Human Populations Pt II The development of social groups

Clues to Social Development  Prehistoric Plant and Animal remains gives clues to:  Hunting and gathering customs  Agriculture and livestock practices  Dietary Preferences  From these clues we can:  Learn how they lived together socially  Learn how they altered the environment through agriculture and foraging  Learn what helped cause extinction of plants and animals

Hunting and Gathering FFFFrom the beginning of man until 12,000 years ago, man hunted, foraged and scavenged TThese hunter-gatherer communities killed off many species of plant and animal TTTThese groups were usually nomads RRoamed from place to place EExperts at using the lands resources and locating food/water MMoved on when food ran out SSSSome people still live this way EEx: Kalahari Bushmen FFFFire: AAllowed these people to live in cold areas EEat food previously inedible and preserve food

Tools  First tools made by Australopithecines  Rocks used to dig up roots and crack open animal bones  Early tools made out of stone with flakes chipped off  Used as knives or spear heads  Other tools included sticks to probe for insects, heavy stones for battering and large sticks as weapons, animal bones and horns -Bones and horns were used to make fish hooks, buttons and sewing needles

Pottery  Pottery are objects made from clay  Learned to make these by seeing baked or burned clay soil  1 st pottery made from hollowed lumps of clay which were baked  Later came clay mixed with straw to make it less brittle  Allowed for cooking and storing of food  Breads, soups and stews added to human diet  Buying and selling of goods made possible with pottery  Pottery started modern commerce

Domestication of Plants and Animals AAAAgriculture started ~10,000 years ago in Southwest Asia WWWWithin 2,000 years, using animals and plants for domestic reasons was practiced from Greece to Pakistan FFFFarming and livestock breeding allowed civilizations and economy to begin SSSSumeria, Egypt, Rome and Greece

Agriculture: Seed Crops SSSSeed crops came first PPPPlanting occurred were harvesting was easiest CCCCrops most planted GGGGrasses WWWWheat RRRRye BBBBarley CCCCorn RRRRice TTTThese crops grew well and were nutritionally valuable OOOOther crops included: SSSSquash, root crops, grapes

Agriculture: Rain Forests  Rainforests have nutrient poor soil  To make room for crops, sections of forest were burned down  The ashes mixed with the soil making it fertile  Only a few harvests could take place before the soil was no good  Farmers moved on when soil was used up  Still practiced in some rain forests around the world

Agriculture: Woodlands  The soils is very fertile in woodlands  Trees were cleared out and soil used for various crops  The invention of the Plow increased productivity  Plows cut up, lift and turn over soil  The plow was a huge development and began modern technology  Allowed creation of more food  Humans became less dependent on nature and able to alter the environment for themselves  Humans began to learn trades, arts and science because they worked in the fields less

The plow leads to new advances  As populations grew due to more food, interest in other areas grew  Ex: Arts, sciences and trades  Larger populations mean more needs for timber and minerals  Some early civilizations may have fallen because of overuse of some of these materials  Domestication of animals and plants occurred to cope with growing human needs  Ex: Wolves scavenged human kills and eventually were domesticated into modern dogs  Ex 2: Pigs and wild birds were bred for food in Asia  Ex 3: Sheep, cattle and goats were used for food and to help with agriculture labor such as plowing

Impact of Domestication  Once domesticated, uses for plants and animals went beyond food and clothing  Selective breeding allowed humans to pick and choose traits they wanted the most  Ex: Milk production in cows, disease resistant plants for food, strength in livestock  Increased productivity allowed populations to expand  More people learned trades and crafts  Cities were born with commerce, trade, government and religion

Questions 1.Give two examples of hominid artifacts. 2.What animals were probably the first to be domesticated by humans? 3.What are tools? What did the first ones look like? 4.Where do scientists think hominids originated? 5.How did standing upright help humans advance?