Notes

Can you imagine, for a second, what it would have been like to live 50 years ago? Everyday life might not have been all that different to the one you enjoy today. You might be able to watch TV, listen to rock music on the radio, or go to your favorite fast food restaurant. Now, for a second, try to picture what your life might have been like 10,000 years ago. As you might imagine, there would be some stark differences from the life you enjoy today. Early humans had little of the luxuries that we enjoy now. There were no computers, televisions, or cars. You might be surprised to learn that there was not even a writing system, farms, or government that far back in history.
This lesson will introduce you to some of the major challenges and developments that prehistoric man went through. Although it was not an easy journey, the hardships of our ancestors helped to shape our world today.
Timeline
Prehistoric Times
Early stone tools Early stone tools
The first humans left no records for us to read. Writing was not invented until about 5,000 years ago and humans have been around for far longer. It is estimated that the ancestors of humans have been around for 2.5 million years, though they may have looked nothing like us. It is believed early humans began to use fire 500,000 years ago. This very long time before the invention of writing is known as prehistory. The period after writing was invented is called the historical period.
How do we know anything about these earliest humans that left no written record? Scientists known as archeologists Click for audio file have found thousands of clues left by ancient people. They dig up clues that have been buried in the earth for thousands of years. Some of these clues are fossils, which are ancient plants and animals that have been preserved in rocks. Other clues are known as artifacts. Artifacts are ancient objects like tools, weapons, or pottery that were made by humans. Archaeologists can then form a picture of what life was like for people at that time using these clues.
Since it lasted for such a long time, prehistory is divided into ages. The first of these is known as the Stone Age. Scientists call it the Stone Age because most of the tools that man used during this time were made of stone.
The Stone Age is further divided into two periods of time. The first is called the Paleolithic Click for audio file, or Old Stone Age. The second is known as the Neolithic Click for audio file or New Stone Age. In this lesson we are going to explore each one of these eras. Though we still do not know everything about these periods, they were very important to human development.
Paleolithic (Old Stone) Age
This cave painting was created during the Paleolithic Age This cave painting was created during the Paleolithic Age.
The Paleolithic Age lasted an extremely long time. Archaeologists and historians estimate it lasted from the dawn of man (perhaps 2.5 million years ago) until 8000 BCE. Archeologists have found ancient bones (like skulls), stone tools (like axes), and weapons (like spear points) from the Paleolithic Age. They have also found ancient artwork. Examples of this artwork include cave paintings in southern Spain and France made thousands of years ago. Though very simple, these drawings show early humans could communicate complex ideas.
How did humans survive during this time? Although our ancestors were not the largest, fastest, or strongest animal, they did have several advantages. The most important advantage was their enormous brain. Ancient man frequently outsmarted other animals. They used their large brains and figured out how to make fire--an important skill. Fire scared other animals, kept humans warm, and allowed them to cook food. As the climate of the Earth changed, humans needed to adapt with these changes. In order to continue to find food or stay warm, they had to develop new skills, making them smarter. Though their brains were not as developed as ours today, they were still much smarter than animals.
Another extremely important skill was language. Although other animals communicate, humans could do it more effectively because they had advanced vocal cords and language. This helped them work together and pass on knowledge to others. This knowledge then helped later generations learn from mistakes. It also helped them make better tools.
Nomads searching for food Nomads searching for food
Early humans also benefited from their forward facing eyes and ability to walk upright. Both of these qualities helped early humans calculate distances, see over barriers like tall grass and vegetation, and have good depth perception. The early humans’ opposable thumbs also helped them develop and use tools. All of these are good skills to have when hunting or to survive when something is hunting you!
Scientists believe early prehistoric man traveled in groups of about 30. The men hunted for wild animals. The women took care of the children and collected edible plants. This type of human existence is called hunting and gathering. The group was almost always on the move looking for food. They followed herds and looked for new areas of wild plants once an area had been picked clean. Because of their lack of homes people who live this way are often called nomads.
Neolithic (New Stone) Age
What happened to cause a separation between the Old and the New Stone Age? Two important things occurred, and both were related to how humans got their food:
People learned how to grow crops.
People learned how to tame wild animals.
These were important developments for many reasons. Once people learned how to farm crops and domesticate (or tame) animals, they no longer had to go out and look for food. In other words, hunting and gathering was no longer needed. They could give up the nomadic life and settle down in one area to grow their own food. When this happened, life became much easier. Although they still used stone tools, this was a big change. This marked the beginning of the Neolithic, or New Stone Age.
The development of agriculture, or farming, took thousands of years. It occurred in many different places around the world at roughly the same time. This is sometimes referred to as the agricultural revolution. This was not a revolution with guns or protests, but instead a dramatic change. The exact details are unknown, but somehow Neolithic man noticed that plants grew from seeds and then tried planting the seeds themselves. Agriculture produces far more food with less effort compared to hunting and gathering. Since people had to be near their fields all year long, they built sturdy, permanent homes to live in rather than the tents or caves they used as nomads.
