S1 History

1. Human Needs Past and Present

Topic 1. Human Needs: Past and Present
Topic 1. Human
Needs: Past and
Present
1. The Origin of Human
Civilization and History –
The Three Ages
2. The Rise of Ancient
Civilizations (I): Cradles of
Civilization
3. Rise of Ancient Civilizations
(II): Case Study - The Nile
Valley Civilization (Ancient
Egypt)
Unit 1. The
Origin of Human
Civilization and
History – The
Three Ages

Worksheet (1)
1. The Origin of Human
Civilization and History – The
Three Ages (W1)

• 1.1 Prehistory: The Stone Ages

• 1.1.1 Change and continuity in
the Stone Ages: Overview
• 1.1.2 Origin and Evolution of
Humans
• 1.2 The Metal Age (1): The Bronze Age
• 1.3 The Metal Age (2): The Iron Age
• 1.4 Comparing The Stone Age and the
Metal Age (Changes and Continuities)
1.1 Prehistory:
The Stone Ages
(c. 2500000BC – 4000BC)
• https://historyforkids.org/stone-age/
1.1.1 Origin and Evolution of Humans
• According to Anthropologists and Archaeologists, humans evolved
from apes. The ancestors of modern humans can be traced all the
way back to more than four million years ago, in Africa
• Throughout the millions of years of human evolution, many species of
archaic humans had evolved: most became extinct while some
evolved into modern humans.
• In 1983, a famous paleoanthropologist (one who studies prehistoric
humans) Phillip V. Tobias, published a journal that established the
sequence of human evolution
1.1.1 Origin and Evolution of Humans
Sequence of human evolution, according to Tobias

• Australopithecus
• Homo Habilis
• Homo Erectus
• Homo sapiens
Australopithecus H. habilis H. erectus H. sapiens
Evolution of
Humans
Australopithecus 南方古猿
• From Latin australis
(southern) and Greek
πίθηκος (pithekos, ape)
• Existed 4.2 million years
ago
• Widespread throughout
Eastern Africa
Evolution of
Humans
Homo habilis 能人
• From Latin homo (human)
and habilis (capable, skilful)
• Existed c. 2.5 million years
ago
• Widespread throughout
Eastern and Southern Africa
• Started moving out of Africa
• Beginning of the Old Stone
Age – humans started using
simple stone tools
Evolution of
Humans
Homo erectus 直立人
• Latin: ‘Upright man’
• c. 2 million years ago
• The first species of humans
to spread throughout
Eurasia, from Southeast Asia
to the European Continent
• Evolved into several human
species such as the
Neanderthals, Denisovans,
and modern humans (homo
sapiens)
Evolution of
Humans
Homo sapiens 智人
• Modern humans
• 200,000 – 300,000
years ago
Other archaic
humans
Denisovans
• Spread throughout Asia, from
Siberia to Southeast Asia
• Extinction: c. 30,000 – 50,000
years ago
Other archaic
humans
Neanderthals
Unclear origin, possibly around
100,000 – 400,00 years ago
Extinction: c. 40,000
Prehistoric
Times
(The Stone
Age)
Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic Age) :
2500000 BC – 13000 BC
Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic Age) :
13000 BC – 8000 BC
New Stone Age (Neolithic Age) :
8000 BC – 4000 BC
Palaeolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
Time: 2500000 BC – 13000 BC
• From Greek παλαιός (palios)
‘old’ and λίθος (líthos)
'stone’
• Alternative spelling:
• Paleolithic / Palaeolithic
Palaeolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
Time: 2500000 BC – 13000 BC
• Evolution of archaic humans
from homo habilis to homo
erectus and eventually homo
sapiens
• Humans started using simple
stone tools
Palaeolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
Tools:
• Use of rough and
chipped tools
• Materials: bone,
wood, stone, tusks,
fur
• Usage: hunting,
simple weapons,
shelter,
Palaeolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
Housing
• Most lived in caves
• Construction of simple structures
using stone / wood, or even
wooden huts

Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain

Palaeolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)

Society
• Hunter-gatherers
• Nomadic lifestyle
Palaeolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
Society - Hunter-
gatherers
• Palaeolithic humans
were hunter gatherers:
• Hunting and fishing
wild animals and fish
• Foraging wild plants
and vegetations
• No farming
Palaeolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)
Developments: First use of fire (c.
2 million years ago)
• Cooking
• Source of light / warmth
• Protection from predators
• Hunting
Palaeolithic Age
(Old Stone Age)

