1. PREHISTORY
• PERIOD IN WHICH OUR ANCESTORS EXISTED ON
EARTH BUT HAD NOT YET INVENTED WRITING
• OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THEM COMES FROM
SCATTERED AND SCARCE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
• BECAUSE OF LACK OF WRITTEN EVIDENCE WE
CAN ONLY SPECULATE ON WHAT THEY THOUGHT
ABOUT, HOW THEY ORGANIZED THEMSELVES,
HOW THEY INTER-RELATED WITH EACH OTHER,
AND WHY AND HOW THEY BEHAVED THE WAY
THEY DID

2. MOST LIKELY THEORY FOR THE
ORIGINS OF HUMAN BEINGS
• 3 MILLION YEARS AGO
• SMALL APE-LIKE
CREATURES APPEAR
ON SHORES OF
SEVERAL EAST
AFRICAN LAKES
• BECAUSE OF LARGER
BRAIN CAPACITY THEY
BECOME DOMINANT
SPECIES IN REGION
– DEVELOPED COMPLEX
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
– ABILITY TO MAKE AND
USE TOOLS AND
WEAPONS

3. EVOLUTION
• NATURAL SELECTION
– BIOLOGICAL PROCESS IN WHICH THE BEST TRAITS IN
A SPECIES ARE PASSED ON AND AMPLIFIED FROM
GENERATION TO GENERATION WHILE NEGATIVE
TRAITS GENERALLY ARE NOT
• RESULTED IN DEVELOPMENT CREATURES WHICH WERE
STRONGER, SMARTER, AND LESS APE-LIKE IN
APPEARANCE

4. MIGRATION
• MIGRATION TO OTHER
PARTS OF AFRICA AND
FINALLY OUT OF AFRICA
• SIMULTANEOUS
EVOLUTION, POPULATION
INCREASE, AND
MIGRATION RESULTED IN
APPEARANCE OF HOMO
SAPIENS SAPIENS
AROUND 200,000-100,000
BCE
• MARKED BEGINNING OF
PALEOLITHIC AGE

5. VARIATION
• Behavior patterns developed
based on environment where
humans lived
– People in northern climates
developed custom of wearing
clothing and use of fire
– People in southern climates
were not under similar
pressure to wear clothing
and were slower to use fire
• Minor biological variations also
appeared in response to
environmental conditions
– People in southern climates
retained high proportion of
melanin in their skin pigment
• Protects skin from sun
• Makes skin darker

6. PALEOLITHIC LIFESTYLE
• EXCLUSIVELY HUNTERS
AND GATHERERS
• NO PERMANENT
SETTLEMENTS
– LIVED IN TEMPORARY
SHELTERS AND MOVED
WHENEVER FOOD
SUPPLIES RAN LOW
• LIVED IN BANDS OF
APPROX. 30 PEOPLE
• COOPERATED TOGETHER
TO OBTAIN FOOD AND
FOR DEFENSE
• PRIMITIVE, NOMADIC
PEOPLE BY MODERN
STANDARDS

7. PALEOLITHIC ACHIEVEMENTS I
• MADE AND USED TOOLS
– VARIETY OF MATERIALS
• STONE
• WOOD
• BONE
– CORRESPONDED TO IDEAS
THEY HAD IN THEIR MINDS
FIRST
– PRESERVED THEM FOR
FUTURE USE
– TAUGHT OTHERS HOW TO
MAKE AND USE THEM
– LATER GENERATIONS
WOULD IMPROVE ON WHAT
THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT
AND MAKE BETTER ONES
• RESULTED IN CONTINUAL
IMPROVEMENT IN HUMAN
TECHNOLOGY

