and were replaced by grassy plains  Australopithecus had to adapt or die out  Larger brained individuals survived

Large Brained Hominids  Classified by the Latin prefix Homo  Homo habilis  “Person with ability”  Homo erectus  “Person who walks upright”  Homo sapiens  “Person who thinks”  All people today are in this group

Homo habilis  Hunter-gatherers  Probably lived in trees  Developed very little speech

Homo erectus  Lived on the ground  Groups of  High death rates  Life expectancy 20 years  Nomadic hunter- gatherers  Followed their food supply  Females gathered fruits, nuts, and seeds  Males looked for dead animals to scavenge—eww!!

Homo erectus  Harnessed fire  Cooking  heat  Moved into caves  Developed clothing from animal skins  Allowed Homo erectus to move to cooler places such as Europe and Asia  Began using real speech

Homo sapiens  The ultimate advancement of humanity—us  Two different groups of Homo sapiens developed  Neanderthal  Cro-Magnon

Homo sapiens--Neanderthal  Developed in Africa  100,000 years ago spread to Eurpe and Asia  5.5 feet tall  Large brains  Stocky bodies  Thick bones  Muscular necks and shoulders

Homo sapiens--Neanderthal  Hunter-gatherers  Used fire  Lived in caves  Learned to build shelters  From wood and animal skins  Buried their dead with tools and flowers

Cro-Magnon Homo sapiens—Cro-Magnon  First existed ca. 40,000 years ago  Looked like US  Appeared 1 st in Asia  35,000 Cro-Magnon replaced Neanderthal

Cro-Magnon Homo sapiens—Cro-Magnon  Known as “tool makers”—excellent tool making skills  Knife  Chisel  Bone fish hooks  Bone needles  Stone axe  Canoe—allowed for transportation and trade  Spear thrower  Bow and arrow

Cro-Magnon Homo sapiens—Cro-Magnon

 Created elaborate cave art  Created sculptures from ivory, stone, and jade

Migration Patterns  Homo sapiens’ larger brains allowed them to adapt and migrate all over the world  The major factor allowing for migration was the Ice Ages

Migration Patterns  Ice Ages  Earth has experience 4 ice ages between 2 million and 10,000 years ago  Earth’s temps. Fell, causing the polar ice caps to expand  Lots of water was need to create the ice—resulted in ocean levels dropping by 300 feet!  Falling ocean levels exposed land bridges between continents and other land masses  Between Japan and Korea  Between Great Britain and Western Europe  Between Asia and North America

Migration Patterns  Ice Ages  Land bridges allowed people to migrate into unoccupied lands  Moving to warmer places  Followed herds of animals

Neolithic Revolution  Definition—a 5,000 year period when people began to produce their own food through the domestication of crops and animals  The development of farming has been humanity’s most important accomplishment  Farming allowed humans to settle down and create civilizations

Neolithic Revolution  Before raising crops, nomadic humans began domesticated animals  Dogs—to aid in hunting  Goat—milk, meat, hides  Nomadic humans created new tools to help harvest (gather) wild crops  Sickle—to cut grasses and wild grains  Pottery—to carry harvested foliage

Neolithic Revolution  Crop domestication soon followed  Early agricultural villages developed near rivers or in river valleys  Different areas of the world grew different crops  Asia—rice  North/Central America—corn (maize)  Africa—bananas  South America—potatoes  Middle East—wheat and barley

Neolithic Revolution  Early farmers began domesticating more animals  Cattle  Pigs  Sheep  Chickens

Neolithic Revolution  Farming allowed early humans to produce more food, resulting in an increase in population

Neolithic Revolution  Early farmers created new tools and techniques to help produce more food  Plow—pulled by oxen  Fertilizers  Ashes  Fish  manure  Irrigation

Neolithic Revolution  Specialization of labor and technological advancements developed when early humans produced a stable food supply  Loom invented—weaving of cloth  Wheel invented—transportation  Brick—better building material  Metal work—weapons, tools, jewelry  Calendars—planting and harvesting times  Religion

Neolithic Revolution  Artisans—craftsworkers—were needed to produce tools for farmers  Early man began to use bronze (alloy of copper and tin) for tools and weapons  Bronze was very expensive  Merchants were used to trade agricultural goods for copper or tin

Development of Cities  Early cities were structured in a way to protect the most important individuals  In the center—government and religious buildings  The priest lived in the religious building—he was the most important person  The government officials (ruling class) lived just outside the center  Outside the government officials lived the merchants  Outside the merchant lived the artisans  City outskirts—farmers, fishermen, and sailors

Creation of Writing  History begins when early humans developed ways to record their ideas— writing  Writing was invented by the early priests—to keep track of offerings to the gods  Started as marks and pictures for tangible items  Symbols were eventually created for sounds and abstract ideas