Lecture Slides, NVCC, His 101, Fall 2019

1. Course Introduction;
The Stone Age and Early Civilization
Week 1

2. Overview
• Syllabus
• Why Study History?
• Old and New Stone Age
• Civilization
• Mesopotamia
• Homework (textbook):
– Preface
– Prologue
– Ch. 1
Discussion at the University of Paris

3. WHY STUDY HISTORY?

4. “I would tell you that no matter what you’re going
to go into, whether it be business or politics or
international relations or domestic politics, I don’t
think you can go wrong if you maintain an avid
interest in history. The reason I say that is you’ll
find that really, there’s nothing new under the sun,
other than some of the technology we use.
The human condition, the aspirations, the dreams,
the problems that are associated with being social
animals, not being a hermit and living alone, but
having to interact with others, whether it be your
local school district, your community, your state,
your county, your national, your international
relations, history will show you not all the answers,

5. “but it’ll tell you a lot of the
questions to ask and
furthermore, it will show you
how other people have dealt
successfully or unsuccessfully
with similar type issues. I wish
now looking back on it, if I’d
known what waited for me in
life, I would have put a lot
more attention into history.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense
James Mattis
June 20, 2017

6. Intro to History 101
• What is “history”?
• Herodotus, “The Father
of History”
• “Inquiry”
• Texts
• Narrative
• Primary sources vs.
secondary sources
• What is “the West”? Herodotus (484-425 BC),
Austrian Parliament, 19th Century

7. The Stone Age and Civilization
(The Ruins of Uruk)

8. Chronology
• BP - "Before Present",
usually used for prehistoric
dates by anthropologists
• BC/AD - "Before Christ" and
"Anno Domini (In the Year
of Our Lord)", traditional
dating of history roughly
based on Jesus Christ's birth
• BCE/CE - "Before the
Common Era" and
"Common Era", same
system as above, secular
The Chauvet Cave, France, 30,000 – 28,000 BC

9. Earliest Humans
• Hominids: 3-4 Mil years BP
• Discovery of Fire: 500,000 BP
• Earliest homo sapiens:
250,000 BP
• Anatomically Modern
Humans: 200,000-150,000 BP
– Homo sapiens sapiens
• AMH leave Africa: 70,000 BP
• Last Ice Age:70,000-10,000 BP
• Neanderthals die out:
30,000 BP
Olduvai Handaxe, 1.2 mil years BP,
Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

10. Spread of Homo Sapiens

11. Early Human Societies
• Paleolithic Age
– c. 2.5 mil. BP – 10,000 BP
• Nomadic Bands
• Hunter-gatherers
• Kinship mode of
production
• Ownership
• Egalitarian
• Religion
Venus of Willendorf, 30,000-26,000 BP

12. The Neolithic Revolution
• The Neolithic Age
– c. 10,000 – 4000 B.C.
• Tools
– Obsidian, copper
• Agricultural Revolution
– Domestication
– Sedentarization
• Hierarchy
• Tributary mode
of production
• The Sexes
Ain Ghazal, c. 6500 BC

13. Domestication

14. Domestication

15. Spread of Agriculture

16. Neolithic Sites in the Near East
and Europe

17. Çatal Höyük, Turkey, c. 6000 BC

19. Çatal Höyük, Turkey, c. 6000 BC

20. Ain Ghazal, c. 7200 BC

21. Choirokoitia, Cyprus, c. 6000 BC

22. Civilization
• Urban focus
• Distinct religious
structure
• Political and military
structures
• Social structure based
on economic power
• Writing
• Artistic and intellectual
activity
Göbekli Tepe, c. 9000 BC

23. Archaeological Periods
• Tools and Weapons
• Paleolithic Age, (c. 2.5
mil years ago – 10,000
BP)
• Neolithic Age (c. 10,000
– 4000 B.C.)
• Bronze Age (4000 – 1000
BC)
– Copper + Tin
– Trade
• Iron Age (1000 BC –
Middle Ages)
– Technology

24. River Valleys
• Agriculture
• Flooding
• Silt
• Irrigation
• Hierarchy
• Tributary
Mode of
Production