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Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements
Various Stages
Man as Nomad and Cave Dweller
(Up to 10,000 B. C.)
• Earth estimated to be formed about 4 billion years
ago
• Homo Sapiens (the one existing species of man)
believe to date from about 500,000 B. C.
• Earliest man did not settle anywhere as they
wandered around in search of food
• Did not know how to construct buildings so lived in
the open
• Occasionally took shelter on top of trees to protect
themselves from wild animals

Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements

Man as Nomad and Cave Dweller

(Up to 10,000 B.C.)
• Later man began to live in caves by the side of rivers,
lakes and springs
• Sites protected by rivers, swamps or elevated terrain
preferred
• Caves not used as places for fixed residence
• When food gathering in the vicinity became difficult,
early man moved to another location.

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Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements
Towards Settled Habitation
(Up to 10,000 B. C. - 5,000 B. C.)
• Man learned to practice cultivation
• Could stay at one place and produce food
• Began to settle down near the fields cultivated by
them
• Choose fertile lands and where water was available
in plenty
• Learned to build huts and mud houses

Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements
Towards Settled Habitation
(Up to 10,000 B. C. - 5,000 B. C.)
• Some of the earliest settlements began to take shape
• Settlements then consisted of groups of houses built
by the side of agricultural fields, a shrine and a burial
ground.
• Some inhabitants continued to live in caves and
wander around for hunting animals - more as a
pastime rather than as a necessity

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Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements

The Common Habitat and Onset of Civilisation

• Inhabitants organized as a community under a
recognized leader
• Began to get the first lessons of civilized living
• Started learning to provide for themselves the three
basic necessities of life - food, clothing and shelter

Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements
Shifting Cultivation
• Shift to new location after experiencing decrease in
fertility after successive cultivation
• Later learned that land regained fertility if it is left
uncultivated for few years
• Began to cultivate fields by rotation
• Thus managed to stop shifting practice and settled
down at on place

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Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements
Food Surplus
• Learned to make manure out of night soil and animal
droppings
• Greatly increased food production
• As food became abundant, health of people improved
• Death rate dropped, birth rate increased and
population of many settlements began to multiply
rapidly through the natural process

Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements

Beginning of permanent settlement

• Assured food supply through agriculture encouraged
man to permanently settle by the side of the fields he
cultivated
• Compact settlement since agriculture could support
up to 35 persons per sq. km as compared to 15
persons per sq. km applicable to hunting and food
gathering societies

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Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements
Favorable Locations for Settlements
• Favorable environment for human existence and
survival
• Climate not very harsh
• Epidemics not frequent
• Land fertile
• Good quality of water available in plenty
• River Valleys as popular places for settled habitation

Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements
Why River Valleys
• Land was fertile, water and food (fishes and prongs)
extracted from rivers, and soft clay good for
constructing huts
• River also used later as means of transportation
• First settlements in the river valleys of India, China,
Egypt, and areas known as the Fertile Crescent
(modern Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Israel)

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Origin and Evolution of Human

Settlements
Other Factors Considered for Siting Settlements
• Took care to locate on higher ground for better
drainage, protection from floods and reasons of
security
• Spacing between settlements to leave space for
future expansion

Community Structuring
Division of Labour
• As food became abundant, all the inhabitants were
not required to work on the fields
• Others thus began to practice various occupations
• Working population got divided among farmers, cattle
and poultry breeders, fishermen, shepherds
craftsmen(carpenters, potters, painters, engravers,
makers of tools, weapons and other implements),
and weavers
• Some engaged in taming and domestication of
animals for bearing load, plough fields, protecting
property and as source of milk, meat and wool

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Community Structuring
Barter System
• The most ancient form of trading
• Those who were not farmers were supplied food in
exchange of goods they produced
• Shepherds got grains in exchange for milk, weavers
for cloth, potters for utensils, and craftsmen for tools
and implements
• Initially practiced within the community
• Later as river and land routes developed for
transportation, goods began to be exchanged across
communities

Community Structuring
Trading
• With transportation, reputation of some of the goods
produced by craftsmen of particular villages began to
travel far and wide
• As the demand of goods increased, trading of such
goods began to grow.
• Traders emerged as a new class of people, trading
as a new occupation and market place as the new
physical component of settlements.

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Community Structuring
Social Stratification
• Early traders most probably belonged to the hunting
tribe - people already used to traveling
• They were also recognised as leaders as they
provided protection to the community against wild
animals
• After they began trading activity,they accumulated
goods and became wealthy
• They also accumulated knowledge as they traveled
long distances and met many people
• Their hold on the community increased and became
quite powerful. One of them became a chieftain

Physical Structuring
New Physical Features
• The chieftain built for himself a castle which towered
over the other buildings,more so because it was built
at the highest point in the village
• The rich traders and wealthy farmers built their
houses near the castle - the new distinguishing
feature and a status symbol
• Relatively poor artisans and ordinary peasants
occupied quarters on the periphery
• The community was divided between the rich and the
poor and the two social classes occupied different
sections of the settlements

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Physical Structuring
New Physical Features
• The rich and the poor gradually grew antagonistic to
each other
• The rich became concerned about their life and
property
• Built a wall around their castle and thus created
fortified castle
• Man had originally learned to ward of danger from
beasts and wild animals but now was afraid of being
attacked by fellow human beings

Physical Structuring
The Walled Settlements
• The strife between the people of the same settlement
later supplemented by that between the people of
different settlements
• The rich settlements were exposed to the danger of
being raided by outsiders
• The wall around the settlement was built in addition
to the one already existing around the castle
• This effectively curbed physical spread of settlements
• People living outside moved in
• The density of population began to rise

