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Nature, Humanity, & History: 1st 4 Million Years
Intro: Theory
1. Evolution: Based on work of Darwin, fossil record, genetics…
2. Creationism (link to Intelligent Design): Based on Genesis, other creation
myths/legends…
3. Other, less supported theories include Chariot of the Gods…
Scientists: Paleontologists, archaeologists, anthropologists
Study fossils, artifacts…
Dating techniques: C14, K-Ar, U238 (absolute)
Strata, tree rings, techniques/materials (relative)
I.
African Genesis
a. Interpreting evidence
i. Darwin’s Origin of Species: natural selection
ii. Early hominid finds in Java, Beijing… Leakeys found
australopithecines in E. Africa
iii. Evidence & other species help scientists trace evolution of humans
back over 4 million years
b. Human evolution
i. Hominids: distinguished by bipedalism, large brain, larynx location
ii. Had advantage during climate changes of Great Ice Age/Pleistocene.
Did climate trigger evolution?
iii. Possible “tree”:
1. Australopithecines
2. Homo habilis (Handy, tool-using man)
3. H. erectus (Walks upright man)
4. H. sapiens (Thinking man) ~400,000 – 100,000 years ago;
Neanderthals (?), Cro-Magnons
5. New discoveries still filling out record – Denisovans in Eastern
Europe, “Hobbits” in Indonesia, gene studies, and other new
finds & analysis are continually revising timelines.
c. Migrations
i. Ice Age allowed H. erectus & H. sapiens to migrate to Europe & Asia.
Sapiens crossed land bridge to Americas ~ 32,000 – 13,000 years ago;
also crossed to Japan, New Guinea…
ii. Minor physical evolution… skin pigmentation? Most adaptation
cultural.
II.
Ice Age History/Culture
a. Food Gathering/Stone Technology
i. Stone Age: ~2 million yrs ago to 4000 yrs ago.
ii. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age): Scavenging & hunting. Neolithic (New
Stone Age): Beginnings of crop cultivation.
iii. Diet: Foraged vegetables, some meat. Use, control of fire ~ 1 – 1.5
mya. Cooking pots 12,500 ya.
b. Gender Division/Social Life
i. 2-parent families (slow infant maturation)
ii. Probably: women gather, cook, child care; men hunt. Small migratory
groups.
c. Hearths/Cultural Expressions
i. Migratory camps. Animal-skin clothing.
ii. ~ 3-5 hrs./day for food/clothing/shelter. Time for culture: gathering,
organizing, & passing on info, art, & religion.
iii. Neanderthal burials & Cro-Magnon cave art suggest complex
religion/belief in afterlife.
III.
Agricultural Revolutions
a. Transition to plant cultivation (Neolithic period)
i. Ag Revs – domestication of plants and animals – occurred
independently in different regions. Climate, available wild plants &
animals a factor.
ii. Semicultivation… then fire & specialized tools.
iii. Best documented in Middle East; also in E. Sahara, Nile Valley,
Greece, central Europe. Swidden agriculture: change fields as fertility
depletes.
iv. Environment dictated crops. Ex.: wheat/barley in Med., sorghum/yams
in Africa; rice in E/S Asia, maize/potatoes in Americas.
b. Animal domestication/Pastoralism
i. Occurred along w/ plants. Dogs 1st, then sheep/goats.
ii. Environmental link (animals w/ agriculture) – plow labor, fertilizer…
iii. Exceptions: Americas only had llamas, guinea pigs, & fowl, so hunting
& human labor continued. Arid C. Asia & Africa supported
pastoralists.
c. Agricultural & Ecological Crisis
i. Transition occurred because of global warming of Holocene ~9000
BCE changed environment & wild plant/animal availability. Ag revs
caused increase in human population: 5000 BCE, 10 million; 1000
BCE, 50-100 million. Health?
IV.
Life in Neolithic Communities
a. Rural population & settlement
i. Food production negatives: more work, (initially) diet less nutritious.
Positives: reliable sources of food, surpluses can be stored
ii. Surpluses gave advantage: . . . greater pop. growth & displacement of
gatherers in Europe (genetics studies)
iii. Kinship groups, maybe matrilineal (?). No hard evidence for
patrilineal/matrilineal or matriarchies.
b. Cultural Expressions
i. Worship of ancestral & nature spirits. Reflected in Hindu texts.
ii. Megaliths for burial chambers, calendar circles, observatories (ex:
Stonehenge).
iii. Expansion of societies reflected by patterns of language group
distribution.
c. Early Towns & Specialists
i. Mostly villages; some areas had resources for towns & elaborate
dwellings, food storage, craftsmen. Ex: Jericho, on Jordan River; Catal
Huyuk.
ii. Catal Huyuk, in Anatolia, ~ 7000-5000 BCE. Obsidian trade. Many
crafts. No evidence of dominant class or centralized political
leadership.
iii. Art shows hunting. Agriculture mainstay of economy. Flourishing
religion w/ offerings of food. Goddess worship/priestesses.
iv. Copper, lead, silver, & gold decorative/ceremonial objects. Stone
tools/weapons.
v. Towns indicate emergence of social organization: food producers
support non-producing specialists (priests, craftsmen) & provide labor
for projects like walls, megaliths, & tombs. Free or coerced?
V.
Conclusion
a. Early hominids’ struggle to survive changing environments of Ice Age led to
physical evolution of humans.
b. Physical/mental capabilities allowed cultural adaptations to live in different
natural environments.
c. Ultimately, only successful hominid: Homo sapiens sapiens.