UNIT 1.- PREHISTORY

BEFORE STARTING…

WHY WE STUDY HISTORY To explain the main developments and events that took place in the past.

This can also help us to understand the political, social and economic situation today.

History is a social science that studies mankind´s past (pasado humanidad).

Learning about the past involves finding out about the people who lived before us: what their society was like; what economic activities they had; what customs they held; how they though; what they achieved; and also how they expressed

themselves artistically.

HISTORICAL SOURCES. To study the past, historians obtain information from a variety of sources:

material sources (tools, buildings, weapons…), oral sources, written sources (books, inscriptions…) and visual and audiovisual sources (photographs,

videos…).

PUTTING HISTORICAL FACTS IN CONTEXTEvery historical event takes place in a specific place and at specific time. Historians use different units of time to describe how long an event occurred for. The most basic units are:

There are also different ways of calculating historical time:– Before and after the birth of Christ. For example, 2000 BC (before Christ) or

AD 1492 (Anno Domini).– Before the present (years ago). Sometimes historians choose to avoid using

BC or AD. They refer to how many years have passed since a historical event took place. So, instead of saying “writing first appeared around 3500 BC”, we can say “writing first appeared about 5500 years ago”

UNITS OF TIMEYEAR 365 DAYS

LUSTRUM 5 YEARS

DECADE 10 YEARS

CENTURY 100 YEARS

MILLENIUM 1.000 YEARS

PREHISTORY HISTORY

Before the invention of

writing

After the invention of

writing

PERIODS OF HISTORYTo make studying History easier, we divide it into different periods.

3.500 BC

PERIODS OF HISTORY: TIMELINE

1. PREHISTORY

Is an extremely long period of time.It begins with the appearance of the first

humans (over 2.5 million years ago in Africa) and ends when humans began to write (about 5.500 years ago).

But… Do you know when can we talk about the appearance of the first humans?

To answer the question, take a look to the following slide.

HUMAN EVOLUTION

The appearance of genus homo = Start Prehistory

Australopithecus is the first primate who began to stand upright and walk on two feet (bipedalism), who had opposable thumbs and increased brain size and capacity.

This process by which these primates changed physically is called human evolution (hominización in Spanish language): a very slow process, during which some species coexisted. The only species that survived was Homo sapiens (to which modern-day humans belong to).

BipedalismOpposable thumbs

HUMAN EVOLUTION: CHARACTERISTICS

PERIODS OF PREHISTORYPrehistory is divided into different periods of time depending on the advances in technology

PREHISTORY

STONE AGE2.500.000 – 7.000 years ago

PALAEOLITHIC2.500.000 – 10.000

years ago

LOWER MIDDLE UPPER

NEOLITHIC9.000 – 7.000

years ago

MESOLITHIC10.000 – 9.000 years

ago

METAL AGES7.000 – 3.500 years ago

COOPER 7.000 – 5.000

years ago

BRONZE 5.000 – 3.500

years ago

IRON 3.500

years ago

PALAEOLITHIC PERIODIs the largest (2500000-10000 years ago) and oldest period of Prehistory.

The term Paleolithic means old stone

• People lived in small tribes. Cooperation was essential to their survival. They protected each other, developed hunting strategies and passed on knowledge. These activities contributed to the development of language.

• They were nomads. They did not have permanent settlements (asentaminetos) and travelled around in search of food. They sheltered (refigiaban) in caves and built temporary huts (refugios).

• They were hunter-gatherers (cazodores-recolectores). They did not know how to produce their own food. They gathered fruit, consumed carrion and hunted or fished.

• They performed tasks as a group. Labor division between men and women.• They mastered fire. They used it for heat and light, cooking, sending smoke

signals, hunting and defending themselves against wild animals. Gathering around a fire helped build relationships and encouraged communication.

PALAEOLITHIC TOOLS• Made of wood, bone or stone. The most used stone was chert (sílex),

who was beaten to carve.

PALAEOLITHIC ART CAVE PAINTINGS (arte rupestre), such as the Altamira cave

paintings (Cantabria, Spain)

PORTABLE ART (arte mobiliar), consisted of carvings and sculptures made of stone, bone or clay. Two types of figurines:

The figures were paintings in several colours (especially ochre, red and black).The most common subjects were animals such as bison, horses or mammoths. It is believed the paintings had a religious meaning: by painting the animal, the artist may have believed they would be easier to hunt.

