Social Studies 2201
4.1 Historical Eras & Early Ancestors                

Pre-History Era

Within the pre-history era there are two distinct periods:

1. Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)

• Began approximately 2.5 million years ago and lasted until about 10,000 years ago.
  
• The word “lithos” means stone.
  
• This period is characterized by the use of very crude stone tools, mastery of fire and the development of language.

During this time period no one lived in permanent settlements but were nomadic meaning that they moved from place to place to obtain what they needed to survive.

Nomadic peoples are referred to as hunter-gatherers

2. Neolithic (New Stone Age): 

• Began about 12,000 years ago and ended around 3000 BCE with the introduction of metal tools.

• Stone tools at this time were polished through grinding.

• This period is also noted for human involvement in agriculture and permanent settlement.

Hominids & 4.2 Million Yrs of History

Hominids are the group of primates that includes humans, gorillas, chimpanzees, other apes and their fossil ancestors.

It is estimated that our hominid ancestors have populate this planet for 4.2 million years!

4.2 million years may seem like a long time, but it is only a small fraction of Earth’s history.

Lets take a quick peak into this planet’s past and how it relates to us. Watch the EdPuzzle video and complete the questions as you view.

Human Origins

As was illustrated in the last activity, hominids are a relatively new addition to life on Earth & modern humans even more so.

Pre-history refers to the period before humans developed writing systems.

Because there are no written records from prehistoric peoples, discovering how they

lived can be difficult.

So, how do we know what life was like for prehistoric peoples?

Archaeologists examine excavated sites for evidence:

• Archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.

• Bones can reveal physical appearance, height, diet, disease, and length of life.

• Artifacts (human-made objects such as tool, weapon or piece of jewelry) can reveal how people dressed, worshipped, or identify the types of work they did.

Exploring Paleolithic Evidence 

• Imagine you are a scientist working at an archaeological site. During excavation, you unearth the objects shown, which are determined to be 5000 years old. You must use these to discover how early humans lived.

Complete the following:

Identify the items in the pictures and list possible uses each item would have for early humans.

Human Culture

Anthropologists study artifacts to learn about the culture of early humans.

Anthropology: the study of human societies and cultures and their development.

Culture refers to a people’s unique way of life and involve shared ways of doing things in common.

What components make up a people’s culture?

As the hominid groups lived together they developed shared ways of living, or culture.

Culture of early hominids included the following:

• Small groups of 20-25 people (later up to 70)
• These were largely kin groups or clans. These are groups of people related by blood or marriage
• Nomadic hunters and gatherers (see seasonal round)
• Subsistence economic system
• Seasonal Round: (annual round).

• Refers to the pattern of movement from one resource-gathering area to another in a yearly cycle
• Spring, summer, fall and winter

• Flat social structure (egalitarian) with little inequality
• Religious beliefs and rituals emerge
• Lithic Technology; over time early societies learned to:

• Identify preferred stone types for creating cutting edges (chert)
• Shape edges to better suit specific purposes/tasks (piercing vs. cutting vs. chopping)
• Haft stone tools to increase their effectiveness

• Create animal sinew and glues for hafting

Our Paleolithic Ancestors

Let’s take a look back at our earliest human origins and examine several major hominid groups which have populated this planet during the past 4.2 million years.

Specifically, we will look at their traits and achievements.

Early Modern Human Migration: The Story of Us

During the past 200,000 years, our Homo Sapien ancestors have populated virtually every habitable region of the Earth.

They have been able to migrate, adapt and thrive under the harshest conditions due to a variety of reasons including invention and innovation.

The inventions and innovations of our hominid were few in number.

Yet discoveries were revolutionary for their time and they transformed their ability to meet their needs and wants and were instrumental in their survival and growth.

Map Analysis Early Human Migration, 1,600,000 - 10,000 B.C.