AP World History
Chapter 1
Before History
1
Forming the Complex Society
• Basic development:
– Hunting and foraging
– Agriculture
– Complex society
• Key issue: surplus capital
• Major development of first
complex societies 3500 B.C.E.
– 500 B.C.E
Prehistory
• What is “history”?
• Documentation
– Written records
– Archaeological discovery
• Requisite human presence (or
“natural” history)
Moai statues in Polynesia
Cuneiform writing
Stonehenge 2400 BCE
3
Development of Hominids
• Animals adapt themselves
to environment
• Hominids adapt
environment to
themselves
– Use of tools
– Language
– Complex cooperative social
structures
4
Australopithecus
• “The southern ape” – despite
name, a hominid
• Discovery of skeleton, north of
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
– Nicknamed “Lucy”
• 3’5”, 55lb., bipedal, brain 500 cc
(modern human: 1400 cc), limited
speech but opposable digit
Lucy - 3.2 Million years old
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Later Hominids
• Homo erectus, “upright walking
human”
– Larger brain capacity (1000 cc),
improved tool use, control of fire,
ability to communicate complex ideas
• Homo sapiens, “consciously
thinking human”
– Largest brain, esp. frontal regions
– Most sophisticated tools and social
organization; flexible language
• Migrations of Homo erectus and
Homo sapiens
6
Global Migrations of Homo erectus and Homo
sapiens
7
The Natural Environment
• By 13,000 B.C.E., Homo sapiens in
every inhabitable part of the world
• Archaeological finds:
– Sophisticated tools
• Choppers, scrapers, axes, knives, bows,
arrows
• Cave and hut-like dwellings
• Use of fire, animal skins
• Hunted several mammal species to
extinction
– Climatic change may have accelerated
process
8
Relative Social Equality
• Nomadic culture precludes
accumulation of
land-based wealth
– Relatively egalitarian (equal)
existence
– More likely determinants of status:
age, hunting skill, fertility,
personality
– Possible gender equality related to
food production
– Men: protein from hunting
– Women: plant gathering
10
Big-Game Hunting
• Evidence of intelligent
coordination of hunting
expeditions
– Development of weaponry
– Animal-skin disguises
– Stampeding tactics
• Lighting of fires, etc., to drive
game into kill zones
• Required planning,
communication
11
Paleolithic Settlements
• Natufian society
– Modern Israel and Jordan
– Wild wheat, herding
• Jomon society
– Japan
– Wild buckwheat, fishing
• Chinook society
– Pacific northwest
– Berries, acorns, salmon runs
• Groups of 1000 or more
12
Neandertal Peoples
• Neander valley, western
Germany
• Flourished in Europe and
southwest Asia, 200,000 to
35,000 years ago
• Also found in Africa, east
Asia
• Evidence of spirituality:
ritual burial
• Inhabited some of the
same areas as Homo
sapiens
13
Creativity of Homo sapiens
• flexible languages for communication
of complex ideas
• Increased variety of tools – stone
blades, spear throwers, sewing
needles, barbed harpoons
• Fabricated ornamental beads,
necklaces and bracelets
• The bow and arrow – a dramatic
improvement in humans’ power over
nature
• “Venus” figurines
• Cave paintings
14
Neolithic Era (“New Stone Age”)
• Distinction in tool production
– Chipped vs. polished
• Relied on cultivation for
subsistence
– Men: herding animals rather
than hunting
– Women: nurturing vegetation
rather than foraging
• Spread of agriculture
– Slash-and-burn techniques
– Exhaustion of soil promotes
migration
– Transport of crops from one
region to another
15
Origins and Early Spread of Agriculture
16
Early Agricultural Society
• Emergence of villages and
towns
• Discoveries at Çatal Hüyük –
a prominent village located in
Turkey, occupied 7250-5400
B.C.E.
– Pots, baskets, textiles, leather,
stone, metal tools, wood
carvings, carpets, beads, and
jewelry
Catul Huyuk
• Development of crafts –
pottery, metallurgy, and
textile production
18
Social Distinctions
• Accumulation of landed wealth
initiates development of social
classes
• Individuals could trade surplus
food for valuable items
• Archaeological evidence in
variety of household
decorations, goods buried with
deceased members of society
at Çatal Hüyük
19
Neolithic Culture
• Farmers closely observed the
natural world – an early kind of
applied science
• Elements of natural environment
essential for functioning
• Archaeological evidence of
religious worship: thousands of
clay figurines, drawings on pots,
tool decorations, other ritual
objects
– Fertility: Venus figurines
20
The Origins of Urban Life
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Craft specialization
Social stratification
Governance
Cultural workers
Development of the city –
a gradual process
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