• Australopithecus 3.9-3 million years ago • Homo habilis 2.4 million years ago • Homo erectus 1.8 million years ago • Homo sapiens 280,000 years ago

• Evolution– a fact not a theory– “change over time”

• Natural selection• Artificial selection• Mutation

Biblical Criticism• Form criticism is an analysis of literary documents, particularly the

Bible, to discover earlier oral traditions (stories, legends, myths, etc.) upon which they were based.

• Tradition criticism is an analysis of the Bible, concentrating on how religious traditions have grown and changed over the time span during which the text was written.

• Higher criticism is "the study of the sources and literary methods employed by the biblical authors."

• Lower criticism is "the discipline and study of the actual wording" of the Bible; a quest for textual purity and understanding.

How old is Earth?

• Bishop James Usher (1581 – 1656)Creation “fell upon the entrance of the night preceding, Sunday, October 23,” 4004 BC.

• Modern science: 4.5 billion years.

Ocean fossils in the Canadian Rockies

• By the late 19th century most main-stream Protestant dominations accepted the general concept of evolution.

• Catholics have never believed in “absolute truth” of the Bible.

• Whether there is a guiding force, an external intelligence, behind this change is up to you.

• Australopithecus 3.9-3 million years ago • Homo habilis 2.4 million years ago • Homo erectus 1.8 million years ago • Homo sapiens 280,000 years ago

  Band Tribe Chiefdom State

Total Numbers less than 100 up to a few thousand 5000-20,000 generally 20,000+

Social Organization

egalitarian, informal leadership

segmentary--poss. made up of several "bands", leaders lack economic

control

kinship based ranking, hereditary leaders,

leaders control some or all aspects of trade

class based hierarchy

Economic Organization

mobile hunter gathererssettled farmers,

pastoralists, herders

central accumulation and redistribution, prestige

goods, craft specialization

centralized bureaucracy, tribute, taxation, laws

Settlement Pattern

temporary campspermanent villages, no

one settlement dominates others

fortified centers, ritual centers

urban cities, towns, frontier defenses, roads

Religious Organization

shamansreligious elders,

calendarical ritualshereditary chief with

religious dutiespriestly class, pantheistic or monotheistic religion

Architecture temporary shelterspermanent huts, burial

mounds, shrineslarge scale monuments

palaces, temples and other public buildings

Recent or Contemporary

ExamplesAustralian Aborigines New Guinea highlanders

18th century Polynesian chiefdoms

modern states

How do we explain the world around us?

• Myth• Magic• Religion• Philosophy• Science

• Art• Music• Poetry

Venus Figurines

35,000 – 11,000 BCE

• emblems of security and success• fertility icons• porn• representations of a mother goddess or

various local goddesses.

  Band Tribe Chiefdom State

Total Numbers less than 100 up to a few thousand 5000-20,000 generally 20,000+

Social Organization

egalitarian, informal leadership

segmentary--poss. made up of several "bands", leaders lack economic

control

kinship based ranking, hereditary leaders,

leaders control some or all aspects of trade

class based hierarchy

Economic Organization

mobile hunter gathererssettled farmers,

pastoralists, herders

central accumulation and redistribution, prestige

goods, craft specialization

centralized bureaucracy, tribute, taxation, laws

Settlement Pattern

temporary campspermanent villages, no

one settlement dominates others

fortified centers, ritual centers

urban cities, towns, frontier defenses, roads

Religious Organization

shamansreligious elders,

calendarical ritualshereditary chief with

religious dutiespriestly class, pantheistic or monotheistic religion

Architecture temporary shelterspermanent huts, burial

mounds, shrineslarge scale monuments

palaces, temples and other public buildings

Recent or Contemporary

ExamplesAustralian Aborigines New Guinea highlanders

18th century Polynesian chiefdoms

modern states

10,000 BCE Paleolithic - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Neolithic

Dog 30,000 - 15,000 BC Eurasia

Sheep11,000 BC - 9000 BC

Southwest Asia Pig 9000 BC Near East, China

Goat 8000 BC Iran

Cattle 8000 BCEurope, Asia and

North Africa Domesticated Cat 7500 BC Near East

Chicken 6000 BCIndia and Southeast

AsiaDonkey 5000 BC Egypt

Duck 4000 BC ChinaHorse 4000 BC Eurasian Steppes

Dromedary Camel 4000 BC ArabiaGoose 3000 BC Egypt

Yak 2500 BC TibetBactrian Camel 2500 BC Central Asia

Domesticated Animals

Dog 30,000 - 15,000 BC Eurasia

Guinea pig 5000 BC Peru

Llama & Alpaca 2400 BC Peru

Turkey 180 ADMexico,

United States

Domesticated Animals -- The Americas

Domesticated Plants

• Bottle gourd 10,000 BCE• Cereal grains 9,000 BCE

– Evidence of flour 10,000 BCE

– Chemical evidence for beer 3,500 BCE

Creation and Flood Myths

MYTH

“. . . A traditional story of unknown authorship, ostensibly with a historical basis, but serving usually to explain some phenomenon of nature, the origin of man, or the customs, institutions, religious rites, etc. of people: myths usually involve the exploits of gods and heroes.”

Genesis

“Jahwist”

TraditionalStories

Greek and Mesopotamian Sources

“Priestly Source”

Final formby c. 538 BCE

Biblical manuscripts

• Septuagint (Greek) c. 300 BCE

• Dead Sea Scrolls c. 150 BCE – 70 CE

• Masoretic Text Written c. 100 CEOldest text c. 1,000 CE

Gilgamesh

• Sumerian versions from 2150 BCE

• Best preserved version (in Akkadian)dates from 1300 – 1000 BCE

Egypt2686 - 332 BCE 5000-2000 BCE

1750-559 BCE

2300-2150 BCE

1750-1180 BCE

Judah/Israel830 BCE – 135 CE

The Ice Age• Ends c. 12,000 BCE

Black Sea Floodc. 5600 BCE

100 meter sea level rise above current sea level.

Summary

• Transition from Paleolithic to Neolithic.– Younger Dryas

• Low-lying areas flood around the world.

• Slow development of sedentary cultures.