Traditions and Encounters, 4th Edition (Bentley)

Chapter 1: BEFORE HISTORY

Chapter Outline

1. The evolution of homo sapiens
   1. The hominids
      1. Australopithecus
         1. Appeared in east Africa about four million to one million years ago
         2. Walked upright on two legs; well-developed hands
         3. Stone tools; fire later
      2. Homo erectus
         1. 2.5 million to two hundred thousand years ago, east Africa
         2. Large brain; sophisticated tools; definitely knew how to control fire
         3. Developed language skills in well-coordinated hunts of large animals
         4. Migrated to Asia and Europe; established throughout by two hundred thousand years ago
   2. Homo sapiens
      1. Evolved as early as two hundred thousand years ago
      2. Brain with large frontal regions for conscious and reflective thought
      3. Spread throughout Eurasia beginning more than one hundred thousand years ago,
      4. Ice age land bridges enabled them to populate other continents
      5. The natural environment
         1. Homo sapiens used knives, spears, bows, and arrows
         2. Brought tremendous pressure on other species
   
   
2. Paleolithic society
   1. Economy and society of hunting and gathering peoples
      1. Economic life
         1. Prevented individuals from accumulating private property
         2. Lived an egalitarian existence
         3. Lived in small bands, about thirty to fifty members in each group
      2. Big game hunting with special tools and tactics
      3. Paleolithic settlements
         1. Natufians in eastern Mediterranean
         2. Jomon in central Japan
         3. Chinook in Pacific northwest area of North America
   2. Paleolithic Culture
      1. Neanderthal peoples
         1. Europe and southwest Asia between one hundred thousand and thirty-five thousand years ago
         2. Careful, deliberate burials were evidence of a capacity for emotion and feelings
      2. The creativity of homo sapiens
         1. Constructed powerful and flexible languages
         2. Accumulate and transmit knowledge to new generations
         3. New tools, weapons, and trade networks
         4. Venus figurines--fertility
         5. Cave paintings of animals--sympathetic magic
   
   
3. The neolithic era and the transition to agriculture
   1. The origins of agriculture
      1. Neolithic era; new stone age; refined tools and agriculture
         1. From about twelve thousand to six thousand years ago
         2. Neolithic women began systematic cultivation of plants
         3. Neolithic men began to domesticate animals
      2. Early agriculture around 9000 B.C.E.
         1. Agriculture emerged independently in several parts of the world
         2. Merchants, migrants, and travelers spread food knowledge
         3. Slash-and-burn cultivation involved frequent movement of farmers
         4. Agriculture more work than hunting/gathering but steady, large supply of food
   2. Early agricultural society; population explosion caused by surplus
      1. Emergence of villages and towns
         1. Jericho, earliest known neolithic village
         2. Mud huts and defensive walls
      2. Specialization of labor
         1. Neolithic site of Çatal Hüyük, eight thousand people
         2. Prehistoric craft industries: pottery, metallurgy, and textile production
      3. Social distinctions, due to private land ownership
   3. Neolithic culture; calendars and life cycle deities
   4. The origins of urban life
      1. Emergence of cities, larger and more complex than villages
      2. Earliest cities in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, 4000 to 3500 B.C.E.