Period 1

Technological andEnvironmental Transformations

to c. 600 B.C.E.

Key Concept 1.1Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth

Big Geography relates to the global nature of World History.

This begins with the Paleolithic era:

• Old Stone Age or Early stone age• Prior to the 1950’s, anthropologists knew little

about early humans.• Mary & Louis Leakey found clues to the human

past in a place called Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, Africa.

• 1959 found the skull of an early HominidHominid: a group that includes humans and their closest relatives that walked upright on two feet.

Olduvai Gorge

• 1974 – anthropologist Donald Johnson found many pieces of a single early hominid skeleton in Ethiopia.

• Johnson named his historic find “Lucy” after a song the Beatles sung.

Paleolithic AgeOld Stone Age

• Homo Habilis which evolved around 2.3 million years ago was the first to use stone tools.

• Tools found with Homo Habilis in Kenya and Tanzania– include “choppers”,

“scrappers” and early axes

And we’re off….1.5 million years ago

Homo Erectus and Homo Ergaster were the first to leave Africa.

• Remains found in Mesopotamia, India, and as far as China!

Key Characteristics of Paleolithic Era:• Humans developed a wider range of tools specially

adapted to different environments.

Chimpanzee using stone tools

Key Characteristics of Paleolithic Era:• Humans used fire in new ways: to aid hunting and

foraging, to protect against predators, and to adapt to cold environments.

Tom Hanks in the 2000 movie “Cast Away”

Key Characteristics of Paleolithic Era:• Economic structures focused on small kinship

groups of hunting-foraging bands that could make what they needed to survive.

• However, not all groups were self-sufficient; they exchanged people, ideas, and goods.

Archeological evidence indicates that during the Paleolithic era, hunting-foraging bands gradually migrated from East Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas.

Key Concept 1.2The Neolithic Revolution

andEarly Agricultural Societies

In response to warming climates at the end of the last Ice Age, some groups adapted to the environment in new ways, while others remained hunter-gatherers.

Settled agriculture is the defining characteristic of the Neolithic Revolution.

Settled agriculture emerged at different times in what are called River Valley Civilizations.• Mesopotamia = Tigris & Euphrates rivers• Egypt = Nile river• India = Indus & Ganges rivers• China = Yellow river or Huang He

Other civilizations to emerge were:• Sub-Saharan Africa• Mesoamerica & Andes• Papua New Guinea

Agricultural River Valley Civilizations

Different crops or animals were domesticated, depending on the available local flora and fauna.

Agricultural communities had to work cooperatively to clear land and create the water control systems needed for crop production.

Pastoralism developed at various sites in the grasslands of Afro-Eurasia.

Pastoral Society• Smaller• Mobile• Focus on

hunting/gathering• Better adaption to

environment• Animal husbandry

Agricultural Society• Dependent on same

soil• Larger civilizations• Sedentary• Animal husbandry

• These agricultural practices drastically impacted environmental diversity.

• Pastoralists also affected the environment by grazing large numbers of animals on fragile grasslands, leading to erosion when overgrazed.

Agriculture & Pastoralism began to transform human societies

• Pastoralism and agriculture led to more reliable and abundant food supplies, which increased the population.

• Surpluses of food and other goods led to specialization of labor, including new classes of artisans and warriors, and the development of elites.

Agriculture & Pastoralism began to transform human societies

• Technological innovations led to improvements in agricultural production, trade, and transportation.– Pottery– Plows– Woven textiles– Metallurgy– Wheels and wheeled vehicles

Agriculture & Pastoralism began to transform human societies

• In both pastoralist and agrarian societies, elite groups accumulated wealth, creating more hierarchical social structures and promoting patriarchal forms of social organization.

• All of these factors led to the development of cities.