UNIT 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations To c. 600 B.C.E

Where did we come from?

Key Concept 1 The term Big Geography draws attention to the global nature of world history. Throughout the Paleolithic period, humans migrated from Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas. Early Humans were mobile and creative in adapting to different geographical settings from savanna to desert to Ice Age tundra. By making an analogy with modern hunter- forager societies, anthropologists infer that these bands were relatively egalitarian (e·gal·i·tar·i·an) Humans also developed varied and sophisticated technologies (Like what?).

Objective 1.01 (Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth) 1.Archeological evidence indicates that during the Paleolithic era, hunting- foraging bands of humans gradually migrated from their origin in East Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas, adapting their technology and cultures to new climate regions. A.Humans used fire in new ways: to aid hunting and foraging, to protect against predators, and to adapt to cold environments. B.Humans developed a wider range of tools specially adapted to different environments from tropics to tundra. C.Economic structures focused on small kinship groups of hunting-foraging bands that could make what they needed to survive. However, not all groups were self-sufficient; they exchanged people, ideas, and goods.

TOPIC 1 Locating world history in the environment and time

ENVIRONMENT

Five Themes of Geography  Relative location – location compared to others  Physical characteristics – climate, vegetation and human characteristics  Human/environment interaction – how do humans interact/alter environ  Leads to change  Movement – peoples, goods, ideas among/between groups  Regions – cultural/physical characteristics in common with surrounding areas

Role of Climate  End of Ice Age BCE –  large areas of N. America, Europe, Asia became habitable  big game hunters already migrated  Geographical changes  3000 BCE Green Sahara began to dry up, seeds to forests  Effect on humans – nomadic hunters didn’t move so much  Settle near abundant plant life – beginning of civilization  Sedentary life w/ dependable food supply  milder conditions, warmer temperatures, higher ocean levels

What are some barriers to human expansion?

Paleolithic Age in Brief Means Old Stone Age from 3 million to 10,000 BC Characterized by simple stone tools Hunters and Gathers Equality amongst the group Most of human history Early Humans move out of Africa during this time What ends Paleolithic Age? Why? What so special about Hunting and Gathering?

East Africa  750,000 years ago started to move out of Africa  moving in search of food FIRE Why is fire important?

Demography  Major population changes resulting from human and environmental factors  2 million people during Ice Age  allowed for growth  big game gone  more usable land available  million by 1000 CE  Regional changes altered skin color, race type, quantity of body hair

Time  Periodization in early human history  Early Hominids – humans 3.5 million years ago  Australopithecus – Lucy – found in Africa  Bipedalism  sizable brain  Larynx – voice box  3 million – homo habilis – handy human – crude stone tools  1 million - homo erectus – upright human  First to migrate  Clothed selves – skins/furs  100,000 to 250,000 – homo sapiens – wise human  social groups  permanent, semi-permanent buildings  100,000 to 200,000 – homo sapiens, sapiens  Out of Africa – started in Africa and migrated  Multiregional thesis – all developed independently

Stone Age  First period of prehistory - Tool use separates hominids from ancestors  Paleolithic – Old Stone Age – 10,000 to 2.5 million years ago  Crude tools – clubs, axes, bones for shelter, protection, food, cloth  Natural shelters – cave/canyons  Began tent like structures/huts  Wooden/stone structures by Mesolithic  1 million years ago – fire  Warfare – rocks, clubs – food preparation tools used for combat  Weapons found in bones  Clothes from hides/furs and later plant fibers  Dying cloth for color  Families, clans, tribes  Select sexual partners – not seasonal  Long term sexual bonds – emotions + child rearing  Family units created clans  Neolithic – New Stone Age – 5,000-10,000 years ago

Social Organization During Paleolithic Age Family Unit Extended families clustered together, forming clans bound by ties of kinship. Larger groups such as bands and tribes. Social groups sustained themselves by hunting and gathering (foraging). Most hunter-gatherer societies were mobile or nomadic. Coordination and teamwork were needed to hunt large creatures and wage war.

Social Organization During Paleolithic Age Gender Division of Labor Men hunted, made war, and performed heavy labor. Women gathered nuts, berries, and plants; prepared food; maintained home; and tended children. Some historians believe women and men were basically equal.

Religion of Paleolithic Societies Worshipped gods or deities. Practiced a variety of religious rituals. Buried their dead. Nature oriented deities Performed various ceremonies How do we know?

Religion of Paleolithic Societies Oldest cave paintings discovered to date are 32,000 years old.

Paleolithic Age: Old Stone Age Cooperative Hunting Very Primitive Stone Tools Natural Shelters like caves. Homo Erectus learns to make fire. Organized into clans by family groups

Pleistocene Ice Age The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the retreat of the last continental glacier. It also corresponds with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology.

What is the most common source of change: connection or diffusion versus independent invention?  Connection/diffusion – due to interaction vs. invented something new or used it in a new way  Diffusion – ironwork – Assyrians to Kushites  Invention – Nok people of Nigeria – smelting iron  Farming of certain crops – diffusion – Middle East > India > Europe > Nile  Others independent – sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, China, Americas  After emergence of civilization, diffusion takes over – exchange of techniques, seeds, crops

Why Change? Most evidence suggests that hunters- gatherers resisted agriculture as long as they could. Why?

WHAT IS CIVILIZATION?

What are the issues involved in using "civilization" as an organizing principle in world history? World historians  more broad view – importance of human creativity/connectivity  Interaction of human beings in creative manner  What is a civilization (for our purposes)  Food surplus  Advanced cities  Advanced technology  Skilled workers  Complex institutions – government, religion  System of writing/record keeping

Which of the following best explains life in communities prior to the Agricultural Revolutions? A.Agriculturalists and pastoralists competed and often fought over land. B.The only role for women was to bear and raise children. C.Groups were defined by the geographic region of origin. D.The foraging lifestyle supported only small, nomadic groups of people E.Specialization of labor resulted in important technological advances.

Answer D Though large enough to defend themselves, hunter- gatherer communities rarely exceeded around fifty people so as to not exhaust the food supply in their area.

Which one of the following reasons do most historians cite as the cause of the Agricultural Revolutions? A.People migrated to regions that could finally support agriculture. B.A cooling period around 6000 B.C.E. allowed people to settle in one place year round. C.Climate change drove people to abandon foraging in favor of agriculture. D.Foraging groups grew so large that they could no longer function as nomadic societies. E.Major river valleys stopped flooding, which allowed people to settle along their banks.

Answer C Global warming ended the last Ice Age around 9000 B.C.E. As the climate changed in different regions, people adapted to the environment. As a result, people created settled communities in those regions best suited for agriculture.

Discussion Questions Characteristics of pastorialism versus nomadic societies. Why were the arts developed? Describe hominid evolution. Why did certain species survive and others didn’t?