1. Human Origins: The Stone Ages
SOL 8.2

2. Human Culture Culture=WAY OF LIFE
Includes knowledge people have, language they speak, ways they eat and dress, religious beliefs, achievement in art and music

3. Human Origins
History began with the invention of writing- 5,500 years ago
Prehistory: Time period before writing developed
Hominids: Human beings and the humanlike creatures that preceded them.
Anthropology: Scientific study of hominids
Physical anthropologists compare hominid bones and other fossils, looking for changes

4. Human Origins
Paleontologists: study fossil remains to determine the characteristics of various prehistoric periods
Archaeologists: investigate prehistoric life by unearthing and interpreting the objects left behind by prehistoric people
Artifacts: objects that were shaped by human hands. Ex) tools, pots, and beads

5. Dating Early Artifacts
Easy to determine relative sequence in which events happened
More recent remains are found above older ones
Problems arise in assigning a definite age to fossil bones, tools, and other remains
Radiocarbon Dating: used for organic matter that is less than 50,000 years old
Researchers can date older remains- up to 26 billion years ago

7. Discovery of Lucy Hadar- site 45 miles north of Aramis
Donald C. Johanson and Tom Gray uncovered the 3.2 million year old skeleton of a hominid nicknamed “Lucy”
Hers was the most nearly complete skeleton of any erect-walking pre-human found up to that time
1994- assembled first almost complete skull of Lucy- proving that males and females were different sizes
Hominids like her spent time climbing trees and could walk upright
Earliest known evidence of upright walking comes from Kenya-
1995 discovery of a fossilized shin bone

8. Replica of Lucy

9. How do we know all this?
Archaeologists study past cultures by locating and analyzing human remains, fossils, and artifacts.
Archaeologists apply scientific tests such as carbon dating to analyze fossils and artifacts.

10. 3 Periods of the Stone Age
Paleolithic Age – Old Stone Age
Lasted from 2 million BCE to around 8,000 BCE.
Mesolithic Age – Middle Stone Age
Lasted from 8,000 BCE to 6,000 BCE.
Neolithic Age – New Stone Age
Lasted from 6,000 BCE to 3,500 BCE.

11. Human Origins The first “humans” appeared 2,000,000 years ago.
Homo sapiens emerged in East Africa between 100,000 and 400,000 years ago.
Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas.
Millions of years ago the continents were connected as one large continent called Pangea.

14. Human Origins First pre-human hominids date back- 4.4 million years
Australopithecus
Lived in humid forests of Africa
Fed on fruits, leaves, nuts, fish, and meats from animals killed by other predators
No evidence of making or using tools

15. Human Origins Hominid groups Homo=human (Latin)
Scientists divided homo into three groups that arose at different times in prehistory
Homo habilis- person with ability
Homo erectus- person who walks upright
Homo sapien- person who thinks

16. Paleolithic Age: Homo Habilis
Oldest hominids to make tools
Lived in Africa million years ago
Larger brains indicate more physically and mentally advanced
Most evidence for them came from researchers Louis and Mary Leakey and later their son, Richard

17. Paleolithic Age: Homo Erectus
Homo erectus – manlike creature who walked upright and could “speak”.
Men were hunters and gatherers and women and children helped gather food.

18. Homo Erectus
Appeared in Africa and lived from 1.6 million years ago to 250,000 years ago
Female movement restricted by constant demands for child care
Learned to make fire
Made clothing
May have spoken a language (not sounds)

20. Homo Erectus

22. Paleolithic Age
Were nomadic (migrated in search of food, water, shelter)
Invented the first tools,
including simple weapons
Learned how to make fire
Lived in clans
Group joins for a purpose
Developed oral language
Created “cave art”

23. Paleolithic Age: Cave Art
Purpose is not known: ???
religious, hunting, ceremonial, transmit info
Paintings on cave walls and ceilings
Found in areas not easily accessed
Common themes: wild animals
Bison, horses, deer
Drawings of humans are rare
Primarily found in France and Spain
Lascaux, France

28. Paleolithic Age
Early humans were hunters (men) and gatherers (women and children) whose survival depended on the availability of wild plants and animals.
These people were nomadic – they migrated from place to place in search of food, water, and shelter.
They invented the first tools and simple weapons from stone.

