Chapter 1: Early Humans Prehistory- 3000 BC

Chapter 1: Early Humans- Prehistory

3000 BC

Section 1-

Cave at Altamira had paintings thought to be by primitive people- at first skeptical, now thought to be 15,000 years old

Paleontologist- studies fossils

Anthropologist- studies physical remains of prehistoric people to tell how they lived (two types: physical and cultural)

Geologist- studies layers of soil and the earth

Archaeologist- excavates and studies artifacts from ancient sites forming theories about how they lived

Anthropologists and Archaeologists work with chemists, botanists, physicists and Geologists

Rapid City is closest college for Anthropologists and Archaeologists

Most Geologists believe the earth is about five billion years old

Theory- educated guess

Theories say that planets were thick gas that formed into molten rock- heavy stuff went to core and lighter stuff made up atmosphere

Theories also say life began in oceans four billion years ago

As single celled/ water dwelling

Single Celled > Sponge > Jellyfish > Snail, fish, crab > Frog > reptiles > Birds > Mammals

Skeletons give clues to appearance of early humans

Homo- sapiens- human being

Hominids- Humans and pre-humans- means two legged primates

Australopithecines- means southern apes

Lucy- discovered in Afar, Ethiopia

Four million years ago

Three and a half feet tall

Homo-Erectus- (caveman) over five feet tall

Made first tools and controlled fire

Brain size of 1000 cubic meters

Neanderthal- Died out forty thousand years ago

Barrel chest, low browed, slightly larger brain than modern humans

Hydrogen burns – stars

Earth started as molten

Hydrogen is a heavy gas and goes to center

Iron and nickel make up center of the earth

Cyntrical force- spinning force putting hydrogen in the center

Hydrogen and oxygen combined to water taking out fire

Core of earth is still “on Fire”

More oxygen= hotter fire

If fire could go out, earth would freeze

In North Dakota, the ground freezes only three feet below ground

Rest heated by core

Five Billion years ago- earth formed from gas > Four Billion years ago- first life in oceans > Four Million years ago- hominids > Two million years ago- Homo erectus > 100,000 years ago- Homo sapiens

75% of Earth is water

80% of people are water

Amoeba is single celled organism (microscopic) living in water- similar to first life

Some changes are good, some not

Multi celled organisms then came- sponges, algae etc

Then Amphibians- Frogs, Newts, etc

Then Reptiles, Birds, and last Mammals

All this is a theory, not proven fact

Most consider humans outside of animal kingdom

Animals can’t reason

Stimulus Response- you get something for doing something

Rope memorization

Man came from primates- bipedal with thumbs

All primates are social beings

Chimps are smartest of all apes

Lots of apes > some hominids > fewer sapiens > three human races

Homo- erectus- cave man

Primate > Hominids- Lucy > Homo erectus- Altimera, Spain > Homo sapiens

Lucy- Four million years old

Horse- had three toes and was one foot tall

Section 2- People developed basic skills in Old Stone Age

Stone Age was from Two million- 3000 BC

Writing was first invented around 3000 BC

Paleolithic- Two million- 8000 BC

Mesolithic- 8000- 6000 BC

Neolithic- 6000-3000 BC

Homo erectus made tools and cooked with fire

May have saw trees burning and used sticks to scare away animals

Believed to be the first to cook food

Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon people adapted to the Ice Age

Ice Age- anthropologists study ancient man during this period- culture

The era between about one and a half million BC and 8000 BC

Glaciations- polar ice caps extend over continents

Terminal Moraine- Debris left by glaciers

Ice glaciers fractured and moved because of syntrifical force

Look in ND for Terminal Moraine- Turtle Mountains and Killdeer

Mountains

Valley glaciers or continental glacier

May be up to two miles thick

Moved inches per year

Each of four glaciations lasted 40000- 60000 years- they’ve moved back and forth

Proof of four glaciers- four layers of coal in North Dakota about 8 feet deep

Coal- dead plant life compact below surface

Oil- dead marine animals compact below surface

Natural Gas- dead animals deteriorate and gas forms- comes out first

Warm periods (interglacial periods) lasted about 40000 years in between- great lakes, Ohio and Missouri Rivers carved

Place where two rivers come together- confluent

Water goes north of Gulf of Mexico to the Plains

Surface of Earth was at tops of modern butts- dirt moved from glacier/ water- Badlands by Missouri River

50000 years ago glaciers stopped moving

20000 years ago, they began melting

During Ice Age many died of exposure or starvation- others adapted

Neanderthal may have been first to make knives and spears- found food and weapons in

Grave with body

May have been first to develop religion

Hunter- Gatherers- People who live entirely by hunting and gathering roots, berries, fruit and nuts

Hand axe was first weapon

Cro-Magnon people developed fine tools, fitted clothing, art, music, and trade

Cro-Magnon people increased numbers 30000 years ago

Made harpoons of reindeer horns and bones

Made spears of flint

Painted, molded clay, carved figures

30000 year old bone flute in France

May have been first musicians

Large Trade Routes

Beads, shells, jewelry etc.

