Water, Life, Humans, and Civilization
Must survive in low-oxygen environmentsCould not eat other organisms for food
The First Organisms
Two energy sources: Light and Chemical reactions
Light: photoautotrophsChemical reactions: chemoautotrophs
Assemble complex carbon compounds from simple Carbon compounds (CO2) using external energy.
The First Organisms
The First organisms: Chemoautotrophs (Fe and S)
microtubes in pillow lavascontaining residual carbon
Evidence:
Light: photoautotrophsChemical reactions: chemoautotrophs
Must survive in low-oxygen environmentsCould not eat other organisms for food
The Early Organisms
Photosynthesizers: photoautotrophs
Blue-green algae/cyanobacteria
- Removal of carbon dioxide - production of oxygen
Earliest:
Main effects:
The Early Organisms
Oldest macroscopic life: stromatolites
Cyanobacteriacolonies
sediments
Produced billions of tons of O2
Stromatolites Oxygen O2 combined with iron
No immediate increase in atmospheric O2
Colonization of land:
Ozone Layer
Screens harmful UV radiation
Ozone Function:
First land plants 480 mya
Primates ~30 million years ago
Pre-humans ~5-8 million years ago(hominids)
Homo sapiens ~200,000 years ago
Mammals ~65 million years ago
Skipping Ahead
Reptiles ~ 245 million years ago
Kingdom: Kingdom: Animalia Animalia
Phylum: Phylum: Chordata Chordata
Class: Class: Mammalia Mammalia Order: Order: Primata Primata Family: Family: HominidaeHominidae
Genus: Genus: HomoHomo
Species: Species: sapienssapiens
Human Taxonomy
distinct adaptations which may have led to the development of the human species.
Hominids
LucyAge: 3.2 million years
Family: hominidae
Genus/Species: Australopithicus Afarensis
Innovation: Walking upright
“The earliest celebrity”
lead to further anatomical progression
Why Stand Up?
Postural Feeding Hypothesis
Thermoregulatory Model
Wading Hypothesis
Savanna Hypothesis
Hypotheses
Savanna Hypothesis
Uplift of the Himalayas altered the climate in Africa
Lowered rainfall reduced African vegetation
Distance between trees increased
Hominids forced to spend more time on the ground
Hominids developed the advantage of walking upright
Bipedalism lead to further anatomical progression
Lack of consensusPaucity of Evidence
Evolutionary Timeline
- 25,000 yrs
Scarcity of Fossil Evidence
Homo sapiens are the only species to develop civilizations
Water and the Development of Human Civilization
the settlement of people upon an area continuously cultivated and possessed, who live in buildings continuously inhabited with a common rule and economy, a common city, citadel or temple and, in some cases, a military and the development of writing.
Civilization
PossessionHabitationEconomy
Citadel/TempleMilitaryWriting
The first condition necessaryto the settling of humans.
Civilization
A trustworthy supply of water
1. Sumer/Mesopotamia Tigris-Euphrates rivers Egypt Nile river Indus Valley Indus river
Earliest Civilizations and Water
Irrigation, cities, art, architecture, writing
Developments
Civilization: Before and After
DevelopmentPaleolithic (old stone age)
was the first period in the development of human technology of the Stone Age.
-2 million years
~12,000 years
Stone Tools
Homo habilis
Neolithic (new stone age)was a period in the development of human technology that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age
Domestication Pottery Weaving Hafted Axes
-12,000 -3500 years
Development
Cause of the change?
Agriculture
20,000 years ago
8,000 years ago
DevelopmentOf Agriculture(systematic/irrigated)
Development was slow and variable
Neolithic Revolutionfood gatherers to food producers Fewer Farmers Surplus Food
Specialized skillsDiverse abilities
CraftsmenTradersTechnicians
Why Then?
Climate and Water
Forced Adaptation
Homo sapiens
Retreat of the Ice
Gibraltar Spain
Africa
Turkey
Italy
•Overpopulation of lands around the Mediterranean
•Overload of available resources•Concentration of people into smaller areas
Consequences
depletion of plantsAnimal populations died back
•new survival strategiestill the earthPooled resourcesProtect/domesticate animals
Egypt and Mesopotamia
Neolithic Founder CropsWheatBarleyFlaxChick PeaLentil
Domesticated animals:cows, goats, sheep, and pigs
NileJordanTigrisEuphrates
tool usersagriculture
iron age
industrial revolution
The Model TMoon landing
2,000,000 yrs
8,500 yrs
3,000 yrs
61 years
Time Perspective
Vinyl 1926
Saran Wrap 1953
Velcro 1955
Plastic Garbage Bags 1968
Caller ID patented 1982
First soft drinks in all-aluminum cans 1964
Miscellaneous
Life, Humans, Civilization, and Water
Next: What’s So Special About Water?
Tigris-Euphrates
2/3 Egypt’s arable Land Predictable flooding(July through October)
Nile
Egypt
Khemia signifies black earth: flood deposition
Mesopotamia
Euphrates
Alluvial Plain
Flood: March through June Less predictable
(Water-deposited)
Agriculture and IrrigationIrrigation/Flood ControlCanals
DikesWeirsReservoirsChannelsSewer systems
Mesopotamia: Water and Mythology
The Great Flood(Sumerian, Babylonian, Akkadian)
Enki
Sumerian deity of Water (lord of the watery abyss)
water
Symbols: goat, fish
The Sumerian myth of Ziusudra tells how the god Enki warns Ziusudra, a provincial king, of the gods' decision to destroy mankind in a flood.
Enki instructs Ziusudra to build a large boat - the text describing the instructions is lost.
Sumerian Flood Myth
Circa 2900 BCE
Sargon2334 BC
“My mother who was poor secretlygave birth to me; she placed mein a basket of reeds, she shut up the mouth of it with bitumen, she abandoned me to the river whichdid not overwhelm me. The river boreme away and brought me to Akki the irrigator.”
First Consolidated EmpireSumerian Akkadian Empire
Code of HammurabiCode of Hammurabi
53. If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and 53. If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be if then the dam break and all the fields be floodedflooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for , then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined. to be ruined.
54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his 54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he has has flooded.flooded.
55. 55. If any one open his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, If any one open his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water flood the field of his neighborand the water flood the field of his neighbor, then he shall pay his , then he shall pay his neighbor corn for his loss. neighbor corn for his loss.
56. 56. If a man let in the water, and the water overflow the plantation of If a man let in the water, and the water overflow the plantation of his neighborhis neighbor, he shall pay ten gur of corn for every ten gan of land. , he shall pay ten gur of corn for every ten gan of land.
1750 B.C.Babylonian EmpireFirst Water Law
Life, Humans, Civilization, and Water
Next: What’s So Special About Water?
tool usersagriculture
iron age
industrial revolution
The Model TMoon landing
2,000,000 yrs
8,500 yrs
3,000 yrs
61 years
Time Perspective
Vinyl 1926
Saran Wrap 1953
Velcro 1955
Plastic Garbage Bags 1968
Caller ID patented 1982
First soft drinks in all-aluminum cans 1964
Miscellaneous