Ancient World

Pre-Civilization Period

Ancient History – is the study of the history

of the first civilizations that kept records.

Of course people had been living in history long before they began to write things down. This history is called prehistory.

This is the main difference between ancient history and Prehistory.

Prehistory/ What is the Pre-Civilization

Period?

Who Investigates the past?

3. Geographers: Mapping the past. Look at natural features of the Earth, such as water, landforms, plants, and animals. They also look at human made features, such as towns, roads, bridges and dams.

1. Historians: Recording the pasts. Look at diaries and letters in the last few thousand years. Main focus is on written records and documents.

2. Archaeologist: Digging up the past: Examine artifacts used by people and objects made by people, such as clothing, tools, weapons and coins

Social Scientists = “History Detectives.” Among these there are . . .

So what is a civilization?

A civilization has a written language, a social hierarchy, and a political system. There is a division of labor, an organized region and a food supply.

Those who study life before civilization are Paleoanthropologists.

Paleo = AncientAnthropologists = study human development and culture.

Cave Paintings

• Found in 1940’s in Lascaux, France.• Believed to 20,000 years ago ( 15,000 BCE)

Lascaux, ( la sko), Cave ( Bird Headed Man)

• The picture shows a scene from a hunt.

• The man is about to be gorged.

• The animal is a kind of buffalo ( wooly mammoth or a bison).

• The animal is wounded.• Social Scientist believe

the painting was created as part of a hunting ritual– relating to a ceremony.

Note the animal is more realistic than “the man.”

The Lascaux Cave, Hall of bulls:

.

• Shows prehistoric animals: bulls, bison and horses.

• Some social scientist believe that artists tried to capture the “magical” powers of certain animals. Some concluded the cave was a place of worship.

Cave paintings of shapes and Handprints

• Many believe the handprints were the way the artists signed their paintings.

Note how small the prehistoric handprint is.

• Sphere thrower: made from reindeer antler bone, it is 10 inches long.

• A leaping horse is carved into the top.• Could have been related to the hunters

name or a good – luck charm.

• The sculpture of bison is 23 inches long. • Some social scientists believe the sculpture

represented a “coming of age” ceremony. Footprints of “young people” were seen near this finding.

Why is this important?

• Lascaux is famous for its Palaeolithic cave paintings

• Paints are of exceptional quality, size, sophistication and antiquity.

• The Cave were unknown until 1940 and they were found by four teenage boys!

Moral of the story: Lost Dog = Big Find

TimeLine

So what is a civilization?

A civilization has a written language, a social hierarchy, and a political system. There is a division of labor, an organized region and a food supply.Those who study life before civilization are Paleoanthropologists.

Paleo = AncientAnthropologists = study human development and culture.

Prehistoric Humans =

Hominids• The earliest known group of hominids are believed to be

3 to 4 millions years old and are called Australopithecus Apheresis, which means southern ape. Because bones were found in . . .

• In 1974 Dr. Johnson discovered Lucy ( she was named after the Beatles' song “Lucy in the Sky”).

• Anthropologist believe Lucy was a 3ft tall female and she walked on her back legs – a skill apes do not have. The word for this is biped.

• Although Lucy is more advance than apes, her brain was 1/3 of the size of humans today. They also think these early hominids were not able to talk.

Homo Habilis: Handy

Man• The Leaky’s found the second group of hominids.

• They found artifacts for tools next to the– hence the name.

• Handy Man lived 1.5 billion years ago and bones have been found all over Africa ( but only in Africa).

• Also, many variations of bones have been found, which means this kind of Hominid probably lived in groups.

• Use of tools was a key difference between the Handy Man and hominids like Lucy.

Homo Erectus: Upright Man

• The third type of Hominid was discover on the island of Java, off the southern cost of Asia.

• This man was discovered in 1891 ( before Lucy and the Handy Man). However they lived after them, about 1.8 million to 200,00 years ago.

• These men were taller and larger. Their bones were strong so they could walk and run.

• In addition to making tools, these Hominids could build fire, which allowed them to live in colder climates.

Homo Sapiens: Neanderthals

• Skelton's were found in Germany, Neader Valley.• Neanderthals lived after upright man, from 230,000 -

30,000 years ago.• The lived in Africa, Europe and parts of Asia.• Their tools were more advance, but most importantly

they were the first group of early hominids to hunt.• They are also the first Hominids to show signs of a

community. They held ceremonies for the dead and carried out certain rituals.

• Neaderalthals existed side by side with early modern humans for 10,000 years

Homo Sapiens,

SapiensThe double wise man and lived 35,000 to 12,000 BCE.The lived in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australian and eventually migrated to North and South America across land bridges.

The invented even more advance tools, specifically for hunting. They created hooks and spears.Most importantly, these homids created cave paintings, like we studied earlier. Which tells us what. . . .