Homo sapiens began migrating globally 50000 years ago

Section 3- People made great advances in the Middle Stone Age and the New Stone Age

During end of Old Stone Age, glacial ice receded to the north

Middle Stone Age began in 8000 BC

Mesolithic people invented pottery and fishing equipment and tamed wild dogs- black/ brown and small

More People > more ideas > more learning

Pottery made of sun-dried clay

7000 BC- oven fired pottery stored water

Also made boats, hooks and nets

Tamed jackals for hunting and guarding property

All dogs came from jackals

Chipped rocks for tools

Invented Bow and Arrow and spearheads

No hominids have been found in North America- people came from Bering Strait

Neolithic people invented agriculture and improved their living conditions

In Middle East- New Stone Age began about 9000 BC

Not in Europe until 3000 BC

Farming and herding began in Neolithic period

Agriculture- the deliberate cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock

First crops were wheat and barley

Nomads- people who travel from pasture to pasture

Settled agricultural communities with reliable supplies and used specialized labor

Specialization of Labor- dividing up work so people most skilled in a particular task perform

only that task while others specialize in other jobs

Weaving and other improvements

New stone age around 5000 BC

Linen is made from Flax, a blue flowered plant who’s stalk fibers are spun into

thread and woven into cloth- wears away slowly

Bed sheets, tablecloths, napkins, horse collars etc

Fleece from sheep into woolen cloth

Felt- press and roll heat animal hair into blankets

Dry Grass is hay > brown

Straw- good insulator > is hollow- cold air can’t penetrate hollow- double paned windows

Many other advancements

Stone farming tools

Milling stones

Cups, Bowls and plates

Loom turns thread into cloth

Neolithic People developed more complex governments and religions

Government formed army to protect settlements from intruders

People are social animals

Worst for of punishment is banishment- solitary confinement, suspension etc

Usual punishments for small crime was social humiliation

Drastic punishments were execution and banishment

Punishment- to correct people’s mistakes

People turned to certain people skilled in prayer, who formed priesthood

Neolithic Revolution- the many changes over these few thousand years

Agriculture was greatest advancement by man

All the dinosaurs are dead, why?

Ice Age- animals don’t reason to go south

Meteorite- dust came and changed climate- blocked sun

Homo-erectus- wore clothes for warmth

Paleolithic Age

Cro-Magnon wrote pictures

Keep good things/ throw bad things- religion has grown

Map Test: Two land bridges disappeared- Beiring Strait and unnamed strait in Indian Ocean

Straight- two land masses separated by narrow water body

Granite rocks are at surface of Northern North America

All rocks have dull edges because glacier left them

Animal in ND older than anything since Old Stone Age

Sturgeon

Paddlefish

Fish Bones for needles- sharp and small

Flute (pipe) first instrument

Movie Notes:

-How did Lucy get her name? From “Lucy” in the by the Beetles

-Look in Badlands type areas because they don’t have to dig so much

-The skulls change to more rounded because we have bigger brains

-Knee joinx was fantsihiy johnsen town- can’t read their note was gone for XC during movie

-Louis and Mary Leakey- Found footprints and a skull which named Xinjantheopus dug in Olduvai

Gorge

-They found an almaar like Lucy and butndx bigger

Section 4-

Stone easily breaks and cant be molded

Ore- rock containing metal and impurities

People learned to make metal tools and weapons

End of New Stone Age, people in Middle East made bronze

At first hammered copper, then learned to melt/cast

Person may have seen shiny rock; people are attracted to shiny things, and it burned him because it was by fire. Then later, noticed his thumbprint in it after it cooled- people can reason

Then took copper/ tin to make bronze (shape in a clay mold)

Bronze- Sharper edge, stronger, easier to shape

Was chief metal for 2000 years (Bronze Age)

Stronger than copper alone

Copper is green in natural state

Bronze Age began in Middle East around 3500 BC, in China around 1800 BC, and in Americas around AD 1100

Metals are found in rocks- melt copper out of rock, then skim top

Progress was made in farming, transportation and commerce

First plow- pastureland/ grassland into cropland

A hoe pulled through soil with a rope

Later animals were harnessed to it

Led to the plow

Enabled larger fields to be farmed

Yoke- wooden collar for oxen to pull attached to harness

Collar- hooks to harness

Irrigation and dams were built

Sleds moved heavy loads

Later animals pulled sleds

Logs/ poles under sled

The Wheel

The Cart was invented

Sailboat- sails made of linen

First major sea routes

Potters wheel- a small flat wheel that’s set on a vertical axle. Clay is thrown on the spinning wheel as potter forms it

More uniform shape

Faster than without potter wheel

All these led to specialized labor

Hunters, gatherers, farmers, herders, potters, metalworkers, sailors, trades-people

Middle Eastern People pioneered Bronze Age Advances

Map Test: Fertile Crescent- A curved strip of land that extends between Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea

Learned to shape and make metal tools (called metallurgy)

How to make wheel/ plow/ harness oxen

Designed sailboats

First Civilization began here

Movie Notes- Dr. Leaky and the Dawn of Man

Early Hominids hard to find because vultures scattered unburied bodies

Traces of man becomes lesser at earlier history

Writing at 8000 BC

Leaky was born in 1903 in Kenya, had 3 siblings

People originally thought man began in Asia

Leaky was first to believe Africa was beginning

Few believed him

SKIP- Pictures

Leaky found hominid skull in Africa

Clay used to form face around skull