PREHISTORY UNIT 8

BEFORE STARTING…

A BIT OF ORDER IN OUR

PAST…

LET´S START BY TIMELINES…

Timelines???A representation or exhibit of key events within a particular

historical period, often consisting of illustrative visual

material accompanied by written commentary, arranged chronologically

LEARN ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION

IN THIS UNIT,

YOU WILL

IDENTIFY THE PERIODS OF PREHISTORY AND STUDY THEIR

CHARACTERISTICS

LEARN WHEN HUMANS BEGAN TO USE METALS

WORK OUT HISTORICAL PERIODS AND DATES

USE INTERNET SOURCES ON PREHISTORY IN SPAIN

PREHISTORY INCLUDES THE STUDY OF HOMINIDS, THE EARLY

PRIMATES

PREHISTORY IS THE EARLIEST, AND

LONGEST, PERIOD OF HISTORY. IT

COVERS ALL HUMAN HISTORY UNTIL

WRITING WAS INVENTED, ABOUT

5000 YEARS AGO

DEFINITION

PREHISTORY

AS THERE ARE NO WRITTEN

RECORDS FOR THIS PERIOD WE

EXAMINE REMAINS LIKE BONES,

TOOLS OF CAVE PAINTIGS

THE PROCESS BY WHICH HUMAN

BEINGS ACQUIRED THEIR PRESENT

CHARACTERISTICS DURING THEIR

SLOW EVOLUTION OVER A LONG

PERIOD OF TIME

HOMINISATIONIS

AS HOMINIDS LEARNED TO WALK UPRIGHT ON TWO LEGS, THEIR

HANDS BECAME FREE TO USE TOOLS

AFTER HOMINIDS DISCOVERED FIRE,

THEY LEARN TO COOK. CONSEQUENTLY,

THEY ATE SOFTER FOOD, AND THEIR

JAWBONES AND TEETH BECAME

SMALLER

THE SKULLS OF HOMINIDS GREW BIGGER AND THEIR BRAIN SIZE ALSO INCREASED. THIS HELPED THEM TO

THINK CREATIVELY, TO ACQUIRE LANGUAGE AND TO COMMUNICATE

The first hominidswere found In Africa SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT THE

ANCESTORS OF ALL HUMAN

BEINGS ORIGINALLY LIVED IN

AFRICA

Fossil remains of the earliest hominids were

found in several sites in the Rift Valley in East Africa.

Some hominids lived in Africa more than 4 million years

ago.

Later, there were several waves of migration from

Africa into Europe and Asia. The

remains of Homo

antecesor found at Atapuerca

(Burgos) are the oldest on the

Iberian Peninsula

Hominids first appeared in East Africa and from there they colonised the rest of the planet. During the process they evolved into human beings we see todayEVOLUCIÓN DEL SER

HUMANO 4:53

The Paleolithic agedefinition THE PALEOLITHIC AGE (or “old

stone” lasted from 2,50 million

years ago to about 10.000 years

ago I am the Homo

Habilis, Who are you?

There were very cold periods when many parts of the Earth were covered in ice, but there were also milder periods.

ARE WE IN THE

RIGHT PLACE????

Homo habilis, Spanish , 10´

LIFESTYLE IN THE PALEOLITHIC AGEEarly humans learned

to adapt to the

changes in their

natural environmentAnd I am the Homo

Erectus, the one who invented the

fire, do you remember how

much improvement did we get with this

invention…?

Early humans hunted, fished and gathered fruit

They were nomads who moved around in groups to

find food.

They lived in simple shelters and sometimes in caves

They made stone tools

BELIEFS AND ARTEarly humans buried

dead people with

funeral objects. This

shows that they had

religious beliefs.

I am the Homo antecessor from

Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) I am a direct

ancestor of the Homo Sapiens and Homo Neanderthal

They also made statues of women. These were so

exaggerated that is believed they were probably fertility

symbols

It is possible that they believed that painting was

magical and led to successful hunting

They practised rituals to protect themselves against

natural dangers like lightning They painted animals on

caves using natural materials like coal, blood and plants

HOMO

HEILDERBENGENSIS

HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS

HOMO SAPIENS

LINK BETWEEN H. ANTECESSOR AND H. NEANDERTHALENSIS

IT WAS EXTINCTED

ONCE H. SAPIENS

EXTENDED BIG BRAIN 1700 CC

HOMANISATIONLAST CHAPTER

THE NEOLITHIC AGETHE NEOLITHIC AGE –OR

NEW STONE- BEGAN ABOUT

8000BC, AND LASTED UNTIL

4000BC

AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS PERIOD, THE EARTH´S CLIMATE BECAME WARMER. THE ICE THAT COVERED PARTS OF THE EARTHS´S SURFACE MELTED, SO PEOPLE LIVED IN NEW TYPES OF LANDSCAPES. THIS LED TO MANY CHANGES

PEOPLE STARTED CULTIVATING PLANTS, AND

DEVELOPED AGRICULTURE. THEY DOMESTICATED

ANIMALS.

