Paleolithic Era Through Bronze Age

Human Beginnings

Early Migrations of PeopleHistorians think that people started in Africa

about 90,000 years agoMoved to Asia, then to North AmericaAlso moved to Europe and AustraliaGroup in Northern North America settled farther

South and West and became “Native Americans”Native Americans = Indigenous People

Peopling Of The Earth

Human Migration out of Africa

Crossing the Bering Strait (Beringa Land Bridge)17,000 years ago (during last Ice Age) Ice

increased and sea levels fell, people first migrated from Asia to America.

These people were Nomadic Hunters following big game from Siberia.

Crossed the Bering StraitBetween current day Siberia (Russia) and AlaskaEventually spread farther South and farther West

Peopling of the Earth

Beringa Land Bridge

During Paleolithic Era (2.6 Million Years ago until about 8,000 BC) most were H&G

ToolsWood, Bone, Animal skins, Stone

FireUsed for Protection, Warmth, Cooking Food

WeaponsStone, Bone (Spearheads)

LanguageVery basic language skills

Lives of Hunter & Gatherers

H& G Weapons

People who crossed Bering Strait were Hunters and Gatherers

Men hunted for Animals (Large game)Women gathered berries and fruitsStayed in small groups, small families

Food supply wasn’t large enough to support big group

Had to constantly move around to follow game and find new food

Not a stable food supply

Hunters And Gatherers

As Civilization developed, new ways of getting food were discovered.

Where it was warm = Farming (Agricultural Revolution

Where there was land for grazing, Pastoral Nomads began herding animals

Both Farming and Herding happened around the same time, but depended on environment

New Ways of Getting Food

Pastoral society relies on a pasture. It is one that uses the domestication of animals for its survival.

The first pastoral societies emerged between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, when some hunting and gathering groups began to capture, breed, and tend species of wild animals they previously had hunted.Why does this sound better than H&G?What other things could they have done to get

food?

Pastoral Nomads

This strategy has been adopted by many peoples living in deserts or other regions that are not suited to the cultivation of plants, but which contain animals--such as goats or sheep—that can be readily tamed and used as a food source.

Many pastoral societies still exist in the modern world, particularly in Africa and in the Middle East. In some areas crop cultivation was severely limited because of insufficient rainfall, too short a growing season, or mountainous terrain.

Why Be A Pastoral Nomad?

Also known as “Neolithic revolution”Occurred about 10,000 BC to 5,000 BCHappened in different parts of the world at

different timesAgriculture = Farming

Growing of crops and the raising of animalsWhere did it happen?

Near WaterWarm ClimateGood SoilEnough Precipitation

Agricultural Revolution

Benefits that arose from AgricultureSeasonal HarvestsSpecialized Crops / Division of Labor

Biggest Benefit : More stable food supplyMore food means

Families could support more ChildrenPopulation Grew!

Families could stay in the same placeStarted forming small villages

People could save extra food (Surplus)Use surplus for trade or emergency

Agricultural Revolution

Development and Spread of AgricultureFarming developed

first in the Middle East, in an arc of territory running from present-day Turkey to Iraq and Israel (Fertile Crescent)

Barley and wild wheat were abundant

What is it near???

Development and Spread of Agriculture

Farming then spread to parts of India, north Africa, and Europe.

Agriculture spread much later to Africa.

Agriculture was invented separately in the Americas much later (around 5000 B.C.E.)

Followed by Southeast Asia and Japan

And then Central Asia

• Areas of Independent Development:1. SW Asia (wheat, pea, olive, sheep, goat)2. China & SE Asia (rice, millet, pig)3. Americas (corn, beans, potato, llama)

• Areas of Agriculture Through Diffusion:1. Europe2. West & Sub-Saharan Africa (?)3. Indus River Valley (rice cultivation)

Independent Discovery vs Cultural Diffusion

The need for storage facilities for grains and seeds prompted the development of basket-making and pottery.

Agricultural needs also encouraged certain kinds of science, supporting the human desire to learn more about weather or flooding.

Discovery of metal tools (4000 B.C.E.) in the Middle East • Copper was the first metal, followed by

bronze – a more resilient metal.

Agriculture Prompted New Ideas and Techniques

Sedentary Agriculturalists Dominate• High starch diets slowly allowSedentary populations to grow.

• First plow invented c.6000BCE;crop yields grow exponentially by 4000BCE.Pop. grows from 5-8 million to 60-70 million. • Eventually agricultural populations begin to

spread out, displacing or assimilating nomadic groups; farming groups grow large enough for advanced social organization

First Towns Develop• Towns require social differentiation:

metal workers, pottery workers, farmers, soldiers, religious and political leaders. (POSSIBLE B/C FOOD SURPLUSES!)

• Served as trade centers for the area; specialized in the production of certain unique crafts

• Beginnings of social stratification (class)

Catal Huyuk – 7000 BCE

First Towns Develop

Jerico – 7000 BCE

How did the environment favor one life style or another?

Hunters and GatherersMust be large game to hunt, crops to pick, but

not a stable supplyPastoral Nomads

Could settle in more challenging climatesAgrarian (Farming) Society

Needed water for irrigation, precipitation and a good growing season

People and Environment