Civ IA- PowerPoint text from Lecture 2
Lecture 2- Prehistory
I)
Paleolithic Age
II)
Neolithic Age
III)
Mesopotamia
IDs:
Epistomology
Convergence
fides et ratio
hunter/gatherer
Ancestor worship
Neanderthal
Cromagnon
Agricultural Revolution
river plains societies
Urban Revolution
Irrigation
Surplus
Ziggurat
elemental gods
pictograms
cuneiform
Debate over evolution
Prof. Fitzgibbons
Epistemology
Debate:
Literalist
vs.
Symbolic
Catholic teaching?
Humani Generis (1950)- sep. of body and soul
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II on
science and religion
(speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 1979)
“We cannot but deplore certain attitudes which have existed among Christians themselves,
insufficiently attentive to the legitimate autonomy of science. Sources of tensions and conflicts, they
have lead many minds to conclude that faith and science are mutually opposed.” (1979)
Further statement (on science and religion in general): Fides et Ratio (1998)
Pope John Paul II on evolution (1996)
“Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of [Pius XII’s Humani Generis], some new findings
lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis.”
Early hominids
“Lucy”
C. 3-4 million years ago
Recent discovery
East Africa (Zaire)
C. 8 million years ago
Concurrent types of homonids
II) Paleolithic Age
Paleolithic Peoples
From 2.5m years BC- to 10,000 BC
“Old” + “stone”
Discovery of fire- c. 500,000 BC
Hunter/gatherer communities
- followed wild herds
- 20-30 individuals
Moved from Africa to Europe and Asia
Stressful life
Paleolithic Shelters
Paleolithic Era Inhabitants
Homo sapiens- approx. 200,000 BC
- 2 types
#1- Neanderthals
- 100,000 BC - 40,000 BC
- early language
- early religion- “ancestor worship”
Neanderthal burial
Cave Paintings
Paleolithic Era Inhabitants
Homo sapiens- approx. 200,000 BC
- 2 types
#1- Neanderthals
#2 Cromagnon (homo sapiens sapiens)c. 250,000- 10,000 BC
- community
- outlasted Neanderthals
II) Neolithic Age
Neolithic Peoples
Began after the end of the Great Ice Age (around 10,000 BC)
Food moved north
Mild and damp climates
Revolution #1:
Agricultural Revolution
1st Major change:
Agricultural Revolution
- 7,000 or 8,000
years BC
- domestication
- gamble
- payoff
Neolithic creations
Neolithic burial
Neolithic burial site at Newgrange
Revolution #2:
Urban Revolution
Earliest Cities
Satal Huyuk (Catal Hüyük)- c. 7000 BC
Around 6,000 residents
Use of copper
“Civilization” and the Urban Revolution:
4 basic components
Political
- irrigation→
organization
Religious
- ancestor worship→
elemental gods
Economic/social
- surplus
- specialization
Cultural
- pictographs
Urban Revolution- Mesopotamia
Political:
Need for cooperation on irrigation
The Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamian irrigation (ca. 4000 BC)
Mesopotamian irrigation (ca. 4000 BC)