Chapter 1 Slide #1

1. PREHISTORIC TIMES
The Beginning

2. A Question to Consider
Cave Painting found in France
 There were no written
records until about 3100
B.C.
 Even then, they were not
detailed accounts of daily life.
 So, how do we know about
prehistoric people?

3. Cave Paintings
What is happening here? What did ancient man
use for paint?

4. The Paleolithic Age

5. Greek term for “Old Stone”
 Earliest use of stone tools
 Nomadic hunters, fishers,
gatherers
 NOT farmers
 Made and controlled fire
 Acquired formal
language; passed on
customs

6. A Life Governed by Fear
 Man vulnerable to wild
animals, nature
 Little control over
environment
 Unpredictable “gods” = fear
 Bleak view of life and death
 Man became superstitious;
relied on magic, rituals

7. Ötzi: The Ice Man
A reconstruction of Otzi.
Notice the clothing.
Here are some of the weapons
that Otzi carried.

8. The Neolithic Age

9. Greek term for “New Stone”
 Shift from hunting and gathering to farming
 Nature’s cycles; began planting seeds - growing
food
 Domesticated animals
 Established villages and towns
 Permanent homes; deliberate farming

10. Neolithic Innovations
This Chinese dish is dated
between 12,000 BC and 9, 000 BC.
 Invented pottery
 Store
 Transport
 Cook
 Made cloth from
flax/wool, not animal skin

11. Growing Communities
 People begin to live in larger groups.
 How would this help them to survive?
 Farmers’ families larger than hunters’ families.
 Why?

12. A New Sense of Control
 Learning to control parts of nature:
 Channel water to irrigate the land
 How would this affect man’s view of:
 himself?
 the gods?
 nature?

13. The Bronze Age

14. Definition of “civilization”
 A defined way of life
 Developed in different ways
 Found in many, different places

15. The Earliest Civilizations
1) Between Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers
in Mesopotamia
(Iraq)
2) Along Nile River
in Egypt
3) In the Indus Valley
in India
4) Along Yellow River
basin in China

16. Developing Villages & Cities
 Villages first; later established cities
 Large, public buildings and temples in center
 Town surrounded by huge walls
 Cities more important than villages
 Cities dedicated to patron god or goddess

17. Triangular Structures
A Ziggurat
 Ziggurats in
Mesopotamia:
 “stepped” temples;
linked heaven/earth
 Tower of Babel

18. Egyptian Pyramids
Giza Pyramids
 Pyramids in Egypt:
 First pyramid was a
“stepped” pyramid
 Tombs for pharaohs

19. Architecture and Power
A Mesopotamian Ziggurat
 Probably took thousands
of people to build
 Probably took many
years
 What does this suggest
about the rulers?

20. Ancient Technology
 Elaborate artwork; rare, imported materials = trade?
 Smelting = easier to produce better tools, weapons
 Pottery and textiles
 New ways to make them
 More people had access to them

21. Social Status: Inequalities
 Status based on:
 Family’s influence, wealth
 Political power
 Religious authority
 Who controlled natural resources (water, land,
iron)

22. The Development of Writing
 Writing was a necessity.
 Not stories at first
 Record of sales
 Record of animals and
land
 Later, to codify law

23. Emergence of Trade
Bronze weapons
 More communication
between groups
 Religious, cultural,
political influence
 Important discovery:
bronze
 Tin + copper
 Stronger tools, weapons

24. Jericho: Biblical City still Exists
Walls of Jerico
 Settled 8,000 B.C.;
started as village
 No pottery there yet
 Buried dead under
round, mud-brick houses
 Become wealthy city with
large wall

25. Jericho Today

26. Çatal Hüyük -“Chatal Hooyuk”
 Largest ancient settlement
 One-story houses
 Climb ladder, crawl through
hole in roof
 Benches, sleeping mats built
into walls
 Obsidian (volcanic glass) used
for daggers, mirrors

27. Temple at Çatal Hüyük
Notice bull imagery
Worshipped female deities
Priestesses dressed as vultures