The earliest humans evolved in East Africa around 2 million years ago. They began using stone tools and lived as hunter-gatherers, hunting animals and gathering plants for food. Around 30,000 BCE, early humans created cave paintings showing the animals they hunted. By 9000 BCE, during the Neolithic agricultural revolution, humans in some areas learned to farm crops and domesticate animals, leading to permanent settlements and the growth of early civilizations along major rivers like the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Indus, and Yellow Rivers.

1. The Earliest Humans Where did we come from?

2. Timeline! 2 million B.C.E. Early people first begin using stone tools, like scrapers and arrowheads.

3. 30,000 B.C.E. Stone Age (Paleolithic) people create cave paintings that show the animals they hunt. People lived mostly by hunting and gathering.

5. 18,000 B.C.E. During the last ice age, huge glaciers spread across parts of Europe, Asia, and North America.

6. 9000 B.C.E. During the Neolithic agricultural revolution , people learned to FARM! They began to grow their own crops and settle in farming villages.

7. 3000 B.C.E. The first civilizations emerge. As Egyptians and others develop writing, they will preserve a written record of their history.

8. African Beginnings Anthropologists have found evidence of the earliest human life in East Africa, showing the evolution of the human species.

9. MIGRATION: Later, descendants of the earliest humans in East Africa may have traveled north and east into Europe and Asia. Over time, people reached the Americas, Australia, and the islands of the Pacific.

10. HUNTERS AND GATHERERS The first people lived in small hunting or food-gathering bands of 20 to 30 people Men  hunted or fished Women  with small children, gathered berries, fruit, and nuts They were NOMADS : moved from place to place

11. And then there was agriculture (farming)… This was a HUGE breakthrough! People learned to farm How did they learn? No one knows for sure Food-gathering women may have noticed that seeds grew into plants each year Differences in soil, may have stayed near good soil and found they could harvest crops

12. Effects of Agriculture: Domesticating animals Better health for humans More free time… Growth in population Permanent settlements Interactions among settlements (trade, warfare, technological exchanges)

13. Review! The human brain is constantly improving – it is what separates us from other animals on this planet We began living by hunting and gathering until we learned how to farm This led to major population growth and the development of larger villages and societies

14. So where were these first civilizatons?

15. Mesopotamia – Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

16. Egypt – Nile River

17. India – Indus River

18. China – Yellow River

19. Greece

20. Rome

21. Aztecs

22. Inca

23. 1 2 3 4 1 – Egypt (Nile River) 5 - Greece 2 – Mesopotamia 6 – Roman Empire 3 – India (Indus River) 7 – Aztec Empire 4 – China (Yellow River) 8 – Inca Empire 5 6 7 8