The document provides an overview of human history from early hominids to the development of civilization. It discusses that the earliest hominids appeared in East Africa over 3 million years ago. During the Paleolithic Age, humans evolved and spread throughout the world as hunter-gatherers. The Neolithic Age saw the development of agriculture, which led to permanent settlements and the beginnings of private property and specialized labor, laying the foundations for civilization. Early civilizations emerged along major river valleys, where irrigation supported intensive agriculture. The Bronze Age followed the use of soft metals, while the Iron Age began around 1500 BC with the smelting of iron, advancing technology and warfare.

1. “Civilization is a movement and not a
condition, a voyage and not a harbor.”
- Arnold J. Toynbee

2. 
 HISTORY, in the strict sense, means a systematic written
record of the human past but most people do not use
history in the strict sense.
 They define the word history as whatever has happened in the
past to humans.
 Humans have inhabited the Earth for a very long time; present-day
human beings have evolved over millions of years and the majority
of that period is still a closed book to modern science.
Introduction

3. 
 Every few years, new evidence is discovered that extends the
age of the genus Homo further back in time.
 A human-like creature, or hominid, walked about in East
Africa well over three million years ago by the latest
reckoning.
 The oldest hominid generally accepted as such is “Lucy,” a female
whose fossilized bones were discovered in Ethiopia two decades
ago.
 Homo sapiens, “thinking man,” is much younger, however.
 The modern variety of humans – the originator of all people now
living – is apparently no more than about 50,000 years old.
Introduction

5. Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis)
With a mixture of ape and human features – including long dangling arms but
pelvic, spinal, foot, and leg bones suited to walking upright – slender Lucy
stood three and a half feet tall (107 cm).
Recreations of her skull reveal an apelike head with a low and heavy forehead,
widely curving cheekbones, and a jutting jaw – as well as the brain size of a
chimpanzee.

6. 
Definition of Terms
 History is the systematic written record of what people
have done in the past.
 In this context, the past can mean 10,000 years ago or yesterday.
 History depends on memory; it is remembered activities.
 Prehistory is whatever happened to people in the period
prior to writing.
 Historiography is the written-down form of history, as
processed through an author’s brain and bias working on the
raw materials he or she has found.

7. 
Definition of Terms
 Culture is the human-created part of the environment, the
“way of life” of a distinct group of humans interacting with
one another.
 In prehistory, culture is often associated with particular tools.
 Civilization is a complex, developed culture usually
associated with specific achievements such as agriculture,
urban life, specialized labor, and a system of writing.

8. 
Definition of Terms
 Archaeology is the study of prehistoric and/or historical
cultures through examination of their artifacts (anything
made by humans).
 The name means “the study of origins,” and is derived from the
Greek language.
 Anthropology refers to the science that studies humans as a
species rather than studying a special aspect of their activity.
 It’s name, too, is derived from the Greek language.

9. 
 The very lengthy period extending from about the
appearance of the first hominids to about 8,000 B.C. is
known as the Paleolithic Age, or Old Stone Age, so called
because tools were made of stone and were still quite crude.
 Paleo meaning old; lithos meaning stone.
 By the end of the Paleolithic Age, humans inhabited all the
continents except Antarctica.
 Paleolithic peoples were hunters and foragers, but life was
not easy, and famine was always near at hand.
The Paleolithic Age

10. 
 Paleolithic hunting and gathering was done in groups.
 Success depended more on organization and cooperation than on
individual bravery or strength.
 The family was the basic social unit but it typically included
the extended family of uncles, aunts, in-laws, and other
relatives other than the nuclear family.
 The nuclear family consists of the father, mother, and children.
 A unit larger than the nuclear family was necessary for
protection but the total number able to live and hunt
together was quite small – no more than forty or so.
The Paleolithic Age

11. 
 Although conflicts frequently arose over hunting grounds,
water, theft, or other problems, the Paleolithic era saw less
warfare than any time in later history.
 With so much open space capable of sustaining life available, the
weaker units probably just moved on when they were confronted
with force or threats.
The Paleolithic Age

12. 
 During the Paleolithic Age, both the physical appearance of
humans and their vital capacity to reason and plan changed
considerably.
 Evidence uncovered in East Africa and Europe indicates
that some subspecies came to an evolutionary dead end.
 The best example of this is the Neanderthal Man, who flourished
in western Germany about 30,000 years ago and then disappeared as
Homo sapiens began appearing in Europe.
Human Development

13. Shanidar 3
A new study suggests that the Neanderthal was killed by a modern
human armed with an advanced projectile weapon.
If confirmed, the Paleolithic “murder” would be the first compelling case
for an anatomically modern human using a weapon against a member of
the extinct human species.

14. 
 Studies show that the end of the last of several Ice Ages
coincided with the appearance of Homo sapiens throughout
the Northern Hemisphere.
 It is entirely possible that the pre-Homo sapiens inhabitants
of Europe, such as Neanderthal Man, failed to adapt to the
changed climate.
Human Development

15. 
 During the Paleolithic Age, humans became more upright
and their skull changed shape to encompass a gradually
enlarging brain.
 Their bodies grew less hairy and their arms shorter.
 Hip structure changed to allow a more erect posture.
 Eyesight grew sharper and the sense of smell less so.
 All these changes and many others were adaptations that
reflected both human’s changed physical environment and
their increasing mastery and manipulation of that
environment.
Human Development

17. 
 The changed physical environment was reflected in the
substitution of semi-permanent shelter for the nomadism of
an earlier day.
 By the late Paleolithic Age, groups were living in caves, lean-tos, and
other shelters for long periods of time, perhaps several months.
 Where earlier groups rarely remained for more than a few
weeks at a given locale, now they could stay in one place for
several months to await the ripening of certain fruit or the
migration of the animals.
Human Development

