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Chapter 1 Notes
 The evolution of Homo Sapiens
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Genetic makeup and body chemistry have created different levels of intelligence and control over the natural world
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Humans have a high order of intelligence
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Hominids- Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) & Hadar (Ethiopia); humans and human-like species
 Australopithecus
 Homo Erectus
 Homo Sapiens
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Walked upright
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Upright-walking human
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Consciously thinking humans
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Opposable thumbs
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Larger brains
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200k yrs ago
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Ability to communicate
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Better tools (cleavers, axes)
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Brains large esp in frontal reions
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Could plan and traveled
distances to complete
their plan as evidenced by
the stone used in their
tools
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Fire- how to starta nd tend
fires = cooking food; defense
tool; source of heat
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Physiological tratis unique among animal
species
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Better at expressing &
coordinating
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Increased control over the
natural environment; evidence
of congregations
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Migrated into new regions (N.
Afr and Eurasia)
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Throughout E. Hemisphere
200k yrs ago; temperate zones
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Tools (choppers,
scrapers)
 Paleolithic Society
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
Old Stone Age

Humans foraged for their food

Scavenged meat killed by predators or hunted or gathered plants

Evolution from the first hominids until 12K yrs ago
Economy and Society of Hunter-Gatherers

Archaeologists and anthropologists responsible for discoveries

Relative Social equality

No gathering of private property
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No social distinctions of wealth
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Mobile; had to follow animals
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Egalitarian existence

Lived in small bands- 20-50 ppl
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Little contact w/outside groups
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Exploit environment by following migrations

Developed vocal chords and mouth
cavity w.tongue 100-50k yrs ago
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Moved beyone the temperate zones
progressively colder regions and then to
Oceania and the islands

Every habitable region 15k yrs ago

More complex tools- knives, spears, bow
and arrow


Used to kill off several large animal
species
Effective and efficient competitors in the
natural world; became a threat to other
species
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Relative gender equality = all members contribute
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Men hunted
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Women/children gathered
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Equal between two
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Interdependence of two sexes= lack of gender divisions
Big Game Hunting
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Required special tools and tactics that they fashioned and devised
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Demonstrated their capacity to coordinate
Paleolithic Settlements

Permanent dwellings
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Several hundred ppl in settlements
 Natufian (Med) 13.5k yrs ago
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Specialization
 Jomon (Japan) 10k-300 BCE

Organized complex societies w/ specialized rulers and craftsmen if abundant
food supplies
Paleolithic Settlements
 Chinook (Pacific NW) 3k-19th
century CE
Paleolithic Culture

Neanderthals- graves (Shanidar) show significance of life and death, some sort of emotion

Creativity of homo sapiens

Homo Sapiens Creativity

Could construct languages to communicate complex ideas

Could build knowledge over time
 200k yrs ago, created cutting edges on stone
blades

Allowed them to create more effective ways of satisfying human
needs and desires
 140k, started eating shellfish (supplements
diet); created trade networks for obsidian
Venus Figurines
 110k, catching fish from deep waters

Small sculptures of women with exaggerated sexual features

Shows deep interest in fertility
 100k, create sharp tools out of animal boon
(needles, harpoons)
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Later, spear throwers
 50-40k, ornamental beads, necklaces, bracelets
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Shortly after, paintings images of humans
and animals
 10k, invention of bow and arrow

Cave Paintings

34k-12k yrs ago
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Altamira and Lascaux (SP and FR)
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Mostly animals (large game) with some humans
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Represents conscious and purposeful activity of a high order

Compounded pigments and created tools
 The Neolithic Era and the Transition to Agriculture
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
When humans started cultivation and domestication

Altered the natural world and human societies
Origins of Agriculture
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Neolithic Era
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“New stone age”
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Refinement of tool-making techniques (polished stone over chipped)
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Occurred in areas where people relied on cultivation
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Now referred to as the early stages of agricultural society (12-6k yrs ago)
Global Climate Change
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Ag impossible until about 15k yrs ago due to ice age
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Growth of edible plants and domesticating previously wild animals
Gender Relations and Agriculture
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Women most likely began agriculture; systematic care of plants
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Neolithic men began to capture and domesticate animals; supervised breeding
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Over centuries, led to formation of agricultural economies
Independent inventions of agriculture
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
Ag emerged independently in several different parts of the world
The Early Spread of Agriculture
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Ag spread rapidly due to the methods
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Slash and burn cultivation involved frequent movement
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Would burn down trees, creating a fertile soil for farming
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The field would lose its fertility after a few years, would have to move
on
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By 6000 bce, had moved from SW Asia into Mediterranean Europe
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By 4000 bce, spread to western Europe
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Goods originally cultivated were moved from their origin due to trade