THEY COULD NOW USE LIVESTOCK TO HAVE MEAT, MILK AND LEATHER WHEN THEY WANTED

POTTERY WAS INVENTED. THEY COULD NOW USE

POTS TO TRANSPORT FOOD AND WATER.

TEXTILES AND BASKETS WERE INVENTED

PEOPLE MADE MUCH BETTER TOOLS, LIKE

PLOUGHS AND WEAPONS, LIKE AXES

ALL THESE CHANGES TOGETHER WERE SO

IMPORTANT THAT WE CALL THIS PERIOD THE

NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION

THE LIFE STYLE IN THE NEOLITHIC AGETHE NEOLITHIC

REVOLUTION CAUSED

MANY CHANGES IN

PEOPLES´ LIVES

PEOPLE DID NOT NEED TO MOVE AROUND TO

FIND FOOD BECAUSE THEY NOW HAD LIVESTOCK

AND AGRICULTURE. THEY THEREFORE BECAME… WHAT DID THEY BECOME?

YES, THEY BECAME… SEDENTARY

POPULATION INCREASED BECAUSE PEOPLE ATE BETTER FOOD

SOCIETY BECAME MORE COMPLEX. SOME PEOPLE

WORK AS ARTISANS, AND OTHERS WORKED IN

AGRICULTURE

WHEN SETTLEMENTS PRODUCED MORE THAN THEY NEEDED, THEY EXCHANGED PRODUCTS

WITH OTHER SETTLEMENTS. THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF TRADE IT WAS CALLED

BARTER

BUT, WHAT IS BARTER?

BARTER:

To trade goods or services

without the exchange of money

SPECIALISATION APPEARS. THE CRAFTSMEN MADE TOOLS AND WEAPONS. THE FARMERS CULTIVATED THE FIELDS AND ROSE THE LIVESTOCK

TASK IN GROUPS: DISCUSS FOR SOME MINUTES SOME OF THOSE CHANGES...

GROUP WORK:HOW MANY DIFFERENT

ACTIVITIES CAN YOU IDENTIFY -OR GUESS-

THEY ARE DOING?

NEOLITHIC CULTURENEOLITHIC CULTURE

DEVELOPED IN DIFFERENT

PLACES, ESPECIALLY

WHERE WERE GREAT

RIVERS PLAINS

THE METAL AGES

FROM 4000 BC, PEOPLE

IN THE MIDDLE EAST

BEGAN TO MAKE METAL

OBJECTS. WEAPONS

COOPER AGE(4000 BC)

BRONZE AGE(3000 BC)

IRON AGE (1000 BC)

THEY USED FIRE TO HEAT METAL AND TURN

IT INTO TOOLS AN WEAPONS

THESE PERIODS DID NOT BEGIN AT THE SAME TIME IN ALL PARTS OF

THE WORLD

METAL WORKING WAS COMPLEX, SO WORKERS BECAME MORE SPECIALISED

THE METAL AGES

THE USE OF THE METAL

LED TO IMPORTANT

CHANGES

METAL TOOLS, SUCH AS THE PLOUGH, IMPROVED TECHNIQUES IN AGRICULTURE

PEOPLE WHO HAD METAL WEAPONS, LIKE SWORDS AND SPEARS, ACQUIRED GREATER

POWER.

SETTLEMENTS NEEDED WALLS FOR PROTECTION

INCREASED TRADE, AND THE INVENTION OF MONEY, LED TO GREATER SOCIAL

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE RICH AND POOR

LIFE STYLE IN THE METAL AGES

MENHIRS WERE SINGLE, STANDING STONES. THEY WERE OFTEN ALIGNED IN LONG LINES

DOLMENS WERE GROUPS OF VERTICAL STONES COVERED BY LARGE HORIZONTAL STONES. THE SPACE INSIDE WAS USED FOR BURIALS

CROMLECHS WERE GROUPS OF MENHIRS DISPLAYED IN CIRCLES

BELIEFS AND ART DURING THE METAL

AGES

THESE ENORMOUS STONE CONSTRUCTIONS

WERE KNOWN AS MEGALITHIC

MONUMENTS. THEY WERE RELIGIOUS SITES

AND TOMBS

ANY QUESTIONS?