Pre-AP Chapter 1 Notes: Prehistory to 2500
Section 1
Scientists Search for Human Origin
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Pre-history = before written records, ie before 3500 BCE
Use artifacts to learn about people
Anthropologists study culture
1978 Mary Leaky finds footprints of austalopitheines in Tanzania
o Upright creatures = homonids
1974 Donald Johansen discovers “lucy”
o Complete skeleton of adult female hominid
o Lived 3.5 million years ago
o Oldest hominid
o Opposable thumb
Progress During the Old Stone Age
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2.5 million – 8,000 BCE = Old Stone Age or Paleolithic Age
o Ice age occurred during this time
8,000 BCE – 3,000 BCE = Neolithic Age
1960 Mary Leakey discovers Homo Habilis = first tool maker in East Africa 2.5 million years ago
Homo Erectus = 1.6 million years ago
o Uses technology
o Upright
o First to use fire so helped settle new lands
o May have developed language
Dawn of Modern Humans
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Homo Sapiens
o Wise men with much larger brain
o 2 types- Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons
o 1856 Neander Valley Germany 200,000- 30,000 BCE
 Developed religious beliefs and were stronger
 New tool use and shelter
 Disappearance is a mystery
o 40,000 BCE Cro-Magnons appear
 They planned hunts (unlike Neanderthal)
 Better survival led to increase in population
Section 2: Humans Try to Control Nature
Achievements in Technology and art
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Increased cultural change and innovation , which is different than spending most of your time
trying to survive
Nomads and hunter gatherers
o Tool development to improve efficiency of hunting = technological revolution and
includes spears, knives, harpoons
Paleolithic Art
o Cave paintings in France and Spain
o Made from charcoal, animal blood, mud
o Images of wild animals
o Represented religious beliefs
o Pictures are the precursor to writing as a form of communication
Neolithic Revolution
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Causes
o Change in climate led to longer growing seasons
o Rise in populations meant people needed more steady food supply
Early farming methods
o Slash and burn farming, where ashes provided fertilizer for the crops
Domestication of animals
o Tamed horses, dogs, goats, and pigs
o Manmade enclosures
Jarmo- present day Iraq
o Site of first Neolithic revolution because of good climate and animals for domestication
Villages Grow and Prosper
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Farming develops in many places
o Africa- Nile
o China – Huang He
o Mexico and Central America – Olmec
o South America – Chavin
Catal Huyuk in Turkey
o Example of early agricultural village
o Large crops, sheep and cattle
o Obsidian used to make mirrors, jewelry and knives
o Home to about 6,000 people
o Wall paintings of animals and hunting scenes
o Religious shrines
o Drawbacks- spread of disease and looting
Section 3: Civilization
Villages Grow into Cities
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People develop technology to control natural environment producing more food and thus a
larger population
Economic Changes
o Built elaborate irrigation systems
o Food surpluses allowed for specialization of workers
o Craftspeople led to traders
o Wheel and sail enabled more trade
Social changes
o Special groups of workers led to social classes of various wealth, power, and influence
o Religions became more organized with common beliefs
o Religion went from beliefs centered around nature and animal spirits to gods and
goddesses that controlled nature
What is Civilization?
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Advanced Cities
o Civilization from the Latin word city
o City is a center of trade for a large area
Specialized Workers
o Food surpluses allowed for specialization- development of skills for a specific kind of
work
o Artisans developed- which helped trade and hence cities
Complex Institutions
o Soaring populations made government (a system of ruling) essential
o Leaders emerged to maintain order and establish laws
o Government, religion, economy
o Temples built
o Food and trade items distributed to the city’s residents
Record Keeping
o Need to document tax collection, passage of laws, storage of grain, calendar year,
accounts of debts and payments
o 3000 BCE Cuneiform in Sumer done by scribes- professional record keepers
 Clay tablets
 Began writing about wars, natural disasters, kings
Advanced Technology
o Ox-drawn plows
o Irrigation systems
o Potter’s wheel
o Bronze by melting copper and tin- used later for spear heads
Civilization in Ur
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3,000 BCE Ur in Sumer emerged
Supported about 30,000 people
Agricultural economy
o Irrigation projects
o Government support of public works
Glimpse of City Life
o Social classes (and houses that reflect those differences)
o Artisans
Ur’s Thriving Trade
o Barter
o Scribe services needed to record payments and debts
Temple: Center of City Life
o Ziggurat = mountain of god
Religious Ritual Recorded
o Burial rituals
o Belief in the afterlife
o Wide range of crops
o Stories of love