The Emergence of Civilization

Prehistory

Exploring Prehistory

• Anthropologists- Study skeletal remains to see what early people looked like and how they lived.

• Donald Johanson-”Lucy” 3 million years ago• Mary Leakey- 3.7 million years ago

• Archaeologists- study their artifacts and determine how they lived and what their culture was like.

“Lucy”

Paleolithic Age-Old Stone Age

• Glacier climate• Hunter-gatherers• Nomadic• Cave Paintings• Technology:

– Tools of stone, bone and wood– Fire– Later…Bow and arrow, fish hooks

Cave PaintingsLascaux in France

Mesolithic Age- Middle Stone Age

• New environments developed• Many large animals became extinct-

smaller game hunted• Fishing• Beginning of agriculture• Some permanent settlements• Technology:

• Tools developed for specific tasks• Stone sickles

Neolithic Age- New Stone Age

• First towns and cities appear• Advent of writing- History begins• Produce their own food• Animals domesticated• Agricultural Revolution• Technology:

• Made baskets and pottery• Wove cloth• Bronze and then Iron Age• Invention of the wheel and the Sail• Irrigation• Plow and ox teams

Four regions of first civilization

• Nile River Valley- Egypt

• Tigris and Euphrates Valley- Iraq

• Indus River Valley- India

• Huang or Yellow River Valley- China

Map of first civilizations

Characteristics of civilization

• People are able to produce a surplus of food

• People establish cities and town with some form of government

• People perform different jobs• Advent of the calendar• A writing system

Hieroglyphics- Early Writing

Assignment

• 5 paragraph argumentative essay-• Explain how any country, other than the

United States, is a civilized society based on 2 of the 5 characteristics of civilization.

• Must include one paragraph on how they are not civilized.