Chapter 1 – The Beginnings of Civilization

The Big Picture:As early humans slowly spread from Africa

to other parts of the world, they struggled to survive by using stone tools and weapons

to hunt animals, catch fish, and gather plants and nuts. For hundreds of thousands of years, humans lived in this way. Then, as

the last Ice Age ended, some learned to farm. This breakthrough gave rise to

villages and cities, and in time, to the first civilizations. In this chapter you will learn how humans spread to other parts of the

world and established the first civilizations.

Section 1 - The First People

Main Idea

Scientific evidence suggests that modern humans spread from Africa to other lands and gradually developed ways to adapt to their environment.

Reading Focus

• What methods are used to study the distant past?

• What does evidence suggest about human origins?

• How did early people spread around the world?

• How did early people adapt to life in the Stone Age?

I. Studying the Distant Past

Scientists interpret prehistory by using the scientific method

The scientific method is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate, reliable, consistent and non-arbitrary representation of the world

I. Studying the Distant Past

Anthropologists study fossils, artifacts, or culture

I. Studying the Distant Past

Culture: beliefs, knowledge, and patterns of living

II. Human Origins1959 –Mary Leakey finds hominid skull fragments

Reconstructed replica of 1.75 million year-old “Nutcracker Man” from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Louis and Mary Leakey in Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge

II. Human Origins

1974 - hominid “Lucy” was found in Ethiopia by Donald Johanson

"Lucy," - 3 million year-old female hominid discovered at Hadar in 1974

II. Human Origins

Both hominids were Australopithecines, or “southern ape”

II. Human Origins1978 – Leakey found 3.5 million year-old hominid footprints

Leakey working at the Laetoli, Tanzania, site where fossil footprints were found in hardened volcanic ash, 1978.

II. Human OriginsOther stone-tool making hominids lived in East Africa about 2 million years ago

 1. Australopithecus afarensis

2. Australopithecus africanus

3. Homo habilis 4. Homo erectus 5. Neandertal

The world's oldest known child was discovered in East Africa. The 3.3-million-year-old fossilized toddler was uncovered in north Ethiopia's badlands along the Great Rift Valley.

II. Human Origins

Homo Sapiens appeared about 200,000 years ago

All humans today belong to the species Homo Sapiens

Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. The lighter layers in the outcrop are volcanic ash layers.

III. Spreading around the World

Several Ice Ages occurred over the last 1.6 million years

III. Spreading around the WorldHumans began migrating out of Africa when sea levels dropped, creating land bridges

III. Spreading around the WorldNeanderthals, early Homo Sapiens, lived 200,000 to 30,000years ago

III. Spreading around the WorldCro-Magnons appeared about 40,000 years ago; left cave paintings

IV. Life in the Stone Age

Stone Age –began with development of stone tools

IV. Life in the Stone Age

First part of Stone Age called Paleolithic Age, or Old Stone Age

Paleolithic comes from the Greek for “ancient” and “stone”. It began about 2.5 million years ago and lasted until about 10,000 years ago (Over 2 million years)

IV. Life in the Stone Age

Stone Age people were nomadic hunter-gatherers who lived in small bands

IV. Life in the Stone Age

Archeologists have found that they wore clothing, used fire, and had tools

IV. Life in the Stone AgeClothing, fire, and shelter helped them adapt and live in different environments

IV. Life in the Stone AgeThey practiced animism; buried dead with food and tools, showing belief in afterlife