the earliest humans

The Earliest HumansOutcome: Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture

Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture

1. Setting the Stage: Who are we?a. Evidence suggests humans could be much older than originally

thoughtb. Scientists use artifacts to search for answersc. Artifact: human made objects like tools and jewelryd. Unfortunately, prehistory can leave more questions than

answerse. Prehistory: time before the invention of writing


f. Important: The story is not complete and there are many questions left to answer

g. Two prevailing ideas (you will not be forced to pick a side):i. Creation: Idea that a higher power put humans on

earthii. Evolution: Theory that humans evolved from another

being


2. Interesting Evidence Found in Africaa. Anthropologists (people who study culture) and paleontologists

(people who study fossils) attempt to use artifacts and fossils to understand early human’s culture

b. Culture: a people’s unique way of life


c. Lucyi. Unusually complete skeleton of female hominidii. Hominid: being that walks upright on two legsiii. Discovered by Donald Johanson in 1974 in Africaiv. Named after Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with

Diamonds”v. Dated to be 3.5 million years old

Laetoli Footprints


d. Laetoli Footprintsi. Two hominid footprints preserved in volcanic ash in

Africaii. Found by anthropologist Mary Leaky in 1978iii. Dated to be 3.6 million years old


e. Neither Lucy nor the Laetoli footprints were made by actual humans

f. Other beings such as Cro-Magnons, homo erectus, & Neatherthals walked the earth before we did

g. No link to these beings has been made; “missing link”

Migration out of Africa


3. Humans Migratea. Humans are known as homo sapiens which means “wise men” due to brain

sizeb. Eventually homo erectus & homo sapiens migrated out of

Africac. Early humans were nomads or highly mobile people who

move from place to place foraging, or searching for new sources of food

d. All early humans were also hunter-gathererse. Hunter-gatherers: those whose food supply depended on hunting

animals and collecting plant foodsf. Estimates show they started leaving Africa around 125,000 years ago


g. Settled in Europe 33,000 years ago, China 67,000 years ago, Australia 38,000 years ago, North America 12,000 years ago, and South America 12- 33,000 years ago

h. We know this due to similar stone tool artifacts found in different regions that date to roughly the same time period

i. Shows that early humans used technology: applying knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet their needs


j. Why did they leave Africa?i. Competition with other humansii. Following animal herdsiii. Human curiosity


4. Agriculture Changes Everything!a. Early nomadic humans lived in bands of 25-70 peopleb. Around 10,000 years ago, the Neolithic Revolution began:

the beginning of farmingc. It started accidentally when some women scattered seeds

near a campsite and noticed crops growing there when they came back next season

d. Rising temperatures worldwide provided longer growing seasons

e. Farming produces more food than hunting or gathering


f. More food means a higher population, thus more labor

g. Due to labor and farming methods, permanent settlements developed

h. Permanent settlements turn into villages, villages turn into cities, cities turn into civilizations

i. Once you reach a certain population, you can begin specialization

j. Specialization: the development of skills in a specific kind of work (other than farming)


k. Slash & burn farming was used (cut a field and burn it for nutrients)

l. Domestication or taming of animals began as well

Coming Up Next…!

m. Eventually all of this led to the creation of the first civilization on Earth in Mesopotamia called Sumer

the earliest humans

Documents

years old human migration

agriculture human migration

needs human migration

africahuman migration

beginning of farmingit

africaearly humans

missing link migration

early humans cultureculture