1. Prehistory is the time before there were written records.
WHAT IS PREHISTORY?
Prehistory is the time before
there were written records.
Creation of Earth, 4.5 billion years ago
                                
“Age of Fish”, 600 million years ago
“Age of Reptiles”,
220 million years ago
Early Man, 65 million years ago

2. Earth
Dinosaurs
Early Man
Stone Age

3. Australopithecus 1-5 million years ago
Earliest forms of HOMINDS:
upright, bipedal primate mammals
More like apes than humans

4. Homo Habilis: “Handy Man” First human species about 2 million years ago
30% larger brain than Australopithecus
Able to walk upright
Use of tools
What is the importance of being able to walk upright?

5. Homo Erectus 400,000-2 million years ago
50% larger brain that homo habilis
Used tools
First species to use & control fire
NOMADIC people
Hunters-gatherers
Originated in Africa; migrated to
Europe & Asia
Changes in Homo Erectus

6. Homo Sapiens Earliest form of modern man
Lived 300,000 – 400,000 years ago
Found throughout Africa, Asia
and Europe

7. Neanderthal Man (Homo Sapiens)
What common misconceptions exist about Neanderthal Man?

8. Homo Sapiens Sapiens: Modern Human Beings 130,000 years ago - present
arrived during the
Paleolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
Carving of human head, 26,000 years old
Improved tools & weapons
Cave Art
Venus figurines
Needles for sewing clothes
Compare the skulls of Neanderthal Man (left)
and Homo Sapiens Sapiens (right)

9. Paleolithic Cave Paintings Lascaux, France
These were discovered in France by four teenagers and are believed to be roughly 16,000 years old. The caves are in Southwestern France. There are more than 2,000 figures carved on the wall, but most cannot be discerned. Mostly these are paintings of large animals, whose fossils have confirmed there existance in the area at the time of the paintings. Most are too faint to see well. There are various natural and humanmade causes for the deteration of the paintings including:
Alternate freezing and thawing, natural and artificial light, circulation of air masses, and rainwater.

10. Stone Age Venus Figures
Gagarino
Venus
Venus of Willendorf,
Circa 28,000 B.C.
There are of these figures which have been found throughout Europe from Siberia (Russia) to Southwest France to Northern Spain. These are considered to be “mobility art” (meaning portable art vs. cave paintings, which are not). There are numerous similarities and correlations that seem to exist between the various figurines, this points to a somewhat universal symbolism and uniformity in views of women throughout Europe. The themes in the Venus figurines include:
-women as generators of life and –women as generators of pleasure.
These figures were carved from either a soft stone like limestone or bone or ivory or fired clay (earliest examples of ceramics).
What do these Venus figures tell us about the role of women
in prehistoric societies?
Venus of
Dolni Vestonice

11. What was the STONE AGE? Paleolithic Age: “Old Stone Age”
Began about 400,000 years ago
Nomadic people / hunters-gathers
Division of labor / possible equality of men and women
Made tools and weapons from stone, wood and bone
Use and control of fire
Traded with other groups
What was the STONE AGE?
Neolithic Age: “New Stone Age”
Began about 10,000 – 12,000 years ago
Agricultural Revolution / domestication of animals
WHAT CHANGES MIGHT THIS HAVE
HAD ON THE SOCIETY?

12. The Emergence of Civilization…
Neolithic Village
Developed agriculture…
People no longer needed to
“hunt” and “gather” food,
so they settled down…
Development of cities
Formal set of laws
Hierarchical system
Ability to create large
buildings
Ability to keep written
records… therefore…
“HISTORY” begins…