18. 
 Even more important, the human’s ability to master their
physical environment was constantly increasing as they
learned to make clothing for cold seasons, to kindle fire
where and when it was needed, and to devise new tools for
new tasks.
 The earliest human artwork came in the late Paleolithic.
 Certain caves of southern France and Spain are world famous for
their lifelike portraits of deer and other animals.
 Humans in the late Paleolithic Age were making rapid strides
toward civilizations.
 This state would be reached in the next age – the Neolithic Age.
Human Development

19. Lascaux Caves (southwestern France)
In 1940, four teenagers accidentally stumbled upon a collection of
prehistoric paintings of extinct game, near Montignac, France.
Archaeologists have dated the paintings to about 14,000 B.C. Additionally,
anthropologists believe the cave may have been used as a gathering place
for hunting and religious ceremonies.

20. 
 Although the Paleolithic Age saw notable developments, it
was in the Neolithic Age, or New Stone Age, that humans
made the breakthrough to advanced culture and eventually
civilization.
 As we studied, Paleolithic groups were essentially nomadic
and depended on either hunting, gathering, or on raising
animal for food.
 In the Neolithic Age, this situation changed – the gradual
adoption of agriculture demanded a sedentary, or settled
life.
 The beginnings of farming used to be called the “Agriculture
Revolution.”
The Neolithic Age

21. 
 Gradually, hunting-herding as the primary way to gain food
gave way to sowing and harvesting.
 Some members of the group would hunt while others raised some
form of grain from wild grasses.
 This process generally took five to ten generations or 200-400 years.
 With such a slow transition, is revolution the appropriate term
to describe the adoption of the agricultural lifestyle?
 Yes; because such adoption led to four revolutionary changes in the
long run.
Agricultural Revolution

22. 
 First, agriculture meant that people settled down
permanently.
 One major result of agriculture was a steadily expanding population
that lived in permanent settlements.
 Second, agriculture was the force behind creating the
concept of “mine versus thine” – that is, privately owned
property in land.
 Until farming became common, there was no concept of private
property; land, water, game, and fish belonged to all who needed
them.
 But once a group had labored hard to establish a productive farm, they
wanted permanent possession.
Agricultural Revolution

23. 
 Third, agriculture demanded the development of systemized
regulation to enforce the rights of one party over those of
another when disputes arose over property.
 Codes of law, enforced by organized authority, governed relations
between individuals and groups so that security was established and
the welfare of all was promoted; thus, the function of law.
 Fourth, agriculture increased the specialization of labor.
 It made no sense for a Neolithic farmer to try to be a soldier or
carpenter as well as a food grower.
 Agriculture also led to an enlarged public role for women in
Neolithic society, a direct result of the fact that the very first
farmers were probably women.
Agricultural Revolution

24. 
 As early as 7,000 B.C., agriculture had developed in at least
four separate areas independent of outside influences:
 the Near East, Central America, northern China, and West Africa.
 Slightly later, the first domesticated animals were being
raised as a part of village life.
 The raising of pigs, sheep, cattle, and goats for food and fiber dates
back as least as far as 4,000 B.C.
Agricultural Revolution

25. 
 Several of the earliest civilizations developed in the plains
bordering on major rivers or in the valleys the rivers created.
 Not coincidental, four of the most important civilizations, emerged
in this way: Mesopotamia (Tigris and Euphrates River), Egypt (Nile
River), India (Indus River), and China (Yellow River).
 The development of high civilization depended on intensive,
productive agriculture and the development of agriculture
depended in turn on the excellent soil and regular supply of
water provided by the river.
Irrigation Civilizations

27. 
 Beyond providing good crops and essential water, rivers
offer a sure and generally easy form of transport and
communication, which allowed for inter-village trade.
 These rivers had very different natures:
 The Tigris and Euphrates and the Yellow were as destructive in their
unpredictable flooding as the Nile and Indus were peaceful and
friendly.
 The Yellow River was so ruinous at times that its ancient name was
the “sorrow of China.”
Irrigation Civilizations

28. 
 The first metal used by humans is thought to have been soft
copper.
 When combined with lead and tin ores, copper becomes the more
useful bronze.
 Bronze has some advantages over copper:
 It is harder (therefore more suitable for weaponry) and more
resistant to weathering.
 But it has several disadvantages when compared with other
metals:
 It is relatively difficult to make, its weight is excessive for many uses,
and it cannot keep a fine edge for tools and weaponry.
 Above all, bronze was difficult to obtain in the ancient world and
very expensive.
Metal and Its Uses

29. 
 The period when bronze art objects and bronze weapons
predominated in a given part of the world is called the
Bronze Age.
 In western Asia where civilizations first appeared, the
Bronze Age extended from about 7,000 B.C. to about 1,500
B.C., when a major innovation in human technology made its
first appearance: the smelting of iron.
 The discovery of how to smelt and temper iron tools and
weapons was a major turning point in the civilized
development of every people, ushering in an Iron Age.
 Iron is the key metal of history.
Metal and Its Uses

30. 
 Wherever it has come into common use, certain advantages
have occurred:
 Iron plowshares open areas to cultivation that previously could not
be tilled.
 Iron weapons and body armor give warfare a new look.
 Iron tools enable new technical progress and expanded production.
 Iron utensils were cheaper than other metals, last longer, resist fiery
heat, and do not easily shatter or lose their edge.
 Iron ore is one of the more common metallic ores and it is found
on or very near the Earth’s surface (unlike copper and lead).
Metal and Its Uses