Farming involved long periods of physical labor
Early Spread of Agriculture (many
independently discovered)
 9000 bce, SW Asia (Iraq, Syria, Turkey)
cultivated wheat and barley; domesticated
sheep, goats, pigs, cattle
 9000-7000 bce, Africans in SE part of Sahara
(Sudan) domesticate cattle, sheep, goats;
cultivate sorghum
 8000-6000 bce, sub-Saharan W. Afr (Nigeria)
cultivates yams, okra, black-eyed peas
 6500 bce, Yangzi River Valley (China)
cultivates rice
 5500 bce, Yellow River Valley (China)
cultivates millet and soybeans
 3000 bce, SE Asia cultivates taro, yams,
coconuts, breadfruit, bananas, citrus
 4000 bce, Mesoamerica cultivated maize, later
beans, peppers, squashes, tomatoes
 3000 bce, Andean region of S. Am (Peru)
cultivated potatoes, later beans and maize
 Domesticated animals less prominent in the
Americas- Paleolithic ppls hunted to
extinction most of the big game animals
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Required more work than foraging
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Over time, farming helped create abundant food supplies
Early Agricultural Society
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From agriculture came a series of social and cultural changes that transformed human history
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Population explosion most important
Year
3000 bce
2000 bce
1000 bce
500 bce
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Pop
14 million
27 million
50 million
100 million
Emergence of Villages and Towns
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Growing pop and ag economy encouraged new forms of social organization
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Settled in permanent villages
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Ex: Jericho (Israel) in 8000 bce, 2k ppl, farmed wheat and barley, no domestication, traded for salt and obsidian, created
a wall and moat
Specialization of Labor
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Large # of ppl-> not everyone had to farm
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Led to specialization of labor
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Catal Huyuk (Turkey) 7250-4500 bce, 5k ppl, evidence of specialization, prominent due to obsidian nearby, could trade
with others
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Three early craft industries: pottery, metallurgy, textiles showed off
specialization
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Craft industries either provided tools for farmers/herders, or made use of
their products in new ways = coordination
Evidence at Catal Huyuk: Pots, baskets,
textiles, leather, stone and metal tools,
wood carvings, carpets, beads and
jewelry
Pottery
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Earliest of craft industries
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Hunt-Gather had no use for pots- couldn’t store anything, pots are heavy
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By 7000 bce, many had discovered how to formed clay into pottery
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Could also etch designs and create glazes, becoming an artistic medium as well
Metalworking
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Earliest metal that humans systematically created was copper
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Could pound the cold metal and form it into jewelry and tools
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By 6000 bce, figured out they could heat it to extract copper and became easier to mold
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By 5000 bce, had raised the temp high enough to melt copper and pour it into molds
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Could also make weapons and farming tools
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Textiles
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Dating of textiles is not certain (decay), but survive from as early as 6000 bce
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Used selective breeding to create better fibers for weaving
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Probably the work of women who would weave while nursing
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Quickly became a huge enterprise
Social Distinctions and Social Inequality
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Settling down and specialization led to the ability to accumulate wealth
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Could trade surplus food or goods they produced for gems, jewelry, etc
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Institutionalization of private property enhanced the significance of accumulated wealth
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When families kept their wealth for several generations, created defined social classes
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Land was the ultimate source of wealth in any agricultural society, remains that way today
Neolithic Culture
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Was the foundation that led to the working of gold, bronze, and iron
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Farmers closely observed the natural world around them, noting the conditions for successful harvests
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Built up generations of learned knowledge
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Learned to associated the seasons with the position of celestial bodies, creating a relationship between those on earth
and heavenly bodies
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Created the first steps to a calendar
Religious Values
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Neolithic religion had the same interest in fertility as earlier (remember Venus Figurines)
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Celebrated the rhythms that governed farming- birth, growth, death, new life
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Thousands of representations of gods and goddesses- clay figurines, pots and vases, ritual objects
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Also had deities associated with the cycle of life, death, and regeneration (infant deities)
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Neolithic religious thought reflected the natural world of early ag society
The Origins of Urban Life
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Within 4k years, ag had transformed the earth
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Human pop rapidly grew, congregated in dense areas, cultivated surrounding lands, and domesticated several species
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Ag transformed the lives of humans- as they moved to living in settled communities of hundreds or thousands, social
relationships became more complex
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Gradually, dense populations, specialized labor, and complex social hierarchies gave way to a new form of social org- the
city
Emergence of Cities
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A gradual transition
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What distinguished cities from Neolithic towns and villages?
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Two main ways- cities were larger and more complex; cities influenced the political, cultural, and economic life of large
regions
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Cities fostered more intense specialization- creation of professional classes
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Professionals refined existing tech, invented new ones, raised levels of quality and production
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Professional managers appeared- governors, administrators, military leaders, tax collectors; helped the survival of the
community
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Professional cultural specialists like priests who maintained cultural values, transmitted these values, organized public
rituals
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Cities established marketplaces that attracted distant merchants
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Trade over increasingly longer distances promoted economic integration
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Cities, guaranteeing their food supplies, took over larger areas of farming land
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The building of schools and temples in neighboring regions extended their cultural traditions and values
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The earliest cities grew out of villages in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
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These communities became “urban” around 4000-3500 bce
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Cities became the focal point of public affairs- where leaders guided human fortunes, supervised neighbors, and
organized the world’s earliest complex societies
 The Role of Urbanization in the Creation of Patriarchy
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Early urbanization:
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the establishment of states that localized power in the hand of a small group of people
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organized military protection
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made laws to control large populations
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exerted control over the surrounding countryside
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Decline in women's status over time
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Rise in patriarchy = institutional domination of men over women
Why?
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Women's role became the producers of children
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Militarization of societies declined women's status; it is possible if the city was protected or safe women had a better status
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Keep power and wealth within certain families -within the lineage
 By 1000 BCE is an accepted practice and custom across the known world