What Makes Us Human?  Culture  The life ways of a group, including behaviors, objects, ideas, religion, passed down from generation to generation.  Language  The ability to communicate both written and verbally.  Ability to reason - Higher level of thinking.  Empathy -  to identify with and understand another person’s feelings or difficulties.

EVOLUTION The gradual development of something into a more complex or better form. Walking upright helps hominids travel distances easily. Hominid: Humans and other creatures that walk upright. They also developed opposable thumb which made it easy to use tools. These early hominids evolved into the modern human species- Homo Sapiens.

 Greek for “old Stone” the earliest period in a cultural development.  Lasted from approximately one million years ago to 10,000 BCE.  Humans lived by:  Hunting & Fishing  Collecting wild plants.  Considered Hunter-gathers.  Nomads: Never settled in one place & followed their food. Paleolithic Period

Paleolithic Period Continued  Art: Cave Paintings, sculpture made of mammoth Ivory, animal horns & animal bones.  Making and controlling fire.  Acquiring language.  Developing religious & magical beliefs- (honor when burying dead).  Evolution of the Human species from an apelike creature to true Homo Sapiens.

Paleolithic Art What can this art tell us about early humans?

Ending of the Paleolithic Period  Fire and the use of tools made it possible for humans to spread beyond Africa.  By 12,000 B.C.E., human societies spread to Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and Australia.  While most human societies at the end of the Paleolithic period migrated in pursuit of game, some groups were more sedentary.  More stable groups began the switch from hunter-gatherer to Farmer.

Vocabulary Chapter 1  Hominid - Humans and other creatures that walk upright.  Paleolithic Age (Old Stone) - Greek for “old Stone” the earliest period in a cultural development.  Nomad - Never settled in one place & followed their food.  Neolithic Revolution – The switch early humans made from hunter-gatherer to an agrarian society.  Agrarian – Based on agriculture  Domestication – to tame (an animal), to live in close association with human beings as a pet or work animal.  Civilization - an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been reached.  Polytheism – belief in more than one god.

Neolithic Period  Greek for “New Stone Age” also referred to as the Neolithic Revolution.  Started around 10,000 BCE lasting to approximately 3100 BCE.  Humans started domesticating animals and plants for food.  They were transitioning from a hunter-gatherer society to an agrarian community.  Domesticated animals improved the supplies of available protein, provided hides and wool for clothing.

Neolithic Period Continued  Humans began to use new methods in farming.  Slash & Burn: cut trees or grasses and burned them to clear a field. Ashes then fertilized the soil.  Humans began to build permanent settlements while some were still nomadic.  Began to use clay pottery, woven baskets for storing, transporting, & cooking food.  Art: Wall paintings, sculpture, and introduction of pottery and clay.

The Neolithic Period

Neolithic Period Continued  This Neolithic Revolution took place at different times in different parts of the world.  The rate at which people and cultures evolved was based on different crops and different environments, and what materials were available.  Unlike the Paleolithic Age when more than one human species existed the only human species that reached the Neolithic period were Homo Sapiens.  This period is known as the beginning of civilization.