Ancient Age: Three-Age System & Paleolithic Period

Ancient Age: Three-Age System

• The Three-Age System was introduced by an archaeologist and curator of the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen.
• The Three-Age system divides prehistorical periods into the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.

Stone Age (2.5 mya – 3000 BC)

• It refers to the period when weapons were made of stone, wood, bone, or other materials aside from metals.
• John Lubbock divided the Stone Age into the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods.
• John Allen Brown introduced the Mesolithic period in 1892.

Paleolithic Period (“Old Stone”)

• The longest phase of human history began 2 million years ago and ended between 40,000 to 10,000 years ago.
• Humans during this period evolved from ape-like creatures to Homo sapiens
• People were nomadic hunter-gatherers.
• Tools were made of stones, flints, bones and antlers.
• The Paleolithic Period is further subdivided into the Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic periods.
• The Lower Paleolithic Period marked the age of human evolution.
• Simple tools like stone choppers were developed by Australopithecus.
• Old stone tools were made by Homo erectus.
• The Middle Paleolithic Period encompassed the cultural development of Neanderthal man.
• Cavemen used fire, stone tools of flake types for hunting, and bone implements such as needles.
• There is evidence of painting of the dead, suggesting religious practices.
• The Upper Paleolithic Period saw a variety culture of Homo sapiens groups like Cro-Magnon and Grimaldi man.
• Communal hunting, extensive fishing, supernatural beliefs, sewing, sculpture, painting and ornaments out of bones and horns emerged.

Mesolithic Period ("Middle Stone")

• There was a gradual transition in human life due to the retreat of glaciers and growth of forests and deserts.
• People began learning fishing along rivers and lake shores, pottery and the use of bows.
• This period marks a gradual transition from food gathering to agriculture and food processing.

Neolithic Period ("New Stone")

• Cultural and technological development was based on agriculture.
• Wide domestication of plants like rice, corn, beans, and animals like goats, cattle, sheep, and pigs occurred.
• Stone tools, pottery, and weaving were used during this time.
• Urban civilization saw a rise.

Bronze Age (3000 BC – 1200 BC)

• Tools and weapons were widely made with copper and bronze through extraction from ore and smelting
• Copper and tin were blended to produce harder and stronger materials.

Iron Age (1500 BC – 450 AD)

• Tools and weapons were widely made with iron.
• Smelting pits made advancements, allowing for the production of higher temperatures
• Iron technology diffused slowly in parts of Africa.

Middle Ages (450 AD – 1450 AD)

• The Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century.
• It started during the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
• The rise of the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery also occurred during this time.
• The Dark Ages occurred between 450-1000 AD and saw no scientific accomplishments, great art, or leaders, and no recorded events.
• Between 1347 and 1350, the "Black Death," or bubonic plague, killed around 20 million people in Europe
• The Catholic Church was the most powerful institution during this period.
• Kings, queens, and other leaders derived their power from their alliances with and protection of the Church.
• The Islamic world was growing larger and more powerful, more than 3 times bigger than all of Christendom.

Middle Ages: China

• Agriculture and economy had more sophisticated farming, silk, and bronze production.
• Science used convex and concave mirrors for virtual and inverted images, calendars, numbers expressed in decimal places, and acupuncture.
• Technology included paper, seismographs, mechanical clocks, gunpowder, printing presses, and magnetic compasses.

Middle Ages: Europe

• The economy developed due to the Feudal system and dependence on local agricultural and handicraft production.
• Cathedral schools became universities for education.
• Technology included horse collars, clocks/watches, magnetic compasses, watermills, windmills, gunpowder, and cannons.
• Some of these technologies were originally started by the Chinese, and Europeans made advancements on them.

Middle Ages: India

• Mathematical equations and values were practiced as part of education.
• A year was divided into 12 months with a total of 360 days as part of their technology.

Renaissance Era

• It was a time of great intellectual and economic change, but not a complete rebirth.

Pre-Columbian America

• The three groups of people were the Maya, who were the ancient natives of Central America, the Aztec, who were pre-Columbian Indians of Mexico, and the Incas, who were from pre-Columbian Peru.

Scientific Revolution (1440-1690 AD)

• The Universe Model was introduced by Nicholas Copernicus.
• The Law of Planetary Motion was discovered by Johannes Kepler.
• The Work of Motion was pioneered by Galileo Galilei.
• The Law of Motion was formalized by Isaac Newton.
• The Law of Universal Gravitation was also developed by Isaac Newton.

Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1895 AD)

• It covers the complex technological innovations that led to substituting machines and inanimate power for human skills.
• This included textiles, coal, iron, steel, transportation, communication, lighting, and agriculture.

18th to 19th Century

• There was a minimal connection between science and technology.
• Gradually shifted to a developmental stage when science, technology, and industry united.

20th Century

• Science and technology had structurally and methodologically changed.

Information Age (1970-Present)

• There was a change from a traditional industry to an economy-based system.
• Information computerization is also known as the Information Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age.
• Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type printing.

Pre-Gutenberg World

• Before the printing press, books were written and produced by hand.
• Books were restricted to people who could afford them, known as elite groups.
• Information was only relayed through word-of-mouth channels.

Gutenberg Revolution

• The Gutenberg principle is to have access and pass information to every individual.
• Access was expensive during this time.
• Books were printed, including religious texts on the medieval period.

Post-Gutenberg World - Rise of Digital Age

• Computers were invented by Charles Babbage.
• The internet was invented by Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn.
• The World Wide Web was created by Tim Berners-Lee.
• Electronic mail, or email, was claimed by Shiva Ayyadurai.
• Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg.
• Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams.
• Google was created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin
• Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.