Early Human History Paleolithic art from Lascaux, France.

I. The Stone Age Stone Age split into three distinct periods:  Paleolithic (Old Stone) Age – roughly 2 million years ago until 12,000 B.C.E.  Mesolithic (Middle Stone) Age – about 12,000 to 8,000 B.C.E.  Neolithic (New Stone) Age – about 8,000 to 3,000 B.C.E. Life during Paleolithic age  Simple tool use (sticks, stones of varying shapes and sizes)  Nomads – highly mobile, moved from place to place looking for food  Hunter-gatherers – depended on hunting animals and collecting foods  Humans evolved to what we are today: Homo sapiens sapiens  Originated about 240,000 years ago in Africa

I. continued… Life in Paleolithic Age continued…  Population growth was slow – hunter-gatherer way of life cannot support large groups  Late Paleolithic – development of culture  A people’s unique way of life – helps explain the environment and rules for social behavior  Development of complex languages and speech  Entire world is populated by end of Paleolithic Age Entire world is populated by end of Paleolithic Age Developments in the Mesolithic Age  Last great Ice Age ends, living conditions improve for most of the Northern Hemisphere  Human progress accelerates – tools, weapons become more sophisticated  Food storage, animal domestication (taming) begins  Population growth accelerated

II. Neolithic Revolution Between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, agriculture (farming) began  This is called the Neolithic (or Agricultural) Revolution  Took thousands of years to spread from Middle East (Fertile Crescent) to rest of worldFertile Crescent  Many groups began by practicing an early agriculture technique called slash-and-burn farming:  Cut and burned vegetation to clear a field – allowed to grow back after a year or two, once farmers have moved on  Further domestication of animals – horses, dogs, goats, pigs, sheep, camels

II. Continued… Neolithic Revolution paves way for permanent settlements  Agriculture allowed larger groups to live in one place Catal Huyuk  A Neolithic Age village, founded about 7,000 B.C.E. in modern- day Turkeyin modern- day Turkey  Population was in the thousands  Specialized workers and cultural life flourished  Drawbacks: natural disasters, diseases, warfare were common problems or people live closely together  Neolithic Revolution comic Neolithic Revolution comic

III. Civilization Permanent settlements, like Catal Huyuk, led to emergence of civilization  Societies that rely on agriculture, produce food surpluses  Have formal political organization  Characterized by groups of non-farming elites, merchant and manufacturing groups, specialized workers Development of writing  Essential to civilization for communication, record keeping, establishment of law and order  Cuneiform – first system of writing, emerged in Middle East around 3500 B.C.E. Cuneiform

IV. End of Stone Age Bronze Age  Emergence of civilizations also brought about the end of the Stone Age  Bronze Age – began around 3000 B.C.E. with the widespread use of bronze (type of metal) tools

Key Vocabulary – Chapter 1 (Part 1) Paleolithic (Old Stone) Age Homo sapiens sapiens Neolithic (New Stone) Age Neolithic Revolution Hunting and gathering Bronze Age Slash and burn agriculture Bands Catal Huyuk Civilization Cuneiform Nomads