holocene period
TRANSCRIPT
The Holocene
RTPM-DSHSCompiled by Sue Quirante
USAGE NOTES These slides were prepared by Ms. Sue Quirante, a secondary public school teacher in the Philippines. All copyrighted material were lifted by her in the spirit of fair use. As such, this presentation should not be used for any commercial purpose.
Last updated October 9, 2016
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
The GTS is a system of chronological measurement that relates rock layers to time.
Oregon Utah
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
Different spans of time on the GTS are usually delimited by changes in the composition of strata.
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
The geologic history of the Earth is broken up into hierarchical chunks of time, from largest to smallest.
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALETime Period Name
EON Phanerozoic
ERA Cenozoic
PERIOD Quaternary
EPOCH Holocene
PLEISTOCENE pleistos : most kainos : new
CENOZOIC ceno : new
zoion : animal
HOLOCENE holo : whole kainos : new
Pleistocene Epochospanned 2.6mya to 11, 700 years agoomost recent episode of
glaciation or global cooling (ice age)oevolution and expansion of Homo sapiens
27% of the earth's land surfaces were covered by ice around 20,000 years ago
Glacialglacier advance
Interglacialglacier retreat
-dramatic climate swings
-many animals driven to extinction-humanity survived by becoming more intelligent and adaptable
Paleolithic Period
Old Stone Agebegun 1.2mya and ended 10,000 years ago
Paleolithic Periodstone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons
hand axes appeared 700,000 years agoOlduvai Gorge, Tanzaniafound with remains of H. erectus
Paleolithic Period
stone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons
hand axes appeared 700,000 years agoOlduvai Gorge, Tanzaniafound with remains of H. erectus
Paleolithic Period
stone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons
hand axes appeared 700,000 years agoOlduvai Gorge, Tanzaniafound with remains of H. erectus
Paleolithic PeriodNomads (hunter-gatherers)o hunting and fishing wild animalso gathering wild plants, berries, nuts, roots and tuberso lived in small groups which provided security and enabled hunting of large animalso average life span was 20 – 25 years
There was a video here but I took it out to reduce file size. It talked about two evolutionary strategies for surviving colder climates: 1) growing robust bodies (“toughening yourself up” or 2) growing larger brains (intelligence allowed humans to develop cultural/technological adaptations such as use of fire and clothing in cold climates.
You can view the video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndwzAw8fchU
HOW DID WE SURVIVE THE PLEISTOCENE?new cultural technology to deal with cold environments and changing food sources
HOW DID WE SURVIVE THE PLEISTOCENE? problem:scarcity of plant foods that humans could eat during the winters solution:ancestors became more proficient at hunting animals, especially large ones that provided more calories
Paleolithic ArtVenus of Willendorf (25,000 BCE)sculpted from limestonefound in Willendorf, Austriaone of many similar female carvings called Venus Figurines
AUSTRIA
How do we determine the age of artifacts?
1 extraction : digging, the deeper the older2 typology : if complex, recent3 Carbon-14 dating : measure of amount of carbon-14 in an object, only works for living objects
Paleolithic ArtHall of Bulls(28,000 – 10,000 BCE)found in Lascaux, France
LASCAUX, FRANCE
Paleolithic ArtCueva de las Manos(13,000 – 9,500 BCE)Patagonia, southern Argentina
PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA
Holocene Epoch current geological epoch which started some 11,500 years ago when the glaciers began to retreat, marking the end of the glacial phase of the most recent ice age
HOLOCENE INTERGLACIAL
Holocene Epocho sometimes called “Anthropogene” or “Age of Man” Note: Modern humans had evolved and dispersed all over the world well before the start of the Holocene
Holocene Epochospread of forestsosubsequent shrinkage of forests as mankind’s demand for timber and agricultural land grew
Holocene Epoch
Although we think of the Holocene as a warm time for the planet, we are still in an ice age. This is indicated by the presence of ice caps at the poles - the planet as a whole is just in an interglacial phase.
Holocene Epoch
An interglacial period is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age.
Neolithic PeriodNew Stone Age
attained at the beginning of the Holocene Epoch 11,700 years ago until around 1800BCEgradually occurred across Asia and Europe from a starting point in the Fertile Crescent
Neolithic EraNew Stone Agecultivation and animal domestication first appeared in southwestern Asia by about 9000 BCEfarming and settled villages had been firmly achieved by 7000 BCE in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys
Neolithic PeriodNew Stone Age
stone tools shaped by polishing and grindingdependence on domesticated plants or animalssettlement in permanent villages (sedentism)appearance of crafts such as pottery and weaving
Neolithic Period
What’s the difference between
Horticulture & Agriculture?
(as used in archaeology and anthropology)
HORTICULTURE
distinguished by the use of hand tools to grow domesticated plants
INTENSIVE AGRICULTUREuse of irrigation, draft animals, terracing, natural fertilizers, selective breeding, mechanization, etc., to grow more food
Neolithic PeriodWhy do you think the Neolithic Revolution occurred?
REFERENCES University of California Museum of Paleontologyhttp://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/histgeoscale.php
BBChttp://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/history_of_the_earth/Holocene
Mr. Giotto’s Sitehttp://www.penfield.edu/webpages/jgiotto/onlinetextbook.cfm?subpage=1525824
Brittanicahttp://www.britannica.com/event/Paleolithic-Period
Climate Change and Human Evolutionhttp://anthro.palomar.edu/homo/homo_3.htm