The first peoples TO 10,000 BCE Take Notes –Era 1: Key Concept 1.1. Write down Yellow Text. The first peoples

Quick note on dates BCE and CE Eurocentric thinking BC and AD Muslim calendar marks year 1 in 622 CE with Muhammad’s emigration to Medina China: dates by emperor reign

Objectives: What you should learn The spread of human societies in the Paleolithic era The conditions of life in gathering and hunting societies. The factors that led to change in gathering and hunting societies.

Paleolithic – Old Stone Age. (250,000 BCE - 10,000 BCE) Hazda Tribe (Tanzania) Hunter-Gatherer way of life was Universal Human existence until 10,000 years ago. 95% of human history Food collection Paleolithic – Old Stone Age. (250,000 BCE - 10,000 BCE)

Wrong to ignore 200K years of human experience. Archaeology reveals Settled planet Created earliest societies First to reflect on the issues of life and death. The Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave – 33K years ago. Southern France

250K years ago Homo sapiens emerged-> E. and S. Africa Culture over biology shaping human behavior Moved to new environments

Technological innovation – tools of stone and bone Hunting-fishing instead of scavenging Adapted to environments

Earliest Europeans left cave paintings Myriad of speculative meanings: “hunting magic” Religion ? 1700 BCE 26K BCE Venus of Willendorf – 28,000 BCE (Austria)

New technologies upon reaching Ukraine/Russia To adapt to colder climate Needles, multilayered clothing, pottery. Homes made of mammoth remains Semipermanent settlement suggested.

Into Australia 60K BCE from Indonesia Boats Sparse Still hunting and gathering Complex worldview. Dreamtime, ancestral beings, natural order an echo of the past, current people are related to the past

Into the Americas 30K-15k years ago Land bridge? Clovis people Hunted mammoths/bison Disappeared with large mammal extinction (10,900 years ago) 3,500ya – into the Pacific. Took agriculture Organized societies Huge environmental impact.

First Human Societies Small, 25-50 people, kinship Low population density Paleolithic bands – seasonally mobile/nomadic Patterned movement – food No accumulation of goods

First Human Societies Highly Egalitarian Clear rules Perhaps most free in human existence. No kings, bureaucrats, soldiers, priests No specialists Male and female tasks differ Male /female relationships more equal (women gather 70% of food) Described as tranquil and socially equal by James Cook Clear rules About distribution of meat , incest and ancestry

First Human Societies Economy and environment Worked less, need little Low life expectancy (35) Set deliberate fires (to aid in hunting/foraging, protection, adaptation to cold) Extinction of large animals Extinction of other hominids 12K ya, Honshu

First Human Societies Spiritual realm Rich ceremonial life Difficult to decipher. Lack of written source Art is subject to interpretation Contemporary may not accurately reflect ancient exp. Rich ceremonial life Part-time shamans Variety of beliefs Animism – plants, animals, other things have spiritual essence.

Settling down Last Ice Age ends 16K-10K ya Warming period follows Neolithic Revolution (farming) Settlement -> societal change -> large/complex societies ->storage and accumulation of goods -> inequality 12K-4K ya Major turn in human history. Catal Huyuk