Chs. 1 & 2: Early Man to Early
Civilizations
Prehistory to 450 B.C.
Early Man Key Terms
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Culture – people’s unique way of life
Hominid – early upright beings
Artifact – man made object from previous cultures
Mary Leakey – discoveries in E. Africa that led to a better
understanding of early man.
Donald Johanson – found “Lucy in Ethiopia 3.5 millions years
old
Paleolithic – Old Stone Age – Hunter and Gatherer
Neolithic – New Stone Age – Faming (also called Agricultural
Revolution)
Technology – ways of applying knowledge to meet needs
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Homo habilis – earliest man, used primitive tools
Homo erectus – walked upright (not the first) and used fire
Homo sapiens – modern humans, means “wise man”
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Neanderthals – not ancestors of modern man, tried to explain and
control their world, practiced religious beliefs, used stone scrappers
and other tools to survive. They vanished about 30,000 years ago.
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Cro-Magnon – physically identical to modern man, superior hunting
strategy helped them survive. They developed a spoken language
Early Man Key Terms
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Slash and Burn – cutting and burning fields to clear and
fertilize
Domestication – taming of animals
Artisans – skilled workers who make goods by hand
Scribes – professional record keepers
Cuneiform – Mesopotamian wedge shaped writing
Civilization – a complex culture with the following
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Advanced Cities of Trade
Specialized Workers
Complex Institutions
Record Keeping
Advanced Technology
Early Man Key Words
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Bronze Age – use of bronze rather than copper and
stone for tools and weapons.
Barter – exchange of goods/services without the
exchange of money
Ziggurat – pyramid shaped monument housing the
temple of the city
Early Man Overview
Prehistory is the period before written
records. The earliest people’s
history is based on evidence
compiled and studied by a variety of
scientists such as
archaeologists – study artifacts
anthropologists – study culture
paleontologists – study fossils
Together these scientists have
determined, based on the evidence
available, how early man lived.
Timeline of History
Early Man Overview
Paleolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
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Nomadic
Hunter-gatherer
Primitive tools
Cave art
Early Man Art
Early Art Gives
Clues To
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Nature
Environment
Human Living
Early Man Overview
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Neolithic Age
(New Stone Age)
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Began about 10,000 years ago
From hunter-gatherer to
farming
Agricultural Revolution
Permanent dwellings
Villages→Cities→Civilizations
Civilization Brings Change
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Economic
– irrigation→crop surplus→trade
→
 Social
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Complex economy required cooperation and labor
of many people
Social class system developed
Religion became organized
CH 2: RIVER VALLEY
CIVILIZATIONS
EARLY RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS
 MESOPOTAMIA
– Sumerians on the
Tigris/Euphrates
 NILE – Egyptians on the Nile
 INDUS- Indians on the Indus & Ganges
Rivers
 CHINESE-Yellow (Huang He) /Yangtze
MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION
MESOPOTAMIA
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The Fertile Crescent was the arch of land that provided some of
the best farming in southwest Asia.
Silt from flooding provided rich new soil which brought surplus
harvests, with enormous quantities of wheat and barley.
Problem: the flooding was unpredictable!
Sumerians – first civilization
– Irrigation – more crop production= more trade
– Establishment of city-states
– Trade = cultural diffusion
– Polytheistic (worshipped many gods)
– Advanced –number system, bricks, columns, ramps
CITY - STATES
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Each city and the surrounding
land it controlled formed a citystate.
A city-state functioned much as
an independent country does
today.
Sumerian city-states included
Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, and
Ur.
The center of all Sumerian cities
had a ziggurat
MESOPOTAMIA
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SARGON ofAkkad, defeated the city-states of
Sumer.
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Created the first empire
Brought together various groups & cultures
Last about 200 years, declined due to infighting,
invasions & famine.
Hammurabi – ruler of Babylonian Empire.
- first written code of laws to unify the diverse
people
- the code applied to all people, but not all
people equally (282 specific laws compiled from
common law)
MESOPOTAMIA
Known for cuneiform writing
NILE RIVER CIVILIZATION
Nile
River
Valley
NILE
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Est. about 3,000 years ago
Along the Nile River in Egypt
Flooding provided fertile soil for abundant crops
Lower Nile – from the area where the Nile splits and
fans out to Mediterranean Sea
Upper Nile – from 1st cataracts to the area where the
river splits
Transportation and trade between the Upper & Lower
Nile to the cataracts
NILE
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Ruled by pharaohs
Theocracy- government & religious leaders the same
Pyramid builders
Upper & Lower kingdoms united by Menes
Written language – hieroglyphics
Social classes not locked
Invaded and conquered by Hyksos
INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATION
INDUS
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Located on the Indian subcontinent
Supported by the Indus and
Ganges
Protected by Hindu Kush &
Himalaya Mountains
Climate dominated by monsoons
River flooding supported abundant
crop yields
INDUS
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Built planned cities
Indoor plumbingHouses alike indicated few class distinctions
Toys – leisure time
Few weapons
Uncertain – the fall of the Indus River Civilization
could have been disaster, invasions or a combination
CHINESE
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Supported by the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers
Silt of China – loess produced abundant crops
Because of geography – less trading than other river
valley civilizations
Early leaders (Shang dynasty) built palaces and had
written language
Society divided between ruling nobles and peasant
farmers
Family closely linked to religion
CHINESE CIVILIZATION
Supported
by the
Yellow &
Yangtze
Rivers
CHINESE
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Belief in the spirit of ancestor’s power to determine
events in life
Use of oracle bones
Writing system had no connection to the spoken
language
Specialized in weapons, jewelry and bronze. Also
known for silk work.
Rulers worked under Mandate of Heaven which
became central to the Chinese view of government.