From Prehistory to the Middle Ages

2.  PREHISTORY: From the appearance of the first human
beings (5000000 BC) to the invention of writing (3000 BC).
 ANTIQUITY: from the invention of writing to the fall of the
Roman Empire (476 AD).
 THE MIDDLE AGES: from the fall of the Roman Empire to
the discovery of America (1492).
 THE EARLY MODERN AGE: from the discovery
ofAmerica to the French Revolution (1789).
 THE MODERN AGE: from the French Revolution to the
present day.

3.  The Stone Age
 The Palaeolithic period: nomadic, hunting, fishing
and gathering food.
 The Neolithic period: sedentary, agriculture and
livestock.
 The Bronze and Iron Age: metal
tools,trade,jewellery…
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm-
IxK1GrYE

4.  Urban civilisations (3000 BC – 30 BC)
 They built the first cities.
 Monarcs with absolut powers.
 Canals to irrigate which increased agriculture.
 Writing invented.
 Closed societies.
 Art used to celebrate religious and political power.
 Classical civilisations (2000 BC – 476 AD)
 First participative governments.
 Closed societies.
 Colonies around the Mediterranean Sea.
 Use of the coins.
 Contributions to Western Culture: philosophy, architecture, art,
latin, engineering and Christianity.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeaEbdn4e00

5.  The Byzantine Empire (476 – 1453)
 It emerged in the former Eastern Roman Empire.
 Emperor had the power.
 Agricultural and craft production, trade.
 Establishment of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
 Islamic civilisation (622 -1492)
 Caliph governed, helped by viziers, emirs and qadis.
 Irrigation, trade, the Silk Route.
 Islam as a religion.
 Paper-making techniques, Indian symbols for
numbers.

6.  Christian Europe (476 – 1492)
 The Rise of Feudalism (5th – 12th centuries)
 The decline of Feudalism (13th century)
 Economic crisis (14th – 15th centuries)
 European art
 Romanesque style (10th – 12th centuries)
 Gothic style (12th – 15th centuries)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EAMqKUi
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