World Civilizations Midterm Review CHAPTER ONE EARLY HUMANS PALEOLITHIC NEOLITHIC Hominin Forerunners of humans after genetically splitting from the chimpanzees Modern humans who are the descendants of long lines of early human like primates Lived in East Africa Species on the human branch of the evolutionary tree Hominins include homo sapiens and our ancestors a group of extinct species that are more closely related to us than chimpanzees Hominins split from line of apes sometime around 7 million years ago Australopithecus Prehuman species that existed before those classed under the gene homo Date 3 9 3 0 million years ago southern ape Stood upright walked on two legs brain was 1 3 the size of homo sapiens Wide spread ranged from Ethiopia to South Africa A fossil bipedal primate with both apelike and human characteristics found in Pliocene and lower Pleistocene deposits c 4 million to 1 million years old in Africa Homo erectus the first hominin that left east Africa and was adaptable to many new environments in Eurasia Became skillful hunters and invented more sophisticated tools for digging scraping and cutting Became first hominids to migrate from Africa upright man First to use fire Brain size was about 75 of that of a fully evolved H sapiens Homo ergaster Adapted to the greater demands of mobility with long legs and comparatively shorter arms workman In Latin means upright human Were fully stabilized on their feet became regular long distance walkers adapted to the means of their surroundings rainforest savanna steppe habitats Mastered control of fire first discovered in africa possibly 1 5 1 4 million years ago Homo habilis the handy human improved brain power enabled them to make simple stone tools sharped edged scrapers called Oldowan tools with which meat could be removed from animal carcasses broadened the diet from vegetarian foods to meat Early humans became omnivores Homo sapiens modern human species of the creature hominid who have larger brains and to which humans belong dependent of language and usage of tools appeared around 280 000 years ago in east Africa means wise man in latin creator of the much refined new stone working technique the Levallios a stone technique where stone workers first shaped a hard rock into a cylinder or cone emerged as efficient hunter of animals Neanderthal 250 000 30 000 years ago found in Europe and western Asia disappeared between 50 000 30 000 years ago bigger and stronger than homo sapiens but died out instead Otzi found in 1991 in the Otzal Alps had an axe a bow and arrows and knife and fur for clothing Was found with an arrow in his back first homicide we have to date His body was used to analyze health issues people in his time faced Died during Neolithic Age Paleolithic Sharecroppers Farmers who received seed animals and tools from landowners in exchange for up to two thirds of their harvest Nomads People whose livelihood was based on the healing of animals such as sheep goats cattle horses and camels moving with their animals from pasture to pasture according to the seasons they lived in a tent City city state A place of more than 5 000 inhabitants with nonfarming inhabitants craftspeople merchants administrator markets and a city leader capable of compelling obedience to his decisions by force Lascaux setting of a complex of caves in south western France famous for its Paleolithic architecture The Lascaux image of the injured bull charging its hunter who is depicted as a stick figure with a phallus is a rare exception Chauvet cave in south France Pech Merle Cave which opens onto a hillside at Cabrerets in the Lot department of the midipyrenees region in France one of few prehistoric cave painting sites in France which remains open to the general public Neolithic new stone age Period from ca 9600 to 4500 BCE when stone tools were adapted to the requirements of agriculture through the making of sickels and spades Started with a bang within just a few generations summer temperatures increased by an extraordinary 7 degrees Middle east Characterized by polished stone implements spades and sickles introduction of agriculture animal domestication sun dried bricks plaster and pottery in short most key elements of an agrarian society At a minimum people engaged in farming cereal grains on rain fed or irrigated fields and breeding sheep and cattle Catal Huyuk Neolithic village great example of how communities are taking shape in transition from migratory to settled communities Turkey 7000 4000BCE Many layers of occupation Excavated by mellaart in 1960s 33 of rooms shrines lots of bullish decorations Houses share walls no front doors mudbricks on stone foundations People buried in houses Mellaart argued for excarnation now Hodder says no Steatopygous figurines including picture of seated goddess flanked by lions giving birth tMellaart more a processual archaeologist Hodder a post processualist Gobekli Tepe now makes us completely rethink many things about Neolithic GT has loads of worked stone where CH had none GT seems totally ceremonial CHAPTER TWO Mesopotamia Mesopotamia the land between the rivers of the Euphrates and Tigris in present day Iraq and Kuwait Region between tigris and Euphrates that developed the first urban societies Later Mesopotamian kingdom was Babylonia best known king was Hammurabi 1792 1750BCE who ordered the engraving of the entire code of Babylonian law onto a 7 foot slab of basalt Tigris and Euphrates In present day turkey Irrigation using river water allowed for larger plots and bigger harvests Nutrient rich river silt from regular floods made the fields even more fertile and provided for often considerable surpluses of grain Important Sumerian city state in Mesopotamia Coastal city near the mouth of Euphrates and Persian Gulf Ur Uruk First place in Mesopotamia to fit the definition of a city Founded near Eridu around 4300BCE People of Uruk were important pioneers of technical and intellectual innovations It was here that the first known plow was found Within a millennium it was a city of 50 000 80 000 inhabitants with a mixture of palaces multistory administrative buildings workshops residences estatesand villages clustered around the city with both small and individual farms Has tablets with very early Sumerian scripts BRONZE THE WORLDS FIRST ALLOY THAT IS BENDING OF TWO OR MORE METALS IN THE SMELTING PROCESS Cuneiform from latin meaning wedged shape invented around 3450 BCE administrators in the