The Holocene

RTPM-DSHSCompiled by Sue Quirante

USAGE NOTES These slides were prepared by Ms. Sue Quirante, a secondary public school teacher in the Philippines. All copyrighted material were lifted by her in the spirit of fair use. As such, this presentation should not be used for any commercial purpose.

Last updated October 9, 2016

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

The GTS is a system of chronological measurement that relates rock layers to time.

Oregon Utah

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

Different spans of time on the GTS are usually delimited by changes in the composition of strata.

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

The geologic history of the Earth is broken up into hierarchical chunks of time, from largest to smallest.

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALETime Period Name

EON Phanerozoic

ERA Cenozoic

PERIOD Quaternary

EPOCH Holocene

PLEISTOCENE pleistos : most kainos : new

CENOZOIC ceno : new

zoion : animal

HOLOCENE holo : whole kainos : new

Pleistocene Epochospanned 2.6mya to 11, 700 years agoomost recent episode of

glaciation or global cooling (ice age)oevolution and expansion of Homo sapiens

27% of the earth's land surfaces were covered by ice around 20,000 years ago

Glacialglacier advance

Interglacialglacier retreat

-dramatic climate swings

-many animals driven to extinction-humanity survived by becoming more intelligent and adaptable

Paleolithic Period

Old Stone Agebegun 1.2mya and ended 10,000 years ago

Paleolithic Periodstone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons

hand axes appeared 700,000 years agoOlduvai Gorge, Tanzaniafound with remains of H. erectus

Paleolithic Period

stone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons

hand axes appeared 700,000 years agoOlduvai Gorge, Tanzaniafound with remains of H. erectus

Paleolithic Period

stone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons

hand axes appeared 700,000 years agoOlduvai Gorge, Tanzaniafound with remains of H. erectus

Paleolithic PeriodNomads (hunter-gatherers)o hunting and fishing wild animalso gathering wild plants, berries, nuts, roots and tuberso lived in small groups which provided security and enabled hunting of large animalso average life span was 20 – 25 years

There was a video here but I took it out to reduce file size. It talked about two evolutionary strategies for surviving colder climates: 1) growing robust bodies (“toughening yourself up” or 2) growing larger brains (intelligence allowed humans to develop cultural/technological adaptations such as use of fire and clothing in cold climates.

You can view the video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndwzAw8fchU

HOW DID WE SURVIVE THE PLEISTOCENE?new cultural technology to deal with cold environments and changing food sources

HOW DID WE SURVIVE THE PLEISTOCENE? problem:scarcity of plant foods that humans could eat during the winters solution:ancestors became more proficient at hunting animals, especially large ones that provided more calories

Paleolithic ArtVenus of Willendorf (25,000 BCE)sculpted from limestonefound in Willendorf, Austriaone of many similar female carvings called Venus Figurines

AUSTRIA

How do we determine the age of artifacts?

1 extraction : digging, the deeper the older2 typology : if complex, recent3 Carbon-14 dating : measure of amount of carbon-14 in an object, only works for living objects

Paleolithic ArtHall of Bulls(28,000 – 10,000 BCE)found in Lascaux, France

LASCAUX, FRANCE

Paleolithic ArtCueva de las Manos(13,000 – 9,500 BCE)Patagonia, southern Argentina

PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA

Holocene Epoch current geological epoch which started some 11,500 years ago when the glaciers began to retreat, marking the end of the glacial phase of the most recent ice age

HOLOCENE INTERGLACIAL

Holocene Epocho sometimes called “Anthropogene” or “Age of Man” Note: Modern humans had evolved and dispersed all over the world well before the start of the Holocene

Holocene Epochospread of forestsosubsequent shrinkage of forests as mankind’s demand for timber and agricultural land grew

Holocene Epoch

Although we think of the Holocene as a warm time for the planet, we are still in an ice age. This is indicated by the presence of ice caps at the poles - the planet as a whole is just in an interglacial phase.

Holocene Epoch

An interglacial period is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age.

Neolithic PeriodNew Stone Age

attained at the beginning of the Holocene Epoch 11,700 years ago until around 1800BCEgradually occurred across Asia and Europe from a starting point in the Fertile Crescent

Neolithic EraNew Stone Agecultivation and animal domestication first appeared in southwestern Asia by about 9000 BCEfarming and settled villages had been firmly achieved by 7000 BCE in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys

Neolithic PeriodNew Stone Age

stone tools shaped by polishing and grindingdependence on domesticated plants or animalssettlement in permanent villages (sedentism)appearance of crafts such as pottery and weaving

Neolithic Period

What’s the difference between

Horticulture & Agriculture?

(as used in archaeology and anthropology)

HORTICULTURE

distinguished by the use of hand tools to grow domesticated plants

INTENSIVE AGRICULTUREuse of irrigation, draft animals, terracing, natural fertilizers, selective breeding, mechanization, etc., to grow more food

Neolithic PeriodWhy do you think the Neolithic Revolution occurred?

REFERENCES University of California Museum of Paleontologyhttp://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/histgeoscale.php

BBChttp://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/history_of_the_earth/Holocene

Mr. Giotto’s Sitehttp://www.penfield.edu/webpages/jgiotto/onlinetextbook.cfm?subpage=1525824

Brittanicahttp://www.britannica.com/event/Paleolithic-Period

Climate Change and Human Evolutionhttp://anthro.palomar.edu/homo/homo_3.htm