The Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras AP World History Chapter One Ms. Tully

The Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras

AP World HistoryChapter One

Ms. Tully

The Emergence of Humankind

• Hominids – 2-2.5 mil years – Eastern & Southern Africa Bipedalism

• Larger brains – Tools – Meat

• Homo Erectus• Homo Sapiens –

250,000 years ago Modern Humans

• Uniqueness of humans pros and cons?

The Paleolithic Era (2.5 Million BCE – 10,000 BCE)

• Hunting & foraging societies

• Development of belief systems & culture

• Development of technology

• Peopling of the Earth

1. Where did the human species originate from?

2. In what part of the world are the most “sites” of humans?

The Spread of Human Populations

The Beginning of Agriculture and the Neolithic Revolution

• End of the Ice Age• Domestication of

plants and animals• New way of

interacting with the environment

• New mutual dependence

• Slow “revolution”

Consequences of the Neolithic Revolution

• Permanent settlements & population growth

• Greater wealth specializations

• New technologies Iron & Bronze Ages

• Environmental transformations

• Beginning of inequality

• Globalization of Agriculture diffusion & colonization

1. Where are the core areas of agriculture?2. Where did specialty agriculture originate from?

The Spread of Agriculture

Catal Huyuk

• Neolithic settlement in Anatolia

• Irrigation & defense villages

• Larger village w/ connected homes

Defining Civilization

• Civilization Based on Latin term for city

• Economic surpluses

• Division of labor• Social hierarchy

social inequalities

Defining Civilization

• Formal political organization

• Continued technological development

• Writing, intellectual thought, artistic expression

Does the history of civilizations include everyone?

Is “civilization” a synonym for “good”? Have civilizations been beneficial to

humans and/or the environment?

Mesopotamia – The Birth of Civilization

• “Land Between the Rivers” Fertile Crescent

• By 4000 BCE wheel, bronze & copper metallurgy

• By 3500 BCE Sumerians developed cuneiform (writing)

Mesopotamia – The Birth of Civilization

• Ziggurats massive towers Ishtar

• Organized by city-states Babylon, Ur, Uruk

• Sumerians Akkadians Babylonians

Egyptian Civilization – The Gift of the Nile

• Developed along Nile River ca. 3000 BCE

• Unified state under at pharaoh

• Dynasty rule Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom

Egyptian Civilization – The Gift of the Nile

• 3 distinct social classes

• Polytheistic belief system with emphasis on afterlife

• Writing system Hieroglyphics & cursive script

• Success in mathematics & science

Indus River Valley Civilization

• Two large cities by 2500 BCE Harappa and Mohenjo Daro

• Evidence of strong ruling class

• Major trading centers• Conservative and

resistant to innovations• Demise of Harappa

environmental changes, administrative decline, nomadic migrations

Early Civilization in China

• Civilization developed along Yellow River by 3000 BCE Xia Dynasty

• 1500 BCE Shang established kingdom

• Divine monarch w/ feudal system

• Emphasis on shamans/oracles led to writing

New Societies in the Middle East

• River Valley Civs in decline by 1200 BCE

• Phoenicians Levant, 1300 BCE

• Jews Levant, 1200 BCE