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 Pangea
 Culture: way of life of a society that is
handed down from one generation to the
next by learning and experience
 Cultural diffusion: the spread of cultural
items—such as ideas, styles, religions,
technologies, languages etc.—between
individuals, whether within a single culture
or from one culture to another.
 Chapter 1: Foundations of Civilization
(Prehistory-300 B.C.)
 Section 1: Understanding Our Past
 Prehistory-the period of time thousands and
thousands of years before writing was invented
 Historians study and write about the past

-artifacts

-written evidence

-photographs and films
 Historians evaluate all this evidence to judge
reliability
 A major goal of historians is to determine
causes of certain events
 Historians are not always accurate:

-personal experiences

-cultural background

-political opinions
 These biases cause debate among historians
 Investigating Prehistory
 The study of Prehistory is known as
Anthropology
 Anthropologists focus on physical and cultural
traits of past peoples
 Archaeology is a branch of Anthropology that
studies material remains
 Archaeologists frequently revise theories as
new evidence is discovered
 Archaeologists employ other scientists such as
geologists, botanists, zoologists and biologists
 Modern archeologists are aided by technology
such as computers and aerial photographs
 Discoveries in Africa and Beyond
 Prehistoric people are mysterious for several
reasons:

-no cities

-no countries

-no organized governments

-no complex inventions
 Mary and Louis Leakey discovered artifacts
thought to be as old as 2.1 million years
 These artifacts showed that primitive people
developed technology
 In 1959 Mary discovered a Hominid skull
 By 1974 a full Hominid skeleton had been
discovered by Donald Johanson
 Scientists have concluded that various groups
of Hominids have lived over millions of years
 They also believe that they all originated in
Africa
 Homo sapiens first appeared between 250,000
and 100,000 years ago
 Hominid and Homo Erectus
 Homo Sapiens and Neanderthal
 Geico Cavemen and Human Beings
Section 1 vocab pg 4, #3-5 on pg 10
(pg 10 # 1-4)
 Section 2: Turning Point The Neolithic Revolution
 Prehistory is divided into 2 phases:






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Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) 2 million b.c.-10,000 b.c.
New Stone Age (Neolithic) 10,000b.c.-end of
prehistory
The Neolithic Age is defined by changes in skills and
technologies
Skills and Beliefs of the Old Stone Age
Early humans were nomadic people
They live in small groups and hunted and gathered for
survival
They depended on the environment for food and
shelter, and adapted to their surroundings
They made advancements in tools, clothing and spoken
language
 Old Stone Age people began to develop
spiritual beliefs
 They buried their dead with supplies needed in
the after life
 They believed in spirits and forces in all sorts of
objects-animism
 The New Stone Age Begins With Farming
 Beginnings of New Stone Age date back to
about 10,000 B.C.
 Nomadic people discovered farming which
drastically altered their way of life
 For the first time people could stay in one place
instead of searching for food
 Early farmers were the first to domesticate
plants and animals
 The Neolithic Revolution Brings Dramatic
Change
 This was the greatest change until the
Industrial Revolution of the 1700’s
 Established villages led to advances in culture
and technology
 Jericho is one of the first established villages
and still exists today
 Men dominated most aspect of village life
The First Village People
 Earliest form of governments were established
in these first villages
 Village people also began to acquire possessions
which led difference in wealth or class
 Villagers also created new technologies such as:

-calendar

-animals

-tools

-storage containers
 Vocab pg 11
 #3-5 pg 15
 (Pg 14 #3-6)
 Section 3: Beginnings of Civilization
 Civilizations are complex, highly organized
social orders
 Civilizations emerged as villages became cities
 Cities began along fertile river valleys that
produced surpluses of food
 Rivers provided fertile land and a constant
water supply
 River valley required much cooperation to
build dikes, canals and irrigation ditches
 To organize labor, more complex systems of
government were formed
 The first cities were well organized and
surrounded by thick walls
 Civilizations have 8 major features:

-cities

-organized governments

-complex religions (poly and mono-theistic)

-job specialization

-social classes

-arts and architecture

-public works

-writing
 As rulers gained more power, city-states began
to emerge
 Rulers forced peasants to grow crops, many of
which benefited the government
 As powerful rulers conquered more cities,
empires emerged
 As civilizations grow they experience many
changes
 Cultural diffusion was an important source of
change
 People of different cities began to share and
adapt customs (cultural diffusion)
 Vocab pg 17, #3-5 pg 23