1. From Human Prehistory to the Early Civilizations1
From Human Prehistory to the Early Civilizations

2. Chapter Overview Getting Started Is Always Hard
Human Development and Change
The Neolithic Revolution
Agriculture and Change
Nomadic Societies

3. FIGURE Crouching against a wall to shelter the first sparks from wind, a Neolithic woman spins a dried yucca stalk against a much-used fire-starter to generate heat that will kindle a fire on the dried plant material she has placed under the fire-starting stick.
FIGURE Crouching against a wall to shelter the first sparks from wind, a Neolithic woman spins a dried yucca stalk against a much-used fire-starter to generate heat that will kindle a fire on the dried plant material she has placed under the fire-starting stick.

4. TIMELINE 2.5 Million B.C.E. to 10,000 B.C.E.

5. Getting Started Is Always Hard
Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age)
Rise of humankind until 12,000 B.C.E.
Homo sapiens by 10,000 B.C.E.
Larger brain
Tools, weapons
Homo sapiens sapiens
From Africa
Language gene

6. FIGURE In Lascaux, France, in 1940, four boys happened upon a long-hidden cave filled with thousands of complex and beautiful Stone Age paintings like this none. Most of the paintings are of animals, some of which were extinct by the time they were painted. No one knows for sure why Stone Age artists painted these pictures, but they remain a powerful reminder of the sophistication of so-called primitive peoples.
FIGURE In Lascaux, France, in 1940, four boys happened upon a long-hidden cave filled with thousands of complex and beautiful Stone Age paintings like this none. Most of the paintings are of animals, some of which were extinct by the time they were painted. No one knows for sure why Stone Age artists painted these pictures, but they remain a powerful reminder of the sophistication of so-called primitive peoples.

7. Human Development and Change
Social organization
Equality between hunters/gatherers
Slow population growth
Better tool use
Migration to new climates
Fire
Animal skins
Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)

8. VISUALIZING THE PAST Representations of Women in Early Art

9. Map 1. 1 The Spread of Human Populations, c. 10,000 B. C. E
Map The Spread of Human Populations, c. 10,000 B.C.E. As the map indicates, Homo sapiens sapiens first emerged in a single core area in east Africa and then migrated over long periods of time north to the Mediterranean and Europe, east to Asia, and then ultimately across the seas to the Americas and Oceania.
Map The Spread of Human Populations, c. 10,000 B.C.E. As the map indicates, Homo sapiens sapiens first emerged in a single core area in east Africa and then migrated over long periods of time north to the Mediterranean and Europe, east to Asia, and then ultimately across the seas to the Americas and Oceania.

10. The Neolithic Revolution
Invention of agriculture
Lower yield from hunting
Animals domesticated
Dogs, sheep, goats, pigs, cattle
Neolithic revolution
Agriculture developed alongside hunting and gathering
Early resistance

11. Map The Spread of Agriculture Agriculture appears to have spread in ways similar to human populations, but from a Middle Eastern rather than African epicenter. And in important cases, particularly in the Americas, a wide range of staple crops were known in only some parts of the world until Columbus’s voyage in the late-15th century brought together the civilizations of the Americas and Afro-Euroasia.
Map The Spread of Agriculture Agriculture appears to have spread in ways similar to human populations, but from a Middle Eastern rather than African epicenter. And in important cases, particularly in the Americas, a wide range of staple crops were known in only some parts of the world until Columbus’s voyage in the late-15th century brought together the civilizations of the Americas and Afro-Euroasia.

12. Agriculture and Change
Tribes to villages
Irrigation, defense
Organization of labor
Çatal Hüyük
c B.C.E., southern Turkey
Large complex
Agriculture, some trade
Shrines

13. FIGURE Excavation of the ancient settlement at Çatal Hüyük, in what is now southern Turkey. Movement within the settlement was mainly across the roofs and terraces of the houses. Because each dwelling had a substantial storeroom for food, the settlement was often the target of attacks by outsiders. The houses were joined together to provide protection from such attacks; when the outside entrances were barricaded, the complex was transformed into a fortress.
FIGURE Excavation of the ancient settlement at Çatal Hüyük, in what is now southern Turkey. Movement within the settlement was mainly across the roofs and terraces of the houses. Because each dwelling had a substantial storeroom for food, the settlement was often the target of attacks by outsiders. The houses were joined together to provide protection from such attacks; when the outside entrances were barricaded, the complex was transformed into a fortress.

14. Agriculture and Change
Bronze Age
Metal replaces stone tools.
Agricultural significance
Metalworking as specialized trade
Woodworking more elaborate
Craft manufacturing
Wheel
c B.C.E.
Advancements in commerce, war

15. Nomadic Societies Nomads Roaming herders on fringes of civilizations
Indo-Europeans
c B.C.E.
Xionghu (Huns)
From 4th century B.C.E.
Central Asia

16. Nomadic Societies Nomadic Society and Culture Seasonal travel Animals
Harsh environment
Animals
Horses
Violence
Perceived as cruelty
Band of 30–15 people
Strong men as leaders; patriarchy

17. Nomadic Societies Nomads and Civilizations Invasions
Change population structure
Political leadership
Often peaceful, mutually beneficial relationship with agricultural societies
Trade

18. The Idea of Civilization in World Historical Perspective
Fundamental differences
Civilized vs. "savage," "inferior"
What makes one uncivilized
Greeks: barbarians = "those who cannot speak Greek"
Cultural attributes (language, dress, manners)
Shift did not happen until 18th–19th centuries.