8. PALEOLITHIC ACHIEVEMENTS II
• SPOKEN LANGUAGE
– CAPACITY TO DESCRIBE
THINGS
– TO NAME THINGS
– SHARE KNOWLEDGE,
EXPERIENCES, AND
FEELINGS WITH OTHERS
• RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
– BELIEVED FORCES OF
NATURE WERE LIVING
THINGS THAT HAD TO BE
APPEASED IN ORDER TO
PERSUADE THEM TO
BEHAVE IN A BENEFICIAL
MANNER
– PRACTICE OF BURIAL OF
DEAD
• INDICATED BELIEF IN
AFTERLIFE

9. PALEOLITHIC ACHIEVEMENTS
III
• ART
– PAINTED ON ANY
AVAILABLE
SURFACE BUT ONLY
ONES DONE IN
CAVES HAVE
SURVIVED
– MOTIVATED BY
MAGIC
• DESIRE TO ENSURE
SUCCESSFUL HUNT

10. BIRTH OF NEOLITHIC AGE
• DISCOVERY OF
AGRICULTURE
– 8000 BCE
– MIDDLE EAST
– BARLEY AND RYE
– MOST LIKELY
DISCOVERED BY
WOMEN
• ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
– SHEEP AND GOATS
• TOGETHER, THEY MADE
POSSIBLE A MORE
RELIABLE SOURCE OF
FOOD THAN HUNTING
AND GATHERING HAD

11. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE
NEOLITHIC AGE I
• ESTABLISHMENT OF PERMANENT
SETTLEMENTS
• POPULATION GROWTH AND
CONCENTRATION OF PEOPLE
• TRADE
– TRADED FOOD SURPLUS TO OTHER
REGIONS IN EXCHANGE FOR
COMMODITIES FARMERS NEEDED
BUT DIDN’T PRODUCE THEMSELVES
• SALT
• VOLCANIC GLASS
• IRON ORE
• INTERNAL TRADE WITHIN NEOLITHIC
VILLAGES ALSO DEVELOPED
– EXCHANGE OF FOOD FOR ITEMS
SUCH AS POTTERY, TOOLS, ETC.
– DIVISION OF LABOR

12. ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE
NEOLITHIC AGE II
• AWARENESS OF PRIVATE
PROPERTY
• DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL
HIERARCHY AND
GOVERNMENT
– RULING ELITE EMERGES
AS SOME PEOPLE
ACQUIRED MORE LAND
THAN OTHERS
• GAINED POWER OVER
THOSE WHO DIDN’T
OWN AS MUCH AS
THEY DID

13. SPREAD OF AGRICULTURE I
Jarmo
Jericho
Catal Huyuk
Oldest Neolithic
settlements found
in the Middle East
8000 BCE

14. SPREAD OF AGRICULTURE II
• AGRICULTURE LATER
APPEARED IN OTHER
PARTS OF WORLD
– EITHER
INDEPENDENTLY OR
AS RESULT OF
EXPOSURE TO OLDER
AGRICULTURAL
REGIONS
• NEOLITHIC AGE DID NOT
APPEAR EVERYWHERE
AT THE SAME TIME
– FIRST IN MIDDLE EAST
– LATER IN OTHER
PARTS OF WORLD

15. NEOLITHIC TECHNOLOGY I
• POTTERY
CONTAINERS
– FOR STORING FOOD
AND WATER
• WHEEL AND SAIL
– IMPROVED WATER
AND LAND
TRANSPORTATION
• PLOW
– MADE
AGRICULTURE
EASIER AND MORE
PRODUCTIVE

16. NEOLITHIC TECHNOLOGY II
• DISCOVERY OF METAL
• FIRST METAL TO BE USE
WAS COPPER
– EASILY SHAPED
– ENABLED BROKEN
TOOLS AND WEAPONS
TO BE RECAST AND
RESHAPED
• NEXT METAL WAS BRONZE
– ALLOY OF COPPER AND
TIN
– HARDER AND MORE
DURABLE THAN COPPER
– MADE POSSIBLE BETTER
TOOLS AND WEAPONS
WITH SHARPER CUTTING
EDGES