Chapter 1

Before History
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Prehistory

is the term often used to describe

the period before written history.
What is history?
Documentation
Written records
Archaeological discovery
Requisite human presence (or natural
history)

Prehistory
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Animals

adapt themselves to
environment
Hominids adapt environment to
themselves
Use of tools
Language
Complex cooperative social structures
Development of Hominids
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Australopithecus

Discovery

of skeleton AL288-1, north of Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia (1974)
Nicknamed Lucy
40% of SWF, 46, 55lb.,
bipedal Brain 500 cc (modern
human: 1400 cc), limited
speech but opposable digit
Estimated date of death: 3.8 to
2.9 million years ago
Considered ancestor to
modern human beings

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Homo

Erectus, upright man

Larger brain capacity (1000 cc), improved tool use,
control of fire
Homo Sapiens, wise man Homo Sapiens Sapiens,
very wise man (most of us)
Largest brain, esp. frontal regions
most sophisticated tools and social organization
Migrations of Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens

Later Hominids
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B.C.
A.D.

is an abbreviation of Before Christ.

Anno Domini, Latin for in the year of
our Lord.
B.C.E. Before Common Era
C.E. Common Era
B.C.E./C.E. originally dates back to
Christians in Europe in the 17th Century
as Before Christian Era and Christian Era
but is most popularly used as Common
Era to remove Christ from dates.

B.C./A.D. vs. B.C.E./C.E.

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Global spread of hominids and Homo

Sapiens
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By

13,000 BC Homo sapiens in every inhabitable

part of the world
Archaeological finds:
Sophisticated tools
Choppers, scrapers, axes, knives, bows, arrows
Cave and hut-like dwellings
Use of fire, animal skins

Hunted

several mammal species to extinction

Climactic change may have accelerated process

The Natural Environment

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Paleolithic Era (Old Stone Age) (2.6 BC

to 12,000 BC)

Nomadic existence before

advanced civilization
Groups of 30-50
Division of labor along gender
lines
Distinguished by the
development of the first stone
tools, and covers roughly 99%
of human technological history
Humans grouped together in
small societies, and subsisted
by gathering plants and
hunting or scavenging wild
animals.
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Relative Social Equality

Nomadic

culture before
accumulation of landbased wealth
More likely determinants
of status: age, hunting
skill, fertility, charisma

Possible

gender equality
related to food
production
Men: protein from
hunting
Women: plant gathering
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The climate
during the
Paleolithic
consisted of a
set of glacial
and interglacial
periods in which
the climate
periodically
fluctuated
between warm
and cool
temperatures.

Paleolithic climate
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Big Game Hunting

Evidence

of intelligent
coordination of hunting
expeditions
Development of weaponry
Animal-skin disguises
Stampeding tactics
Lighting of fires, etc. to
drive game into kill zones

Requires

planning,
communication

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Paleolithic Settlements (examples)

Natufian

society

Modern Israel and Jordan

Wild wheat, herding
Jomon

society

Japan
Wild buckwheat, fishing
Chinook

society

Pacific Northwest
Berries, acorns, salmon runs
Groups

of 1000 or more

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Neanderthal Peoples

Species

of the
Homo genus found
in Neander valley,
western Germany
Also found in Africa,
east Asia
Evidence of
spirituality: ritual
burial
They are believed to
have practiced
cannibalism, or ritual
defleshing.

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Neanderthal Peoples

On average, the height of

Neanderthals was
comparable to
contemporaneous Homo
sapiens. Neanderthal
males stood about 65
66 in (5ft 5-6in) and were
heavily built with robust
bone structure. They were
much stronger, having
particularly strong arms
and hands. Females stood
about 6061 in (5ft-5ft
1in).
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Cro-Magnon Peoples (Early European

Modern Humans)
Dated

to about 30,000 years

ago
Physically similar to modern
humans
Named after the cave of CroMagnon in SW France where
fist specimen was found.
Greater capacity for speech?
Homo sapiens sapiens
Increased variety of tools
Adornments, decorative
furniture, cave paintings
Venus figurines
Cave paintings
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Cro-Magnon Peoples

Differing from their modern

day descendants by their more
robust physiology and slightly
larger cranial capacity.
The remains of tools suggest
that they knew how to make
woven clothing. They had
huts, constructed of rocks,
clay, bones, branches, and
animal hide/fur.
These early humans used
manganese and iron oxides to
paint pictures and may have
created the first calendar
around 15,000 years ago

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 Beginning

about 9500 BC in the Middle East that is

traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age
Distinction in tool production: Chipped vs. polished
Men: herding animals rather than hunting
Women: nurtured vegetation rather than foraging
Not a specific chronological period, but rather a set of
behavioral and cultural characteristics, including the use of
wild and domestic crops and the use of domesticated
animals.
Spread of Agriculture
Slash-and-and burn techniques
Exhaustion of soil promotes migration
Transport of crops from one region to another

Neolithic Era (New Stone Age)

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Surplus Food and

the Specialization of
A very large settlement in
Labor
southern Anatolia, which

existed from approximately

7500 BC to 5700 BC. It is
the largest and best
preserved Neolithic site
found to date.
Emergence of villages and
towns
Tremendous range of
manufactured products.
Pottery, Jewelry, Textiles,
Copper tools
Development of crafts
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Beginnings of Urbanization
Jericho:

concentration
of wealth, building a
wall
Craft specialization
develops
Social stratification
based on land
ownership
Governance of villages
and towns

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Accumulation

of landed
wealth suggests
development of social
classes
Archaeological
evidence in variety of
household
decorations, goods
buried with deceased
members of society
Neolithic shelves

Social Distinctions
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