1. Investigating the Past
Ancient History – concerns the distant past, from the earliest humans to the first great civilizations
Prehistory – before written time

2. Who Studies the Past?
Archeologists – They study the past by examining objects that people have left behind.
Historians – They study written records like documents, diaries, and letters.
Geographers – They study natural features like water, landforms, plants, and animals. They also study manmade features like towns, roads, bridges, and dams.

3. Artifacts Social scientists use artifacts to study the past.
Artifacts are objects made or used by people in the past.

4. Early Hominids

5. Another “History Detective”
Paleoanthropologist
- anthropologists study human development and culture
- paleoanthropologists study the earliest hominids (paleo means “ancient”)

6. Australopithecus Afarensis
Earliest known group of hominid – Australopithecus means “southern ape”
Lucy belonged to this group
Lucy was a biped (two footed animal)

7. Homo Habilis: Handy Man
Abilities – could make tools
Probably lived in groups
- worked together to protect themselves
- could also collect food over larger areas of land

8. Handy Man the Toolmaker

9. Homo Erectus: Upright Man
Abilities – fire/migrate
Migrate = to move from one geographic region to another

10. Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis: Neanderthals
Abilities
- skilled toolmakers
- first hominids to hunt in organized groups

11. Neanderthals: A Sense of Community
Used burial mounds
Took care of injured members of group
Learned from experience of older members of group

12. Homo Sapiens Sapiens: Early Modern Humans
Eventually made it to North & South America by land bridges (pieces of land connecting two continents)

13. Early Modern Humans Even more skilled than Neanderthals
Were the first artists
- created paintings, sculptures,& musical instruments