This document provides an overview of world history from prehistory to the Neolithic Revolution. It describes how prehistory is defined as before writing began 5000 years ago. During the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic Age, 2.5 million to 8000 BC), the earliest tools date back to this era. The Great Leap Forward around 50000 BC saw innovations like fish hooks, arrows, and art emerge. The New Stone Age (Neolithic Age, 8000 to 3000 BC) saw developments like polished tools, pottery, crop growing, and animal domestication. The Neolithic Revolution around 10000 years ago involved the domestication of plants and animals, leading to urbanization, social hierarchies, and population growth.
2. Pre-history
• What is prehistory?
• It is defined as the time before the
invention of writing, roughly 5,000 years
ago.
3. Scientists
• Archaeologists
– Scientists who learn about early people by
excavating and studying the traces of early
settlements.
• Anthropologists
– Study cultures, or people’s unique way of life.
• Paleontologists
– Study fossils: evidence of early life preserved in
rocks.
4. The Old Stone Age
• Also known as the Paleolithic Age.
– Lasted from 2.5 million years ago to 8000
B.C.
– The oldest chopping tools date back to this
era
5. Great Leap
Forward
When? 50,000 b.p.
Emergence of:
• Fish hooks, Arrows, Bows,
Needles, Engravers, Awls
• Art
• Jewelry (Beads at first)
• Navigation/Boating?
(Australia from New
Guinea)
Proposed Causes:
• Voicebox development /
language
• Brain organization change
Lascaux Caves, France
6. New Stone Age
• Also known as the Neolithic Age
– Began around 8000 B.C. and ended
around 3000 B.C.
– People during this era learned to polish
tools, make pottery, grow crops, and raise
animals.
• Old and New Stone Age both occurred
during the Ice Age.
7. When did Humans arrive on
the scene?
• Age of hominids? 7 million years
• Age of homo sapiens? 500,000 years
• Neanderthals? 140,000-50,000 y.a.
– Separate evolutionary line: First genocide?
• Cro-Magnon? 40,000 y.a. (fully modern anatomy)
8. Hominid Development?
• Homo erectus was found 1.6 million
years ago in Africa. Homo erectus
means, “upright man”
– 1st to migrate, use fire and develop
language.
• Homo sapiens mean, “wise men”
9. Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons
• Neanderthals
– 1st to develop religious beliefs and
performed rituals like burial for their dead
– Vanished about 30,000 years ago
• Cro-Magnons
– Identical to modern-day humans
10. People of the Old Stone Age
• Nomads:
– Wander from place to place; these people
were always depending on hunting animals
and collecting plant foods
– They were also known as hunter-gatherers.
11. Neolithic Revolution
Domestication of Plants and Animals
Occurred around 10,000 years ago
Also known as the Agricultural Revolution
Farming Methods
Slash-and-burn farming:
Farmers cut down trees and grasses to clear
a field. Ashes would be used to fertilize the
crops farmers would plant.
12. Neolithic Revolution
Domestication of Animals
· Dog was probably first.
· Early domesticated animals:
cattle, oxen, pigs, sheep,
goats, guinea pigs, llama
• role in agricultural
production and success
· Relationship to success of
particular cultures: Indo-
European Horsemen
13. Neolithic Revolution
Primary effects:
· Urbanization
· Social Stratification
· Occupational Specialization
· Increased population densities
Teotihuacan
