Human Origins in Africa

Chapter One
The Peopling of the World, Prehistory–2500 B.C.

Human Origins in Africa
Scientists Search for Human Origins
Defining Prehistory
• Time before the invention of writing, about 5,000 years ago

Scientific Clues
• Archaeologists study bones and artifacts—human-made objects
• Anthropologists study culture—a group’s way of life
• Paleontologists study fossils—plant or animal remains preserved in rock

Early Footprints Found
• Mary Leakey team discovers prehistoric footprints in Tanzania in 1978
• Laetoli footprints belong to hominids—creatures that walk upright

The Discovery of “Lucy”
• Donald Johanson team finds female hominid in Ethiopia in 1974
• Nicknames 3.5 million-year-old skeleton “Lucy”

Hominids Walk Upright
• Walking upright helps hominids travel distances easily
• They also develop the opposable thumb
• Early hominids, like Lucy, are a species of australopithecines

The Old Stone Age Begins
Two Phases of the Stone Age
• Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age) lasted from about 2.5 million to 8000 B.C.
• Neolithic Age (New Stone Age) lasted from 8000 to 3000 B.C.
• Paleolithic Age had cold temperatures and large glaciers (Ice Age)
• Use of tools, fire, and language develops during the Stone Age

Homo habilis May Have Used Tools
• Louis and Mary Leakey discover 2.5 million-year-old hominid fossil
• Found in Tanzania, is named Homo habilis, “man of skill”

Homo erectus Develops Technology
• Appeared about 1.6 million years ago in East Africa
• Homo erectus, upright man, used intelligence to develop technology
• Technology—ways of applying knowledge, tools, and inventions
• Developed tools to dig, scrape, cut; became skillful hunters
• First hominid to use fire; might have developed language
• First hominid to migrate from Africa; moved to Asia and Europe

The Dawn of Modern Humans
Appearance of Homo sapiens
• Species name for modern humans; had larger brain than Homo erectus
• Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons appear; not ancestors of Homo sapiens

Neanderthals’ Way of Life
• Powerful muscles and thick bones
• Lived 200,000 to 30,000 years ago in Europe and Southwest Asia
• Developed religious beliefs and performed rituals
• Lived in caves, shelters made of wood and skin

Cro-Magnons Emerge
• About 40,000 years ago Cro-Magnons appear
• Physically identical to modern humans
• Hunted in groups; better hunters than Neanderthals
• Advanced skill in spoken language
• Migrated from North Africa to Europe and Asia
• Population grew quickly, replaced Neanderthals

New Findings Add to Knowledge
Fossils, Tools, and Cave Paintings
• New fossil discovery places hominids in Africa 6 or 7 million years ago
• Stone tools suggest toolmaking began earlier than previously thought
• Stone flute suggests Neanderthals might have made music
• Cave drawings of people, animals give clues to ways of life

Humans Try to Control Nature
Early Advances in Technology and Art
Tools Needed to Survive
• Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) humans were nomads—moved in search of food
• Hunted animals, collected plant foods—were hunter-gatherers
• Cro-Magnons had more than 100 specialized tools; bone needles to sew

Artistic Expressions in the Paleolithic Age
• Early modern humans created art:
- cave paintings, animal scuptures, rock engravings and paintings
- jewelry of sea shells, lion teeth, bear claws
- polished beads from mammoth tusks

The Beginnings of Agriculture
The Neolithic Revolution
• Neolithic Revolution—agricultural revolution, began about 10,000 years ago
• Nomadic women scattered seeds, then discovered crops growing
• Shift from food-gathering to food-production great breakthrough

Causes of the Agricultural Revolution
• Rising temperatures probably a key reason
• Longer growing seasons, drier land for wild grasses
• Constant supply of food led to population growth

Early Farming Methods
• Slash-and-burn farming—clear land by cutting and burning trees
• Farmers moved to new area after year or two

Domestication of Animals
• Domestication—taming wild animals to ensure a constant source of food
• Hunters and farmers tamed horses, dogs, goats, and pigs

Agriculture in Jarmo
• Site in northeastern Iraq where people farmed 9,000 years ago
• Wild grasses, goats, pigs, sheep, horse thrived near Zagros Mountains

Villages Grow and Prosper
Farming Develops in Many Places
• Farming in Africa, China, Mexico and Central America, Peru
• Different crops developed in different areas

Catal Huyuk
• Farming thrived here 8,000 years ago; located in modern Turkey
• Population of 5,000 to 6,000 grew crops, raised sheep and cattle
• Made pottery, wove baskets, traded valuable obsidian
• In 1958, remains of village found; wall paintings, religious shrines

Civilization
Case Study: Ur in Sumer
Villages Grow into Cities
Agriculture Causes Change
• Farming success leads to larger communities

Economic Changes
• Ancient people build irrigation systems to increase food production
• Food surpluses free some people to develop new skills
• Craftspeople make cloth, objects; traders profit from exchange of goods
• Invention of wheel and sail enable traders to travel longer distances

Social Changes
• Social classes develop; religion becomes more organized

How Civilization Develops
Sumer
• Located in Mesopotamia, now part of modern Iraq
• One of the first civilizations—a complex culture:
- advanced cities
- specialized workers
- complex institutions
- record keeping
- advanced technology

Advanced Cities
• Cities with larger populations rise, become centers of trade

Specialized Workers
• Labor becomes specialized—specific skills of workers developed
• Artisans make goods that show skill and artistic ability

Complex Institutions
• Institutions (governments, religion, the economy) are established
• Governments establish laws, maintain order
• Temples are centers for religion, government, and trade

Record Keeping
• Professional record keepers, scribes, record taxes and laws
• Scribes invent cuneiform, a system of writing about 3000 B.C.
• People begin to write about city events

Improved Technology
• New tools and techniques make work easier
• The Bronze Age starts in Sumer around 3000 B.C.
• People replace copper and stone with bronze to make tools, weapons

Case Study: Ur in Sumer
The City of Ur
• Flourished about 3000 B.C. in what is now southern Iraq
• Population about 30,000; live in well-defined social classes
• Rulers, priests and priestesses, wealthy merchants, artisans, soldiers

An Agricultural Economy
• Food surpluses keep the economy thriving

Life in the City
• Families live in small houses tightly packed near one another
• Artisans make trade goods and weapons for Ur’s army

Civilization Emerges in Ur
Ur’s Thriving Trade
• Goods and services bartered, or traded without using money
• Scribes make records of transactions
The Temple: Center of City Life
• Ziggurat, a temple, is tallest, most important building
• Priests carry out religious rituals there