29. Paleolithic Age Dug roots out of ground with wooden digging stick
Later made crude tools out of stone
Technology- skills and useful knowledge available to them for collecting material and making the objects necessary for survival
Improving technology lead to specialized tools
Food choppers
Skin scrapes
Spear points

31. Prehistoric Tools

32. Paleolithic Age
Neanderthals were people who lived about 230,000 years ago at the end of the Paleolithic Age.
About 5 feet tall.
Brain was smaller than ours, but skulls larger
Made tools (knives, spears) and used tusks to create needles to sew “clothing”.
Had strong family ties and even buried their dead.

33. Neanderthal

36. Prehistoric Tools

37. Paleolithic Age First Homo Sapiens
Remains discovered in Germany in the 1850
Lived in small groups
No permanent houses
Culture and Beliefs
Cared for sick and aged
Signs of serious injuries on fossils
Belief in life after death

38. Modern Homo Sapiens

39. Cro-Magnon: Homo sapien

40. Paleolithic Age
Cro-Magnon were people who lived about 38,000 years ago.
They replaced Neanderthals.
With Cro-Magnon, technology improved.
Used fish hooks, harpoons, knives.
First shelters were built from bones and hides.
Most famous for cave art.
Group that developed fire.

43. Ice Ages
Climatic changes played important role in development of early human kind
Ice Ages: 2 million- 10,000 years ago, Earth experienced 4 long periods of cold climate
Human Beings responded by:
Migrating to warmer places
Strategies to keep them warm- clothing and fire
Died if they could not adapt

45. Mesolithic Age
8,000 – 6,000 BCE
After the Ice Age as climates warmed and grasslands grew.
Developed better fishing techniques
Boats, nets.
Also began to domesticate animals.

46. Neolithic Age 6,000 – 3,500 BCE Development of Agriculture
Learned how to plant seeds and grow food.
Agriculture freed people from hunting and gathering and “towns” began to form and grow.
The beginning of settled agriculture was a major step in the advance of civilization.

47. Neolithic Age Developed agriculture Raised & Domesticated animals
Used advanced tools
Made pottery
Developed weaving skills
Domesticated Plants

48. Neolithic Age First wheels and axels were used.
First forms of government were established.
To protect themselves and food supplies.

49. Bronze Age
The discovery of copper about 4,000 BCE changed the New Stone Age.
Copper is better than stone, but very soft.
Copper mixed with tin forms bronze
Harder and more durable.
Tool making moved from stone to bronze to iron.
Smelting – removing metal from ore.
Allowed for more metals for tools and weapons

50. Bronze Age Bronze is harder than copper or tin
Bronze is easier to cast
Metal was expensive- only used by kings, priests, and soldiers
Bronze Age Weapons

53. Dawn of Agriculture Neolithic Revolution took place at different times
Middle East- 8,000 BC
China- 5,000 BC
Crops included:
Wheat and barley (Middle East)
Rice (Southeast Asia)
Corn (Americas)
Bananas and yams (Africa)
Potatoes (South America)
Farming made life easier- steady supply of food and people could stay in one place longer

54. Technological Advances
Invention of plow and training oxen to pull it
Learned to fertilize fields
Invented loom and began weaving textiles of linen and wool
Baking bricks
Hammered metal to make jewelry
Calendar created to measure seasons
Warfare
Believed in many gods (spirits/deities)

55. Ice Man: Otzi “Ice Man” found in Italian Alps- 5,000 years old
Europe’s oldest human natural mummy

56. Stonehenge
Stonehenge is an example of an archaeological site in England that was begun during the Neolithic Age and completed during the Bronze Age.
From study of these things we have learned about the Stone Age.

62. First Villages 4,000 BCE- population rose to 90 million
Villages of about 200 began to develop where soil was fertile and water abundant
Aleppo and Jericho- modern Israel West Bank- 8,000 BCE
Çatal Hüyük- Turkey- 7,000-6,300 BCE
Largest Neolithic village that has been discovered
Rectangular flat-roofed houses made of mud bricks and placed in wooden frames
Villagers painted interior walls
Houses of several relate families lived in a compound with shared walls

64. Questions for Understanding
1. What was a most important step in the advancement of civilization during the Neolithic Era?
Permanent settlements that included agriculture and the domestication of animals
2. In what era was fire discovered?
The Paleolithic Era

65. Questions for Understanding
3. The first use of advanced tools was a part of what era?
The Neolithic Era
4. What is Eurasia?
Asia and Europe together make up Eurasia. They are both separate continents though.