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New Community Structuring

Subjugation of Peasants
• The external threat brought forth the necessity of
internal unity
• Need for mutually defending themselves
• But the new organization of the community was such
that it resulted in the subjugation and exploitation of a
large majority of peasants by a small minority of the
rich - the so called nobles
• The Chieftain claimed a share in the agricultural
surplus in return for the protection provided by him to
the community
• Initially it could be described as the beginning of the
taxation system that was perhaps willingly done

New Community Structuring

• Placing more resources at the disposal of the
Chieftain meant better equipped army and better
protection for the community
• Soon the beneficent role of the Chieftain was
corrupted by his lust for power
• As his resources increased and he became more
powerful, he began to demand a larger share of the
agricultural surplus
• Ultimately leaving barely minimum for the survival of
the peasant and his family
• Chieftain was supported in his exploitative pursuits by
a large number of military and army officers,
governors, viziers, tax-gatherers, and soldiers

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New Community Structuring

Role of the Priests and New Physical Structuring
• When use of physical power was not enough to
ensure complete obedience, the same was achieved
by exploiting the religious sensibilities of the people
• The shrine moved within the precincts of the citadel
• Priests were begun to be identified with the Chieftain
• Often, the Chieftain even assumed the role of a priest
• The Chieftain became all powerful and people
willingly obeyed whatever he commanded
• He elevated himself to the status of the king - one
who commanded a territory recognized as his
kingdom
• The castle grew into a fort and the shrine into a
temple

New Community Structuring

Labour Specialisation
• Under the centralised command of the king, many
large scale constructions such as protective walls,
moats, forts and temples, network of irrigation
channels, cisterns and reservoirs were completed
• Mines were found for quarrying building materials
• Timber began to be used in buildings in combination
with other materials
• Labour Specialisation was carried a step further
• New occupation groups such as engineers,
construction labourers, carpenters, miners and
transporters (boatmen, sailors, loaders and cart
men), merchants ( including money-lenders and
bankers), soldiers and priests were added

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New Community Structuring

Caste Differentiation
• Members assumed or were assigned specific
functions by the ruler
• Persons assigned jobs such as scavenging and
cobbling were assigned low status in the society, paid
minimal wages and remained poor
• Whereas, people performing religious, administrative
and intellectual functions were accorded high status,
were paid high salaries and became rich
• They were considered to be belonging to high caste
categories
• Community was not only divided into rich and poor
but also caste managed

Civilization
Language, Art and Technology
• Man developed new skills in art to create carvings,
engravings and paintings
• Developed a kind of common language
• Learned the use of metals and acquired an array of
new implements
• Used these houses to make bigger houses, temples
and tombs

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Urban Settlement
Community Structure
• Labour specialisation
• New occupations – teachers, advocates, judges,
government servants
• New class of people – philosophers, scientists,
administrators, political leaders, dramatists, sculpture
artists, architects and town planners
• Distinct social classes
• Non-agricultural occupations expanded at a faster
rate

Urban Settlement
Community Structure
• Invention of new means of transport
• Expansion of trade
• Merchants organised themselves in the from of guilds
• Development of art and literature
• Acquisition of wealth and knowledge
• A general sense of appreciation for civic concerns
• Structural transformations continued over subsequent
civilisations and cultural phases

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New Physical Structuring

The Urban Settlement
• The village evolved into its urban counterpart
• Difficult to say when the first urban settlement existed
• According to some historians, first settled habitation
existed as early as about 13,000 B. C.
• First known settlement as claimed by archaeologists
was Jericho in modern Israel and was established in
7,800 B. C.
• First indisputable permanent settlement inhabited by
farming community was Jarmo in Khurdistan area of
Iraq during 7,000 and 6,500 B. C.
• The first identifiable urban settlements are believed to
have existed by 3,500 B. C.

New Physical Structuring

Physical Form of Urban Settlement
• A common core consisting of the castle, fortress, fort,
the temple, and houses of the nobles and the priests
• A public square which generally formed part of the
core
• A market place and perhaps a school
• Tombs, statues, rock sculptures, colonnades,
obelisks, fountains, parks, gardens and canals
• Protective inner and outer walls with moats and
monumental gates

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New Physical Structuring

Physical Form of Urban Settlement
• Dwellings of the common people
• Theatre, government offices, gymnasiums, judicial
courts and institutions of higher learning (added
during the Greek Period)
• Networks of water supply, sewerage, drainage,
transportation systems, bath houses, coliseums, and
circuses (added by the Romans)
• Church became the central focus of medieval towns.
• Monasteries became new centre of activity
• Warehouses to store the wealth of the town
• Guild halls and Town halls

Evolution of Human Settlements - II

Onset of Industries

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Steam Engine
1765 Watt Invented steam engine
Use machines to produced goods
Mass production
Separate Industrial premises
Number of workers increased
Industry as a magnet – more workers, more people,
more dwellings, schools, shops, etc.

Railroad
1825 First railroads laid
Transportation of raw materials to factory
Transportation of finished goods to consumers
Coal a major energy input
Industrial towns along coalfields
Towns near railway junctions and port towns
Railroads rammed through the center of the town

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Railroad
1825 Rural –Urban migration
Quick urban growth
In the absence of public transport, crowding
around industrial work places
Industries belching smoke, fumes and soot
Soot covered towns and villages
Noisy and filthy environment
Cholera epidemics in London 1832, 1848, 1866
1840’s Provision of sanitation and public health
1870’s By-laws for new housing and density control

Tramways
1870 Marked changes in British cities
Steam trains (tramways) used to transport
people within the city and extended beyond
the city
Suburbs

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Internal Combustion Engine

1885 Manufacture of automobiles
4 in USA in 1985, 8000 in 1900,
62,000,000 in 1960
Suburban sprawl

Underground Electric Railway

1897 First underground electric railway
Cities extended along metro corridors

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