Ways of the World , by Robert W. Strayer
CHAPTER 1: FIRST PEOPLES: POPULATING THE PLANET TO 10,000 B.C.
Vocabulary
You should know the meaning of these words that appear in this chapter. hominid, 12 migration, 17 indigenous, 18 affluent, 21 vagaries, 21 millennia, 22 shamans, 22 egalitarianism, 24 capricious, 28 patriarchy, 32 pathological, 32
Significant persons
You should be able to identify and explain the significance for a history of world civilization of these persons. homo habilis homo sapiens
Willendorf Venus Clovis people
Geography
Put the following locations that are named in the chapter on the map. You should be able to locate the following places on a map and explain the role in the history of world civilization of each of these places.
Lascaux Kalahari
Sahul
Austronesia
Multiple Answer Questions

The questions here are intended to call your attention to significant topics dealt with in the textbook. You can use them to test your recall of what you have read. More important, you can use them to guide your thinking about what you should get from your reading.
You may check your answer by clicking on the letter of your choice. For each question there may be more than one correct answer.
1. Early paleolithic societies a.
were small, consisting of bands of 25 to 50 people b.
had clearly defined social hierarchies. c.
were nomadic. d.
had gender egalitarianism
2. Which, if any, of the following human innovations happened in the Paleolithic Era? a.
the ability to walk upright b.
increase in the physical size of the brain c.
development of agriculture d.
changes in size and position of teeth
3. During the paleolithic era a.
The first writing systems developed in this period of human history. b.
Paleolithic people used stone rather than metal tools. c.
Paleolithic people made a living by gathering and hunting, rather than producing food. d.
Paleolithic people developed rituals to help them deal with human existence.
4. The reason why the Paleolithic Era is considered "prehistoric" is that a.
modern historians doubt that it ever happened. b.
nothing ever changed in that time. c.
paleolithic individuals did not write. d.
humans of the time lacked language.
5. Although the Paleolithic Era is not a genuine part of human history modern scholars try to understand humans of that time by means of study of a.
modern paleolithic peoples for comparison. b.
superstitious texts. c.
artistic presentations such as cave paintings and sculptures. d.
burial patterns.
6. Most of human prehistory was spent on the continent of: a.
Asia b.
Africa c.
North America d.
Europe
7. The great migrations of prehistoric humanity a.
were surprisingly rapid, covering hundreds of miles in a single generation b.
were clearly purposeful, deliberately heading for such distant places as China or
Australia c.
were well organized ventures involving large numbers of people, domestic animals, and even rudimentary wheeled transport d.
were probably responses to climate changes associated with the ice ages.

8. Which of the following were among the characteristics of human culture by the time of the late Paleolithic era? a.
stone tools b.
control of fire c.
picture drawing d.
spoken language
9. It is not likely that Paleolithic human society had a.
religion. b.
herds. c.
technology. d.
metal.
10. The Paleolithic Age is characterized by . a.
domestication of animals b.
the beginning of agriculture c.
a hunting and gathering existence d.
pottery making
11. As hunters and gatherers, the earliest ancestors of humans were a.
self-centered and anti-social, seldom working together for survival. b.
incapable of capturing and killing the larger animals. c.
likely to live in large groups of several hundred most of the year. d.
both vegetarian and carnivorous.
12. Old Stone Age women probably a.
did less work than men did. b.
were often hunters. c.
provided most of the family's steady diet. d.
played a rather unimportant part in Paleolithic life.
13. Paleolithic human females probably a.
were dragged by their hair into males' caves. b.
performed functions that distinguished them from males. c.
were more equal to males than females in later ages. d.
dominated the males.
14. The last Ice Age may have helped early gatherer-hunters in which of the following ways? a.
Heavier rainfall made it possible for them to grow their own food. b.
Ice served as a preservative for food, giving them better nutrition. c.
Cold weather killed off megafauna that had been predatory on early human beings. d.
Lower sea levels associated with the Ice Age created land bridges, giving humans access to many regions of the earth.
15. Evidence of religious belief and practice in human society goes back a.
to human transition out of paleolithic conditions. b.
to the onset of the Ice Age. c.
as far as archaeology can take us. d.
to discoveries of "venus" figurines.

16. Which, if any, of the following increased the likelihood that hunting and gathering people would turn to agriculture after the end of the last Ice Age? a.
Growing their own food meant that they would spend less time and energy on food acquisition. b.
Climate change encouraged population growth which caused demand for more food than nature alone offered. c.
Some Paleolithic people wanted to dominate others by forcing them to grow food for them. d.
Climate change caused spread of wild grains which they learned by observation to cultivate.
17. In recent decades, some people have celebrated Paleolithic life on the basis that a.
Paleolithic peoples enjoyed much greater gender equality. b.
Paleolithic people had an ideal diet of wild plants and animals that is well-suited to human physiology. c.
Paleolithic people developed a market economy. d.
Paleolithic societies valued sharing and equality rather than competition and materialism.
Margin Review Questions
Answer these in a few sentences each!
1. What was the sequence of human migration across the planet?
2. How did Austronesian migrations differ from other early patterns of human movement?
3. In what ways did a gathering and hunting economy shape other aspects of Paleolithic societies?
4. Why did some Paleolithic peoples abandon earlier, more nomadic ways and begin to live a more settled life?
5. In what ways, and why, did Chumash culture differ from that of the San?
6. What are the most prominent features of San life?
Big Pictures Questions
Answer these in a paragraph or more each!
1. What is the significance of the Paleolithic era in world history?
2. In what ways did various Paleolithic societies differ from one another, and how did they change over time?
3. What statements in this chapter seem to be reliable and solidly based on facts, and which ones are more speculative and uncertain?
4. How might our attitudes toward the modern world influence our assessment of
Paleolithic societies?

