Name: ________________________________
Class Period: _______
Early Humans and the Rise of Civilizations Study Guide
1. What is the scientific species name for humans?
Homo Sapien
2. What does it mean to be a nomad or have a “nomadic lifestyle”?
A nomad is someone who travels from place to place with no permanent home
3. What were the characteristics of the Paleolithic Era? Look at #5 and #7 on your
notes.
Early humans spent most of their time searching for food, they lived a nomadic
lifestyle, the main ways to get food were by hunting and gathering, they traveled in
groups of about 30 people
4. Why did the earliest civilizations develop around river valleys?
Farming conditions made it easier to feed a large number of people, the river
provided fresh water and fish, the river made transportation easier
5. What are fossils?
Traces of plants or animals that have been preserved in rock
6. What kind of scientist studies artifacts?
Archaeologist
7. Why is the Paleolithic Era called the “Old Stone Age”?
Stone tools were developed in the Paleolithic Era
8. Why was farming important?
It meant that people could stay in one place
9. What does it mean to domesticate animals?
Tame them for human use
10. Define technology.
Tools and methods to help humans perform tasks
11. Why were hunter-gatherers forced to be nomadic?
They had to travel to wherever the resources (food) was
12. How did the domestication of animals make life simpler? Name ALL ways that it
made life easier.
Animals provided milk, meat, and wool and could carry goods and pull carts.
13. How did fire make life easier? Again, name ALL ways that fire made life easier.
It lit the darkness, scared away animals, made food taste better and easier to digest,
and smoked meat could be kept longer
14. Why was bronze better than copper?
It was harder and lasted longer
15. What things helped humans survive during the Ice Ages? HOW did these things help
humans survive?
Fire, Animal fur for clothing, and the building of sturdier shelters. All these things
helped them stay warm.
Name: ________________________________
Class Period: _______
16. Earliest civilizations practiced what kind of religion?
Polytheistic
17. How did spoken language make life easier?
It helped people work together and pass on knowledge
18. What is divine right?
Having the favor of the gods to rule
19. What is specialization?
The development of different types of jobs
20. Why is the “Cradle of Humankind” important?
The first human-like skeletons were found here
21. Spears, traps, bows, and arrows were all invented to help humans do what?
Hunt
22. List several forms of technology from the Paleolithic Era. How did these change the
way people lived?
Spears, traps, bow/arrow = helped people hunt
Fire(taming of) = helped them scare away animals, light the dark, preserve meat
23. The development of what two things changed life in the Neolithic Era? HOW did
they change the way people lived?
Farming = allowed people to stay in one place
Domestication of animals = helped allow them to stay in one place, animals could
carry goods/pull carts, Milk/meat for food, Wool for clothing