The first domesticated animals were probably sheep or goats. Nobody is entirely sure how these animals were domesticated. It is thought that ancient man caught young wild animals, raised them, and bred their offspring. It would seem likely that ancient man also quickly realized that domesticated animals were far easier to catch and kill than wild ones.
Humans also learned how to adapt plants and animals. Through careful breeding and cultivation they made the wild plants and animals better. Crops became more abundant, easier to harvest, and better tasting. Wheat, for example, is a type of grass that looked and tasted much like the grass in a backyard. However, humans adapted wheat into a plant that could be ground into flour and used for baking bread.
The invention of the plow also increased the production of crops. Previously, fields had to be worked by hand with simple tools. It was much easier and faster to have an ox pull a plow through the earth. This cut a small trench in the earth, which could be filled with seeds for planting. It also tended to create more food than the farmer needed. The extra food could then be sold or traded for other goods, so trade and wealth increased.
Artifact found in modern-day Romania that dates to about 5500 BCE. Artifact found in modern-day Romania that dates to about 5500 BCE.
More food also meant that people would live longer lives. As a result, the human population increased dramatically. The higher food production and higher population also meant that not everyone had to be a farmer or animal herder. People began to specialize in other jobs that benefited the community. Some people became soldiers and protected the tribe from enemy groups and outside predators. Some made bricks to build houses, temples, and walls to help protect the community. Others made pottery or other hand crafted items. Because more structures and tools were produced during this time, archaeologists have discovered more artifacts from this later period.
During the Neolithic Age, people began to move to other areas in search of more land that could be farmed. New settlements began in Europe, Egypt, China, and Mexico.
The Stone Age ended around 3000 BCE when humans learned how to make metal tools. All metals come from rocks called ore. People eventually learned how to heat the ore and extract the metal. The first metal that humans used was copper. Later, they mixed the copper with another metal, tin, to make bronze which is harder and more durable than copper. The Bronze Age ended around 1000 BCE when an even harder and more durable metal, iron, was discovered. These metals made more advanced tools and weapons. The societies that had these weapons became more powerful and better off.
First Civilizations
Mesopotamia
What grew from these first early societies were civilizations. Civilizations are complex societies. They usually have several elements including:
cities or concentrations of people
government
some kind of art
a form of religion
a writing system
Location of the Fertile Crescent Location of the Fertile Crescent
The earliest human civilizations developed along major rivers. The reason for this location is easy to understand. Fresh water is essential to life. Rivers provided early civilizations with plenty of water for human use and to support their animals and crops. It also provided a means of transportation which then helped trade to grow. Additionally, rivers carried and deposited nutrients along riverbanks that made the soil better for growing crops. Eventually, man learned how to build canals and ditches to bring the river’s water further inland to their farms. This practice came to be known as irrigation.
Think About It:
How would the rise of cities, government, art, religion, and a writing system change the lives of people living in a civilization? How do these things affect your daily life?
The earliest civilizations were located in an area of the world known as the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is in the modern Middle East. It stretches from the Persian Gulf to the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Within the Fertile Crescent is an area called Mesopotamia Click for audio file. This area is where the world’s first civilizations began around 3500 BCE. Mesopotamia is in modern day Iraq between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The name Mesopotamia is Greek and means the land between the rivers.
Sumer
One of the first known groups of people living in the southern part of Mesopotamia were known as Sumerians. They made many important contributions to the development of civilization. For example, they built many of the world’s first cities. These cities were independent areas called city-states. A city-state is a city that rules its own lands and the surrounding countryside.
The Sumerians used mud bricks to build walls and houses. These mud bricks were made by combining wet mud and straw, shaping the mixture into bricks, and then leaving them in the sun to dry. Some of these mud bricks were used to build huge pyramid-like temples called ziggurats Click for audio file. The Sumerians built ziggurats to please their gods. They believed that if the gods were happy, the crops would grow. Ziggurats were usually the biggest buildings in the city. The priests who conducted ceremonies and sacrifices in the ziggurat became very important and powerful.
Sumerians had many artisans. Artisans are people who craft or make things. Some artisans made weapons like swords, daggers, and spears. Other artisans made pottery and jewelry. Many of these ancient items have been found by modern day archeologists, often because they are so strong or well-made.
The Sumerians invented a writing system called cuneiform Click for audio file around 3500 BCE. At the time, they did not have paper (that invention would come much later), so they had to write on something else. Most often, they wrote on wet clay tablets, which were then dried in the sun.
This writing was quite different than what we do today. The Sumerians wrote by pressing wedge shaped marks into the wet clay. These marks may look like strange letters or symbols to us, but they worked well for the Sumerians. The Sumerian symbols represented numbers and sounds much like our writing system today. Archeologists have found thousands of these tablets that survived for thousands of years, buried in the earth.