Developments: Art
• Cave art
• Rock paintings
Palaeolithic wall painting of a
bovine, 40000 – 50000 BC
Palaeolithic rock
geometrical art in
France (c. 40000 BC)
Wall paintings in Lascaux, France
Wall paintings in Lascaux, France
Mesolithic Age
(Middle Stone
Age)
Time: 13000 BC – 8000
BC
From Greek μέσος
(mesos) ‘middle’ and
and λίθος (líthos) 'stone’
Mesolithic Age
(Middle Stone
Age)
Time: 13000 BC – 8000
BC

Fully evolved homo

sapiens
Use of smaller and more
polished stone tools
(microliths)
Mesolithic Age
(Middle Stone
Age)
Tools:
More polished and smaller
tools
• Stone and wooden tools
• Pottery
• Weaving
Mesolithic stone mortar and pestle
Mesolithic pottery (China)
Europe’s Oldest-Known Fishhooks Found in Germany, made
from the tusk of a mammoth
Mesolithic harpoons
Mesolithic harpoons in Mesolithic Scotland
Mesolithic stone
weapons in the Urals
• An artist’s impression of Mesolithic stone tools and
weapons
Pesse canoe, the oldest known boat (canoe) in the world
Discovered in 1955, near Pesse, the Netherlands
The Pesse canoe in the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands
The Antrea Net, the oldest fishing net in
the world (10000 years+) . Discovered in
Finland (1913)
Mesolithic Age
(Middle Stone
Age)
Housing:
• Many still lived in caves
• Simple structures built from
animal bones, stone, wood
Reconstructed Mesolithic round-house Replica of a 10,000 year
old round-house (Howick, England)
A replica of a Mesolithic house in Ireland
Mesolithic Age
(Middle Stone
Age)
Society
• Hunter-gatherers
• The end of the Mesolithic Age is
often marked by the
development of agriculture
(Agricultural Revolution)
Neolithic Age
(New Stone Age)
• 8000 BC – 4000 BC
• From Greek: νέος (néos) 'new' and
λίθος (líthos) 'stone’
• The rising temperatures favoured
the development of agriculture
• Marked by a series of
technological innovations (known
as the ‘Neolithic packages’)
 Farming
 Domestication of animals
 Sedentism
Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)
Tools
• More sophisticated tools and weapons
for a wider range of uses:
• Farming tools, e.g. sickle, millstones
• Pottery
• Weapons: e.g. projectiles, spearheads
• Woodworking: e.g. adze
• Sewing: e.g. needles
Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)
Housing
• Sedentism: Building of permanent structures
• (e.g. mud brick houses, huts; tents, wooden dwellings)
Remains of a Neolithic settlement in Skara Brae, Scotland
Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)

Society
• Sedentism – permanent settlement in a place, replacing the previously nomadic lifestyle
• Agricultural Revolution
• Domestication of plants into crops
• Development of farming tools
• Domestication of animals into livestock
 Use: meat, milk, clothing, work, manure, pets
Think…

Compare: Old vs New Stone Age

• Changes?
• Continuities?
Compare: Old vs New Stone Age

Change (examples)
Tools:
 More sophisticated and polished tools
 Wider use of tools
Housing:
 More permanent structures made from more durable materials (e.g. wood,
stone, mud brick)
Society
 More permanent settlements (sedentism)
Compare: Old vs New Stone Age

Continuity (examples)
Tools:
 Handmade stone tools
 Small scale production
Housing:
 Sheltering from predators and natural hazards
Society:
 Social animals: humans rely on one another in order to survive and
thrive
End of the Stone Age
Approx. 4000 BC:

• Humans discovered and started producing metal (copper and bronze)

– beginning of the first phase of the Metal Age (Bronze Age)
End of the Stone Age
Approx. 4000 BC:

• The End of the Stone Age also coincided with the end of the prehistoric
times:
• Invention of writing – end of prehistoric times
• Beginning of the historic times (Some historians also use the term
‘protohistory to distinguish between cultures with a developed writing
system (historic times), and those who had yet invented writing
(protohistory)
• Afterall, writing was not invented at the same time across cultures!! (It was
a slow process)
The Metal Age – Phase I: The Bronze Age
The Bronze Age
• Humans began to use metal (bronze) – more durable than stone
• Humans also started to write (invention of written languages)
• Invention of the wheel – transportation
• Growth of trade
• Growth of large settlements – laid the foundations of the ancient
urban civilizations and city-states
A bronze
artefact from
Bronze Age
Anatolia
(modern day
Turkey)
A bronze age tablet from Anatolia, notice
the inscriptions on the tablet was known as
cuneiform, one of the oldest written
systems ever discovered (c. 3500 – 4000 BC)
A Chinese Ding, from the late Shang
Dynasty (Bronze Age) – c. 1000 BC
Ancient Egyptian sphinx figure – c. 1500 BC
Ancient Egyptian sphinx figure – c. 1500 BC
Mask of Agamemnon, a late Bronze Age
Greek (Mycenaean) golden mask c. 1500 BC
Bronze boat model, Sardinia (Italy)
– c. 1000 BC
Bronze dagger, Switzerland c. 2000 BC
 • Near East (Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Egypt)
Bronze Age • South Asia (India)
Cultures - • Far East (China)
• Europe (Aegean)
examples • Balkans
 • The development of the Bronze Age accelerated
Bronze Age the progress of humanity
• The beginning of the Bronze Age was soon marked
Civilizations by the rise of early civilizations (known as the
cradles of civilization) – focus of our next unit
Late Bronze Age Collapse
• In around 1200 BC, most of the emerging Bronze Age civilizations
were disrupted by a series of societal collapse
• Many settlements became abandoned - Population decline
• Many civilizations / cultures became extinct – most notable examples:
the Hittites of Ancient Anatolia (Turkey); Mycenaean Greece
• This widespread societal collapse was known as the Late Bronze Age
Collapse
Late Bronze Age Collapse
• The reasons behind and the nature of the collapse remains a mystery
Late Bronze Age Collapse
• After the Late Bronze Age Collapse, most Ancient Civilizations
experienced a period of decline, known as the Dark Ages
• The Dark Ages would last until around 10th – 9th century BC
• A new age would emerge from the ruins of the Bronze Age – the Iron
Age
The Iron Age
• The Iron Age was marked by the development of ironworking
• The production of iron and steel almost replaced the use of bronze, as
iron was more durable than bronze
The Iron Age
• The production of iron favoured the revival of trade, thus ended the
trade disruptions of the Dark Ages
• Many city-states began to re-emerge (especially in the
Mediterranean)
• Weapons made from iron were more durable and effective – favoured
the development of large, organized armies
End of the Iron Age?
• Unlike the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, the Iron Age lacks a clear
end

• Reason 1: The ‘end’ of the Iron Age varied from region to region
• Rather than a fixed period of time, most historians generally stopped
using the term ‘Iron Age’ when describing the period after c. 500 BC,
as historical accounts became more common across cultures,
different periods and labels were used for different regions to reflect
the historical developments of that region
End of the Iron Age?
• Why is there no clear ‘end’ of the Iron Age?

• Reason 2:
Starting from the 6th century BC, written records became increasingly
commonplace
With a better understanding of what happened, we no longer have to rely on
archaeological clues (stone / bronze / iron tools that prehistoric / early
historic humans left behind) when studying the past
End of the Iron Age?
• Why is there no clear ‘end’ of the Iron Age?

• Reason 3:
Some historians would argue that we are still technically living in the Iron Age
Unlike stone and bronze, which became largely obsolete by the end of the
stone / bronze ages, iron remains in common use
What have we learned?
The Three Age System:
• Stone Age
• Bronze Age
• Iron Age
What have we learned?
The Three Age System: Stone Age
• Humans evolved from apes (Australopithecus) to modern humans (homo
sapiens)
• Humans started making stone tools (as well as tools from different
materials), as time progressed (Old > Middle > New), the stone tools
became more polished, sophisticated, and better ‘designed’
• Human societies changed from hunter-gatherers to permanent sedentary
settlements following the development of agriculture (farming)
• Other progress: use of fire
What have we learned?
The Three Age System: Bronze Age

• The discovery and production of metal (Bronze)

• The invention of writing in some cultures (Egypt and Mesopotamia)
• End of the Prehistoric times – beginning of the Historic (and Proto-
historic) times
• The beginning of early civilizations (e.g. Egypt)
• Invention of the wheel – transportation
What have we learned?
The Three Age System: Iron Age

Marked by the development of ironworking

Revival of civilization after the Late Bronze Age Collapse
Further development of trade and cities
Historic Times
Remember…
• Changes and continuities (Old > New Stone Age; Stone Age > Bronze
Age > Iron Age; Prehistoric Times > Historic Times)
• Similarities and differences (Old vs New Stone Age)
• What were the defining features of each age?
• Why are there different labels for the same period of time? (e.g.
Stone Age / Prehistoric Times)
Next…

• Rise of Ancient Civilizations –

the Cradles of Civilization
(overview)
• Rise of Ancient Civilizations –
Case Study: Egypt