Dawn of Civilization PDF

**[DAWN OF CIVILIZATION]** **PALEOTHIC PERIOD- OLD STONE AGE** 2.5 million-10,000 BC, geological epoch **Pleistocene** repeated **glaciations** -- periods of freezing weather (**Ice** **Ages)** and warmer periods two early groups of modern humans --**Neanderthals** and **Cro-Magnons** *...

**[DAWN OF CIVILIZATION]** **PALEOTHIC PERIOD- OLD STONE AGE** 2.5 million-10,000 BC, geological epoch **Pleistocene** repeated **glaciations** -- periods of freezing weather (**Ice** **Ages)** and warmer periods two early groups of modern humans --**Neanderthals** and **Cro-Magnons** **Neanderthals** (200,000-30,000 BC) - lived in Europe and Southeast Asia - first to have burial rituals (religious?) - might not have been Homo Sapiens **Cro-Magnons** (40,000-8,000 BC) - identical to modern human (Homo Sapiens) - lived in Europe - larger brain size - used sophisticated tools - produced art **Stone Age People** - nomadic way of life, groups of 20-30 people - hunters and gatherers - work divided between men (hunting) and women - (gathering plants and raising children) **Stone Age Technology** - first tools made of stones, later combined with bones and - wood (spear, spear-thrower) - more refined and specialized tools as nets, bow and - arrow, bone hooks - first canoes made by hollowing out logs - use of fire (important to survive Ice Age) - first clothing made of animal skin sewed with bone needle - first shelters -- pits dug in the ground, wooden structures - or structures made of mammoth bones - creation of art (paintings in Lascaux, Altamira caves ) **STONE AGE AND RELIGION** ornaments and figurines carved out of antlers, bone, coral, ivory and shells painted images on rocks and cave walls using charcoal, clay, iron\... symbols and human hands uncertainty what this art really meant (hunting, learning, spiritual meaning) Stone Age people probably believed in some kind of animism (things in nature have their own spirits) and in afterlife **NEOLITHIC (AGRICULTURAL) REVOLUTION** - geological epoch **Holocene** (10,000 BC-present) - neolithic Age -- 10,000-3,000 BC Causes: - changes in climate -- last Ice Age, warmer weather - rise of population -- thanks to climate changes Signs: - settled life (houses, stone tools, pottery) - farming (slash-and-burn; wheat, barley) - domestication of animals (sheep, goats, cattle, pigs) Farming develops in many places: - Africa -- wheat, barley in Nile River Valley - China -- millet along Huang He river - Central America -- corn, beans, squash - Peru -- tomatoes, sweet and white potatoes Catal Huyuk: - large (5-10 thousand inhabitants) Neolithic agricultural - village in nowadays Turkey - existed between 7500-5700 BC - domestic buildings made of mud bricks with no streets - agriculture -- wheat, barley, peas, almonds, pistachios, fruit - pottery and volcanic glass tools - animal husbandry -- sheep, cattle - drawbacks of settled life: floods, fire, drought, diseases