Human Prehistory and

the Neolithic

Revolution2.5 Million BCE-8000 BCE

Prehistory• Era before writing was developed

• Studied by archaeologists and

anthropologists

• 2.5 million BCE-8000 BCE

• Paleolithic : 2.5 Million BCE-12,000 BCE

• Mesolithic: 12,000-8,000 BCE

• Neolithic: 8,000 BCE-5,000 BCE

Human Beings

• Earliest hominid fossils are from 2-2.5 million years old

• Australopithecine: First to walk upright

• Homo Erectus (1.5 million years ago): First to use fire

• Homo Sapiens Sapiens: 240,000 years ago in Africa

-Migrated around the world

Human Migration

Paleolithic Age

• Used simple stone tools

• Developed complex

speech

• Ice Age Adaptations

• Shelter in caves

• Used animal hides as

clothing

Hunter-Gatherers• Small kinship groups of 20-30 people

• Nomads: followed their food

• Egalitarian: Everyone was equal

• End of the Ice Age (14,000 BCE-12,000 BCE):

population increased and hunting yields decreased

Neolithic Revolution

• Development of agriculture and domestication of animals

• Developed independently around the world

• 10,000 BCE in the Middle East

• 2000 BCE in West Africa

• 5000 BCE in the Americas

• Pastoralism: mobile societies led animal herds through grasslands in Afro-Eurasia

Effects of Agriculture

• Advantages

• More reliable food source

• Can support a larger population

• Cooperative effort to clear land and set up irrigation

• Disadvantages

• More work than hunting and gathering

• Growing the same crops means less plant diversity

• Overgrazing leads to soil erosion

• Irrigation systems can impact water sources

Effects of Neolithic Revolution• Settlement: farming villages emerge and provide

common defense

• Catal Hüyük settled in 7000 BCE

• Food surplus led to job specialization and trade

• Artisan and warrior classes

• Trade with neighboring groups and villages

Technology• Pottery and Basket-weaving: needed to store

food and carry water

• Metallurgy: replaced stone tools with metal

• Copper Age-4000 BCE

• Bronze Age-3000 BCE

Social Structures• Greater separation between rulers and subjects in

agricultural and pastoral communities

• Accumulation of wealth: elites concentrated

power

Patriarchy: Men assumed political and religious

leadership roles

Civilization

• Basic characteristics

• Economic surplus

• Social hierarchy and division of labor

• Less inclusive definition requires

• Cities

• Formal political organization

• Writing

• Artistic and intellectual activity