Chapter 1The First Civilizations

Sec. 1: Early Humans

Sec. 2: Mesopotamian Civilization

Sec. 3: The First Empires

Early Humans• History is the story of humans in the past.

• Historians are people who study & write about the human past.

• The story of people really begins before people developed writing.

Tools of Discovery• What we know about the earliest people

comes from the things they left behind.

• Archaeologists hunt for evidence buried in the ground where settlements might have once been. – They dig up artifacts– They also look for fossils

• Anthropologists focus on human society. – They study how humans developed and how

they related to one another.

Tools of Discovery• Historians call the early period of

human history the Stone Age.

• The earliest part of the period is the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age.

• Paleolithic:– means “old stone” in the Greek

language – it began roughly 25 million years ago– Lasted until around 8000 B.C.

Who Were the Hunter-Gatherers?

• The world during the Stone Age had no roadways, farms or villages.

• Early humans spent most of their time searching for food.

• They hunted animals, caught fish, ate insects, and gathered nuts, berries, fruits, grains and plants.

Who Were the Hunter-Gatherers?

• Because they hunted and gathered, Paleolithic people were always on the move.

• They were called nomads.

• They traveled in bands of 30 or more people because it was safer and easier to find food.

Who Were the Hunter-Gatherers?

• Men & women did different jobs within the group.

• Women:– Stayed close to the campsite,

which was usually near a water source

– Looked after the children– Searched nearby woods &

meadows for berries, nuts & grains

Who Were the Hunter-Gatherers?

• Men:– Hunted animals– They had to learn animal habits – Make tools for the kill– First used clubs or drove animals off a cliff– Paleolithic people invented spears, traps, and bows & arrows

Adapting to the Environment

• The way the Paleolithic people lived depended on where they lived.

• Paleolithic people created new kinds of shelter made of animal skins held up by wooden poles.

• They also made a life-changing discovery when they learned to tame fire.

Adapting to the Environment

• Fire:– Gave warmth– Lit the darkness– Scared away wild animals– Could now cook food– Started fires by rubbing two pieces of wood together

What Were the Ice Ages?

• Fire was the key to survival during the Ice Ages.

• The last Ice Age was between 100,000 B.C. & 8000 B.C.

• Thick ice sheets covered parts of Europe, Asia & North America.

What Were the Ice Ages?• The Ice Age was a threat to human life.

• People risked death from the cold & also from hunger.

• Humans had to adapt their diet and shelters.

Language, Art & Religion• Another advance in Paleolithic times was the

development of spoken language.

• Language made it easier to work together & pass on knowledge.

• People also expressed themselves through art.

• They crushed black, yellow & red rocks to make powders for paint.

Language, Art & Religion• They dabbed the paint on

cave walls creating different scenes.

• Historians are not sure why the cave paintings were created.

• They must have had religious meaning.

The Invention of Tools• Paleolithic people were the first to use technology.

• People often used a hard stone called flint to make tools.

• Over time, people grew more skilled at making tools.

• They crafted smaller tools, such as fishhooks & needles made from animal bones.

Neolithic Times• After the last Ice Age, people began to domesticate

animal & plants for human use.

• Animals provided meat, milk & wool; carried goods & pulled carts

• People also learned how to grow food which allowed them to stay in one place.

Neolithic Times

• Gradually, farming began to replace hunting & gathering.

• This change in the way people lived marked the beginning of the Neolithic Age, or New Stone Age.

• It lasted until about 4000 B.C.

Why Was Farming Important?

• Historians call the changes in the Neolithic Age the farming revolution.

• Some consider the farming revolution the most important event in human history.

• Farming did not begin in one region & spread. – Asia: wheat, barley & rice– Mexico: corn, squash & potatoes

The Growth of Villages• Now, people who farmed could

settle in one place.

• Farmers had to stay close to their fields to water the plants, keep hungry animals away and harvest their crops.

• They began to live in villages where they built permanent homes.

The Growth of Villages• During the Neolithic Age, villages were

started in Europe, India, Egypt and China.

• The earliest known communities have been found in the Middle East.

• One of the oldest is Jericho, which is in the West Bank, between what is now Israel & Jordan.

• Jericho dates back to 8000 B.C.

The Growth of Villages

• Another well known community is Catal Huyuk in present-day Turkey.

– Had 6,000 people between 6700 B.C. & 5700 B.C. – Lived in mud-brick houses– Used other buildings as other places of worship– They farmed, hunted, raised sheep & goats and ate fish

The Benefits of a Settled Life

• Having a settled life brought Neolithic people greater security than they had ever known.

• Steady food supplies meant healthy, growing populations

• With a bigger population, there were more workers to produce a bigger crop.

The Benefits of a Settled Life

• Because villagers produced more than enough to eat, they began to trade their extra.

• People began to practice specialization– Pottery– Weave mats & cloth

The Benefits of a Settled Life

• In the late Neolithic times, people continued to make advances.

– People began to work with metal– At first used copper– After 4000 B.C. people in western Asia began to mix

copper & tin to form bronze (which lasted longer)– It became widely used between 3000 B.C. & 1200 B.C. and

this period became known as the Bronze Age.