2. Warm-up: On an index card write your
answer to the following:
Describe how you think early humans might
have spent their days.
3. Before History
Prehistory means the period before writing was developed
Story of early humans relies on archaeological and biological information
4. Archaeology and Anthropology
Archaeology is the study of past societies through an analysis of what
people left behind (e.g. fossils, weapons, tools, pottery, etc.) These things
that the archaeologists study are called artifacts.
Anthropology is the study of human life and culture. Anthropologists also
use artifacts to determine how people lived their lives.
5. Dating artifacts and fossils
Radiocarbon dating – accurate for dating objects that are no more than
about 50,000 years old
6. Dating artifacts and fossils
Thermoluminescense dating – enable scientists to make relatively accurate
measurements back to 200,000 years
7. DNA gives insight into ancient
civilizations
DNA is providing new information on human evolution which gives us even
more insight into the lives of early peoples.
8. Early stages of development: From
hominids to homo sapiens
Earliest humanlike creatures lived in Africa three to four million years ago
and were called australopithecines.
Australopithecines were the first hominids (humans and other creatures that walk
upright) to make simple stone tools.
Second stage in human development: Homo erectus which used larger
and more varied tools (about 1.5 million years ago).
Third stage in human development: Homo sapiens (250,000 years ago).
There were two subgroups of Homo sapiens:
Neanderthals
Homo sapiens sapiens
9. Neanderthals
First found in the Neander Valley in Germany, more found in Europe &
Southeast Asia
Remains dated between 100,000 and 30,000 BCE
Relied on stone tools
First early people to bury dead
Made clothes from skins of animals that they killed for food
10. Homo sapiens sapiens
First anatomically modern humans (CET65R8Vople who looked like us)
Appeared in Africa between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago, spread out
around 100,000 years ago
By 30,000 BCE Homo sapiens sapiens had replaced Neanderthals who had
largely died out, possible due to conflict between the two groups
By 10,000 BCE Homo sapiens sapiens could be found throughout the world
All humans today belong to the same
subgroups of human beings.
11. The Stone Ages
Paleolithic Era(Old Stone Age)
Mesolithic Era(Middle Stone Age)
Neolithic Era (New Stone Age)
12. Paleolithic Era: people lived as nomads, in
small hunting and food gathering groups.
Nomadic
Simple tools and
weapons out of stone,
bone, or wood
Caves and rocky
overhangs for shelter
Cave paintings
Learned to build fire for
warmth, cooking, and
signals
Tools used for hunting,
protection, fishing, and
shelter
Had spoken language
Lived in groups of two to
three dozen people
Men did the hunting
Women gathered fruit,
berries, roots, grasses
13. The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution
Neolithic Agricultural Revolution was the change from nomadic to
farming life. This led to the development of civilization.
People Before
Relied on hunting and
gathering
Nomads lived in small
hunting and food-
gathering groups
Waited for migrating
animals to return each
year
People After
Learned to farm and
produce own food
Settled into permanent
villages
Learned to domesticate
(tame) wild animals,
providing a dependable
source of meat
14. The End of the Neolithic Age
Between 4000 and 3000 BCE, the use of metals emerged
Copper was first metal to be used in making tools
After 4000 BCE copper and tin were combined, making bronze
As people mastered art of farming complex societies developed
By the beginning of Bronze Age large numbers of people were
concentrated in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China.
Welcome to the Bronze Age
15. Exit Ticket: On the back of your index
card answer this question:
What important and dramatic
developments took place during the
Neolithic Age?
Editor's Notes
These social scientists have developed scientific methods to carry out their work. Excavations around the world have uncovered fossil remains of early humans, ancient sites, burial grounds, and more. Examining and analyzing these remains give archaeologists a better understanding of ancient societies. By examining artifacts like pottery, tools, and weapons, scientists learn about the social and military structures of a society. Bones, skins, and plants seeds help them piece together the diet and activities of early people.
How do scientists date their finds? Determining the age of human fossils makes it possible to understand when and where the first humans emerged. All living things absorb a small amount of radioactive carbon (C-14) from the atmosphere. After a living thing dies, it slowly loses C-14. Scientists can calculate age of an object by measuring the amount of C-14 left in it.
Thermo dating measures the light given off by electrons trapped in the soil surrounding fossils and artifacts.
Blood, hair, and plant tissue molecules left on rocks, tools, and weapons may survive millions of years. Analyzing these organic remains tells us more about humans, their use of tools, and the animals they killed.
Homo erectus were first to leave Africa and move into Europe and Asia. They could do this because they learned how to use fire to keep warm in colder areas.
Some scientists maintain that burial of dead indicates a belief in an afterlife.
Spread of modern humans was a slow process. Groups of people moved beyond their old hunting grounds at a rate of only two to three per generation, probably in search of food. But this was enough to populate the world over tens of thousands of years.
The use of metals marked a new level of human control over the environment and its resources. Bronze was harder and far more durable than copper. This led to the Bronze Age.