VOCABULARY CH 1
Austronesian migrations: The last phase of the great human migration that established a human presence in every habitable region of the earth. Austronesian-speaking people settled the Pacific islands and Madagascar in a series of seaborne migrations that began around 3,500 years ago. ( pron . aws-troe-NEEZH-an)
Brotherhood of the Tomol: A prestigious craft guild that monopolized the building and ownership of large oceangoing canoes, or tomols ( pron . toe-mole), among the Chumash people (located in what is now southern California).
Chumash culture: Paleolithic culture of southern California that survived until the modern era.
Clovis culture: The earliest widespread and distinctive culture of North America; named from the Clovis point, a particular kind of projectile point.
Dreamtime: A complex worldview of Australia’s Aboriginal people that held that current humans live in a vibration or echo of ancestral happenings.
Flores man: A recently discovered hominid species of Indonesia.
“gathering and hunting peoples”:
As the name suggests, people who live by collecting food rather than producing it. Recent scholars have turned to this term instead of the older “hunter-gatherer” in recognition that such societies depend much more heavily on gathering than on hunting for survival. great goddess: According to one theory, a dominant deity of the Paleolithic era.
Hadza: A people of northern Tanzania, almost the last surviving Paleolithic society. ( pron. HAHD-zah)
“human revolution”: The term used to describe the transition of humans from acting out of biological imperative to dependence on learned or invented ways of living (culture).
Ice Age: Any of a number of cold periods in the earth’s history; the last Ice Age was at its peak around 20,000 years ago.
“insulting the meat”:
A San cultural practice meant to deflate pride that involved negative comments about the meat brought in by a hunter and the expectation that a successful hunter would disparage his own kill.
Jomon culture: A settled Paleolithic culture of prehistoric Japan, characterized by seaside villages and the creation of some of the world’s earliest pottery. ( pron. JOE-mahn) megafaunal extinction: Dying out of a number of large animal species, including the mammoth and several species of horses and camels, that occurred around 11,000–10,000 years ago, at the end of the Ice Age.
The extinction may have been caused by excessive hunting or by the changing climate of the era. ( pron . meg-ah-FAWN-al)
Neanderthals: Homo sapiens neanderthalensis , a European variant of Homo sapiens that died out about
25,000 years ago. n/um: Among the San, a spiritual potency that becomes activated during “curing dances” and protects humans from the malevolent forces of gods or ancestral spirits.
“the original affluent society”: Term coined by the scholar Marshall Sahlins in 1972 to describe Paleolithic societies, which he regarded as affluent not because they had so much but because they wanted or needed so little.
Paleolithic: Literally “old stone age”; the term used to describe early Homo sapiens societies in the period before the development of agriculture.
Paleolithic rock art: While this term can refer to the art of any gathering and hunting society, it is typically used to describe the hundreds of Paleolithic paintings discovered in Spain and France and dating to about
20,000 years ago; these paintings usually depict a range of animals, although human figures and abstract designs are also found. The purpose of this art is debated.
Paleolithic “settling down”: The process by which some Paleolithic peoples moved toward permanent settlement in the wake of the last Ice Age. Settlement was marked by increasing storage of food and accumulation of goods as well as growing inequalities in society.
San, or Ju/’hoansi: A Paleolithic people still living on the northern fringe of the Kalahari desert in southern
Africa. ( pron. ZHUN-twasi) shaman: In many early societies, a person believed to have the ability to act as a bridge between living humans and supernatural forces, often by means of trances induced by psychoactive drugs. trance dance: In San culture, a nightlong ritual held to activate a human being’s inner spiritual potency ( n/um ) to counteract the evil influences of gods and ancestors. The practice was apparently common to the
Khoisan people, of whom the Ju/’hoansi are a surviving remnant.
Venus figurines: Paleolithic carvings of the female form, often with exaggerated breasts, buttocks, hips, and stomachs, which may have had religious significance.

DO I
KNOW
THIS
Austronesian migrations
Brotherhood of the
Tomol
Chumash culture
Clovis culture
Dreamtime
Flores man
“gathering and hunting peoples” great goddess
Hadza
“human revolution”
Ice Age
“insulting the meat”
Jomon culture megafaunal extinction
Neanderthals: n/um
“the original affluent society”:
Paleolithic:
Paleolithic rock art
Paleolithic “settling down”:
San, or Ju/’hoansi: shaman trance dance
Venus figurines