The world's oldest known story, The Epic of Gilgamesh Click for audio file, was originally written on clay tablets in cuneiform. The earliest version of this story dates from around 2000 BCE. Like other epics, this is the story of a great leader. It also includes a faithful friend and tells tales of the adventures the two have. The Gilgamesh epic is believed to have been an influence on later stories, such as Homer’s Odyssey from ancient Greece.
Historians believe that writing was first needed and used to record business deals. Increased trade required contracts, and writing allowed early humans to prove they owned certain things like land, property, or livestock. Writing also allowed man to record events, laws, and write literature. Although it was important, few people knew how to read and write in Sumer. Those who did were called scribes. Usually only boys from rich families were trained to be scribes. The development of writing by humans marks the end of what historians consider the prehistoric era and the beginning of the historical period.
Sumerians made important inventions that helped humans travel more easily. For example, the Sumerians invented the wheel which made it possible to move heavy loads easily. In addition, they invented the sailboat. Previously, boats were rowed with oars. With a sail, they could use wind power to travel faster with far less effort.
The Akkadian Empire
The Sumer civilization lasted until it was conquered around 2350 BCE by a group of people called the Akkadians Click for audio file. The Akkadians were from a city, Akkad, in northern Mesopotamia. They were led by a king named Sargon. Unlike previous rulers, King Sargon was not satisfied ruling just one city-state. He wanted to conquer more territory. Eventually he conquered many city-states and became the ruler of the first known empire in history.
The Babylonian Empire
Hammurabi’s Code, written in cuneiform Hammurabi’s Code, written in cuneiform.
Soon the Akkadian Empire was overtaken by the Babylonian Empire Click for audio file, which was ruled by Emperor Hammurabi Click for audio file from about 1800 to 1750 BCE. He is most famous for writing down all of his empire’s laws, which had never been done before. With all of the laws recorded into one document, it was much easier for people to understand what was illegal and how they would be punished if they did something illegal. This uniform set of laws was known as Hammurabi’s Code.
Archeologists discovered a stone pillar in modern-day Iran that had Hammurabi’s Code inscribed on it. Although it was written in cuneiform, they were able to translate the text. In all, the archeologists found 282 laws covering everything from building codes, court procedure, crime and punishment, and even misbehaving children. Some of the punishments for breaking the law were extremely harsh. For example, if a son hit his father, the son’s hands were cut off.
Think About It:
Have you ever heard of the phrase, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?" This famous saying is actually from Hammurabi's Code. It basically meant that if you did harm to someone (like knocking out one of their teeth), they should be able to punish you with the same treatment (like knocking out one of your teeth). Is this similar to laws today? Different? How so?
The Assyrian Empire
The Assyrians Click for audio file were the next group to rule Mesopotamia. They were great warriors in about 900 BCE. Their army had archers, men in chariots, and foot soldiers armed with spears. They were one of the first armies to use iron weapons and ushered in the Iron Age. Because iron was harder and more durable than bronze, it gave the Assyrians an advantage in battle. They also used battering rams to break down the walls surrounding towns they attacked. You will learn more about the Assyrians in the lesson about Ancient Phoenicians and Israelites (Lesson 3) of this course.
Although they are most often remembered for being great warriors, the Assyrians also had a number of other accomplishments. Among the most notable of these was the world’s first library. They built this in their grand capital of Nineveh Click for audio file. In this library they preserved a number of clay tablets from Sumer and Babylon for later generations. Eventually, the Assyrian civilization was conquered by the Chaldeans Click for audio file.
The Revival of Babylon
Artist’s depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon Artist’s depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Chaldeans chose to make Babylon their capital city. As a result, they are often known in many history books as the Neo-Babylonians (neo means new in Latin). Their leader was named Nebuchadnezzar Click for audio file. He built the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his wife.
They were so beautiful that the gardens were later called one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Although the Gardens are long gone, one Wonder of the Ancient World remains—the Pyramids of Egypt. You will read more about the pyramids in the following lesson about ancient Egypt (Lesson 2). The Chaldeans only ruled for a brief period before they were conquered by the Persians. Still, Babylon was once the most splendid city in the world. Though it is now long gone, it left a strong impression on the world. It was probably the first great city in history.
Lesson Review
Early man went through a long history of challenges. To deal with these challenges, people had to come up with a number of inventions that made life easier. In looking for these ways to make life easier, they were pushing human intelligence and knowledge forward. The switch from stone to metal tools and from hunting and gathering to farming are just two such examples. As people began to settle in permanent areas, the earliest civilizations were founded. The first of these were in Mesopotamia. However, there were many other famous civilizations that would follow all over the world. One such civilization, ancient Egypt, is the focus of Lesson 2. You will learn about many more great civilizations throughout the rest of this course. The events mentioned in this lesson were only the beginning of the human story.