Female figurines or

Venus. Symbolised fertility.

Animal figurines:

horses and bison.

Activity:

This is a video in which you can observe the beauty of the old Altamira caves modelated and painted in their interior during the Paleolithic. (Note: This is the replica in the museum , but you can perfectly figure out how the pictures were)

http://almusociales.blogspot.com.es/p/1-eso.html

• 1. Where is the cave of Altamira located?• 2. Is the museum far away from the original cave?• 3. Why was the original cave closed for some years?• 4. When were they painted?• 5. Who actually discovered these paintings?• 6. Why are these figures considered three-dimensional?• 7. What kind of animal is frequently represented?• 8. Are there any other paintings apart from animals?• 9. Why are these caves so important?

NEOLITHIC PERIOD9000-7000 years ago

• The Neolithic period began about 9 000 years ago (following a short transition period called the Mesolithic period) with the appearance of agriculture and livestock farming.

• During the Neolithic period, humans went from being nomadic hunter-gatherers to sedentary producers. This change is also known as the Neolithic Revolution.

• Humans learned to produce their own food by farming the land and domesticating animals. Agriculture allowed humans to settle in one place and to abandon nomadic life. The result was the appearance of the first villages. These settlements were usually composed of huts and were located near rivers.

• People began to store and exchange surplus food, so trade developed.• Societies became more complex and hierarchical. Some

settlements had leaders and other important people who managed resources.

• New types of tools meant new types of jobs came into existence. There was a division of labour, as different people performed different tasks.

• Archaeologists believe that tasks were probably divided up between men and women. Women were responsible for arable farming and making cloth and pottery. Men were responsible for livestock farming and manufacturing tools.

• Neolithic people had two main religious practices. They worshipped the dead and buried them with their possessions. They also worshipped the forces of nature in order to improve their harvests.

NEOLITHIC TOOLS• Stones was not only carved, but also polished.

• New tools were developed:

Sickles to cut crops and hoes to turn the earth

Pots to transport food and drinkBaskets to transport and store objects

Loom to make cloths

NEOLITHIC ART Paintings were done on stone surfaces in shelters or in shallow caves (not inside deep caves). This is known as rock painting.The most common subjects: hunting, gathering food and ceremonial dancing.The figures were painted in a schematic style. They depicted essential features.They were usually painted in only one colour (normally black).The largest concentration of Neolithic rock paintings in the world are found in the east of the Iberian Peninsula (places such as Albarracín, in Teruel, or Alpera in Albacete).

ROCK PAINTING

A hunting scene from La Valltorta caves, Castellón

NEOLITHIC FEMALE FIGURINE Catal Huyuk, Turkey

CERÁMICA CARDIAL (Spanish language)

METAL AGES• Periods during which people began to make

objects and tools from metal.• This brought about many technological

advances which, in turn, brought about many social and economic changes.

• As you know, the metal ages are divided into three stages:

• The cooper age (began 5.000 BC in the Fertile Crescent Area)

• The bronze age (began 3.000 BC in the Near East).

• The iron age (began 1.200 BC in Anatolia).

• New trade routes were created as people travelled to find new sources of metal to make tools. This travelling helped spread different cultures.

• Trade produced wealth and villages grew significantly, giving rise to the first cities, which were often protected by defensive walls.

• There was a specialisation of labour. This meant that new types of professions, such as merchants and warriors, began to appear.

• Metal became a symbol of wealth, as people who owned metal weapons and tools were more powerful than those who had stone weapons. War became a means of expanding and controlling territory.

• Private property and economic inequality between people became more common. This meant that the structure of society became even more hierarchical.

Economic and social changes

Technological advances

Metal work

Metal plough

Wheel

MEGALITHIC ART• Megaliths are monuments built using large stones. They are the first

known examples of architecture. They were created during the end of Neolithic period and in the Metal Ages.

• Megalithic monuments can be classified as:

MENHIRSLarge vertical

stones embedded in the ground.

They could stand alone

or in a line with others.

They were used for ceremonies.

DOLMENSA large, flat,

horizontal stone laid on

vertical stones.They were used as burial places.

STONE CIRCLES

(CRÓMLECH)Several menhirs

placed in a circle

They were used for ceremonies

PASSAGE TOMBS

Similar to a dolmen, but with

one or more chambers and a passage at the

entranceThey were used

for burials

• http://www.students.linguaframe.com/07a-prehistory