Chapter 1:

From Human Prehistory to the Early Civilizations

Objectives

• Examine the indicators of civilization, including writing, labor specialization, cities, technology, trade, and political and cultural institutions in early civilizations • Trace the development and assess the achievements in the arts, sciences and technology of early river civilizations, including those around the Huang-He (China), Indus (India), Nile (Egypt), and Tigris-Euphrates (Mesopotamia) rivers

Key Concepts  Big Geography & the Peopling of the Earth  The Neolithic Revolution & Early Agricultural Societies  The Development & Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral, & Urban Societies Major Topics  Neolithic Revolution  Early River Valley Civilizations  Foraging vs. Pastoral/Agricultural Societies  Early Migrations: Middle East, Africa, Polynesian/Oceania

Geographical Contexts

    To begin you will focus on the geographical context in which cultures will develop You are expected to know and be able to analyze the importance of locations, trade routes and migrations to the development of civilizations Map Notebook During the study of each chapter you will map the basic features of geography in that area of the world This includes continents, oceans , seas, rivers, key political units

Map Notebook Example

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In studying Ch. 1, you should be able to ID major water supplies and the effect and importance of rivers

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Such as the Nile and the Tigris Euphrates on the demography of Egypt and Mesopotamia

Part I

From Hunting and Gathering to Civilizations, 2.5 Million-1000 BCE: Origins  Earliest known humans lived in East Africa about 2.5 million yrs ago    They lived by hunting and gathering Most advanced human species, Homo sapiens sapiens, migrated from Africa to the Middle East, then to Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas They developed tools out of sticks, stones and other natural objects(bones)

10,000 Years Onward

 Agriculture begins  Civilization develops  Early civs. arose in 5 different sites, four along the fertile shores of great rivers  The key element in this long phase of human history focuses on adaption to environments and the search for food supplies

Development of Agriculture

 Offered different opportunities for humans Altered family forms Formal political structures Cities Monument building  Change took place slowly during this period  The impact of this change in human civ. can be seen with children who were more supported, nurtured and discipline because they were a vital part of the family labor force in agricultural societies

Civilization

 Define civilization Societies distinguished by reliance……..page G-5  The word civilization comes from the Latin term for “city”  What are characteristics of civilization?

Formal states, writing, cities and monuments all characterize civilization  What are some other characteristics of society?

Elaborate trading patterns Extensive political territories

River Valley Civs.

 What did all the civs. have in common?

Concepts of leaderships Other basic social structures for example, most had some form of hierarchy within their civilization All had religions A writing system  How were they different?

Their emphasis on religion and technology Their interest in the wider world

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Summary

Most of the 2 million-plus years of our existence as a species has been described as Paleolithic or Old Stone Age During this period both Homo erectus and then Homo sapiens sapiens appeared as early as 500,000-750,000 yrs ago They stood upright and learned simple tool use, mainly through employing suitably shaped rocks and sticks for hunting and gathering Several species of Homo erectus developed and spread into Africa and other parts of the region, reaching a population of almost 1.5 million 100,000 yrs ago Homo erectus disappeared about 40,000 yrs ago Our immediate ancestors were Homo sapiens sapiens All current races are descended from this subspecies Early varieties of homo sapiens sapiens lived in small bands of hunter gatherers These groups developed language, rituals, and more sophisticated tools