1. Human Origins in Africa
Section 1
Human Origins in Africa
Fossil evidence shows that the earliest humans originate in Africa and spread across the globe.
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2. The Discovery of “Lucy”
SECTION 1
continued Scientists Search for Human Origins
The Discovery of “Lucy”
• Donald Johanson team finds female hominid in
Ethiopia in 1974
• Nicknames 3.5 million-year-old skeleton “Lucy”
An opposable thumb enabled her to walk upright
Continued . . .
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3. Homo erectus Develops Technology
SECTION 1
continued The Old Stone Age Begins
Homo erectus Develops Technology
• Appeared about 1.6 million years ago in East Africa
• Homo erectus, upright man, used intelligence to
develop technology
• Technology—ways of applying knowledge, tools,
and inventions
• Developed tools to dig, scrape, cut; became skillful
hunters
• First hominid to use fire;
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4. Humans Try to Control Nature
SECTION 2
Humans Try to Control Nature
Early Advances in Technology and Art
Tools Needed to Survive
• Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) humans were nomads—
moved in search of food
• Hunted animals, collected plant foods—were hunter-
gatherers
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5. The Beginnings of Agriculture
SECTION 2
The Beginnings of Agriculture
The Neolithic Revolution
• Neolithic Revolution—agricultural revolution,
began about 10,000 years ago
• Nomadic women scattered seeds, then
discovered crops growing
• Shift from food-gathering to food-production a great
breakthrough
Causes of the Agricultural Revolution
• Rising temperatures probably a key reason
• Longer growing season, drier land for wild
grasses
• Constant supply of food led to population growth
Continued . . .
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6. Domestication of Animals
SECTION 2
continued The Beginnings of Agriculture
Domestication of Animals
• Domestication—taming wild animals to ensure a
constant source of food
• Hunters and farmers tamed horses, dogs, goats,
and pigs
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8. How Civilization Develops
SECTION 3
How Civilization Develops
Sumer
• Located in Mesopotamia, now part of modern Iraq
• One of the first civilizations—a complex culture:
- 1. advanced cities
- 2. specialized workers
- 3. complex institutions
- 4. record keeping
- 5. advanced technology
Continued . . .
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9. Complex Institutions Specialized Workers Advanced Cities
SECTION 3
continued How Civilization Develops
Complex Institutions
• Institutions—(governments, religion, the economy)
are established
• Governments establish laws, maintain order with larger populations
Specialized Workers
• Labor becomes specialized—specific skills of
workers developed
• Artisans make goods that show skill and artistic
ability
Advanced Cities
• Cities with larger populations arise, become
centers of trade
Continued . . .
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10. Record Keeping Improved Technology
SECTION 3
continued How Civilization Develops
Record Keeping
• Professional record keepers, scribes, record
taxes and laws
• Scribes invent cuneiform, a system of writing
about 3000 B.C.
• People begin to write about city events
Improved Technology
• New tools and techniques make work easier
• The Bronze Age starts in Sumer around 3000 B.C.
• People replace copper and stone with bronze to
make tools, weapons
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11. City-States in Mesopotamia Section 1
The earliest civilization in Asia rises in Mesopotamia
and organizes into city-states.
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12. City-States in Mesopotamia
SECTION 1
City-States in Mesopotamia
Geography of the Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent
• Fertile Crescent—arc of land between Persian
Gulf and Mediterranean
• Includes Mesopotamia—“land between the rivers”
—a fertile plain
• Tigris and Euphrates rivers flood once a year,
leaving rich soil.
Continued . . .
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13. Environmental Challenges
SECTION 1
continued Geography of the Fertile Crescent
Environmental Challenges
• Around 3300 B.C. Sumerians begin farming
southern Mesopotamia
• Environment poses three disadvantages:
- floods are unpredictable; sometimes no rain
- land offers no barriers to invasion
- land has few natural resources; building
materials scarce
Continued . . .
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14. Solving Problems Through Organization
SECTION 1
continued Geography of the Fertile Crescent
Solving Problems Through Organization
• Sumerians worked together; find solutions to
environmental challenges:
- build irrigation ditches to control water,
produce crops
- build walled cities for defense
- trade grain, cloth, and tools for raw
materials—stone, wood metal
• Organization, leadership, and laws are
beginning of civilization
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15. SECTION 1
continued Sumerians Create City-Sates
The Spread of Cities
• By 2500 B.C. many new cities in Fertile Crescent
• Sumerians exchange products and ideas with
other cultures
• Cultural diffusion—process of one culture
spreading to others
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16. Sumerian Culture A Religion of Many Gods
SECTION 1
Sumerian Culture
A Religion of Many Gods
• Sumerians believe in many different gods
polytheism
• Gods are thought to control forces of nature
• Gods behave as humans do, but people are
gods’ servants
• Life after death is bleak and gloomy
Continued . . .
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17. Hammurabi’s Code • Hammurabi creates a code of laws for the
SECTION 1
continued The First Empire Builders
Hammurabi’s Code
• Hammurabi creates a code of laws for the
Babylonian Empire
• 282 laws on all aspects of life; engraved in stone
and made public
• Set different punishments depending on social
class, gender
• Goal for government to take responsibility for
order, justice
• Amorite rule for Fertile Crescent ends 200 years
after Hammurabi
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18. River Dynasties in China
Section 4
River Dynasties in China
Early rulers introduce ideas about government and society that shape Chinese civilization.
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19. River Dynasties in China
SECTION 4
River Dynasties in China
The Geography of China
Barriers Isolate China
• Ocean, mountains, deserts isolate China from other
areas
River Systems
• Huang He (“Yellow River”) in north, Yangtze in south
• Huang He leaves loess—fertile silt—when it floods
Environmental Challenges
• Huang He floods can devour whole villages
• Geographic isolation means lack of trade; must be
self-sufficient
China’s Heartland
• North China Plain, area between two rivers, center
of civilization
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20. The Development of Chinese Culture
SECTION 4
The Development of Chinese Culture
Chinese Civilization
• Sees China as center of world; views others as
uncivilized
• The group is more important than the individual
Family
• Family is central social institution; respect for parents a
virtue
• Elder males control family property
• Women expected to obey all men, even sons
Social Classes
• King and warrior-nobles lead society and own the land
Continued . . .
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21. Development of Writing
SECTION 4
continued The Development of Chinese Culture
Development of Writing
• Writing system uses symbols to represent syllables;
not ideas
• People of different languages can use same system
• Huge number of characters make system difficult to
learn
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22. Zhou and the Dynastic Cycle
SECTION 4
Zhou and the Dynastic Cycle
The Zhou Take Control
• In 1027 B.C., Zhou Dynasty takes control of China
Mandate of Heaven
• Mandate of Heaven—the belief that a just ruler had
divine approval
• Developed as justification for change in power to Zhou
• Dynastic cycle—pattern of the rise and decline of
dynasties
Continued . . .
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