Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

Unit 5 Prehistory

Contents of the unit:

I- Concept of Prehistory

II- The process of hominisation

III- Palaeolithic

IV- Neolithic

V- Metal Age

I- Concept of Prehistory

Prehistory is the history of humankind from the appearance of the first human being
until the first written documents. Of course this is al lot of time, so historians have
considered different periods in order to better understand such a long time. Traditionally
these divisions were made due to the technology of each period, giving us the Stone
Age and the Metal Age. Nowadays we study not only these facts, but the economy,
society, culture, art, etc.

Prehistory is divided into three periods:

The Palaeolithic Age or Old Stone Age began with the appearance of our first ancestors,
about 2 million years ago. It was the longest phase of human history, so historians have
divided it into lower, medium and upper Palaeolithic. Palaeolithic peoples were
generally nomadic hunters and gatherers.
The Neolithic or New Stone Age began when the agriculture was discovered (9000
BC). In this period, groups of human beings started to live in settled villages. They
practised agriculture, domesticated animals and invented pottery and textiles.
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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

The Age of Metals began when human beings learned to use metals to make objects
(5.000 years BC), mainly copper, bronze and iron. They built monuments with big
blocks of stone, called menhirs, dolmens and stone circles.

II- The process of hominisation

If you think about the definition of Prehistory, you could realise that it is 99% of our
existence as species. We must even think that this period includes the different species
of hominids, from Homo Habilis to Homo Sapiens Sapiens. This process of evolution is
called “hominisation”, and it refers to the changes which occurred in the new species of
hominids. From one shared ancestry (a primate), the different species developed over
millions of years. All these changes took place during the upper Palaeolithic.

Hominisation started in Africa because of a climate change. The jungle where the
primates lived disappeared and became savannahs with fewer trees. This way, the
primates had to live on the grassland and only those who adapted survived. The genus
Homo adapted to the new life and the mutations passed on the next generation. When
this change becomes hereditary we can find a new species. This theory was announced
by the naturalist Charles Darwin in the 19th century, although many people still believed
in the Creationism (one God who created the World and humankind as we know it).

Evolutionism Vs Creationism (Caricature of Darwin and The Creation, by Micuelangelo)

To sum up, we can say that the main anatomical changes we can find in the different
species of hominids were developed because of the
necessity of live on the ground and let the former life over
trees. The physical changes also created cultural and social
changes.

- Bipedalism, which occurred as a result of the necessity of

seeing over the high grass of the savannah. The upright
position came because of different changes in the anatomy
of the pelvis and skull. These hominids walked using their

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

legs and they could use their front limbs to

use tools (stones and sticks).

- Opposable thumbs, that is to say the ability

of press the thumb against the other fingers
and hold objects and create tools with
greater precision.

- The upright position enabled the gradual

increase of brain size because the forehead
could be more vertical. Moreover, the changes in the diet (hominids started to eat meat)
increased the energy used in the brain. Both combined processes made each species
more intelligent than the previous one.

- Changes in the whole skull and the reduction of the jaw and teeth allowed the
development of the larynx. This change and the increased size of the brain was very
important for the origin of the articulated language which created more sociable tribes.

The different species appeared throughout the Palaeolithic, most of them in the Upper
Palaeolithic, so we have to travel far away to the past to find the first ones of them. It is
a period of time without many sources to study, so every fossilised bone or artefact that
archaeologists find can change many of the previously accepted theories. In fact we are
still searching for the “missing link” to join our genus, Homo, with the prehominids.

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

The following species are the most important ones you have to know to understand our
origin as specie and the travel of our ancestors during the Palaeolithic:

Australopithecus

It means “southern ape”, because the first discovery took place in South Africa and they
were very similar to chimpanzees. They were prehominids. However, they walked on
two feet. They were about 1, 30 m tall and their brain was between 400 to 550 cm3.
They gathered wild fruit and lived about four million years ago in Africa (For example,
Lucy, “grandmother of humanity”).

Homo habilis

It means skillful, because they made stone tools, the choppers. These hominids appeared
two million years ago. Their brain was bigger (650- 800 cm3) and they were taller (1,
40 m). They lived by hunting and gathering fruits, seeds, roots, meat, etc.

Homo erectus

These appeared one and a half million years ago. They walked upright (which is why
they are called “erectus”). This was the first species to live outside Africa (in Europe
and Asia) because their height was 1.60- 1.80 m and they could travel longer distances.
They discovered fire and made bifaces (a two-sided stone tool). They were excellent
hunters.

Homo antecessor

They are the oldest human remains in Europe found in Atapuerca, Spain. They are
called antecessor because they might be the direct antecedent to the next species,
Neanderthal in Europe and sapiens Sapiens in Africa (but this theory must be probed).
They could have practiced cannibalism. They lived more than 1, 2 million years ago,
and their height was 1.60- 1.80 m.

Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Neanderthal)

The Neanderthal is named after the Neander valley (Germany), where fossils of this
species were found. They lived in Europe 150.000 years ago. They were stronger that
we are but shorter (1.70 m and 100 Kg the males), and their brain size was 1500 cc.
Neanderthal was perfectly prepared for living in the Ice Age hunting such big animals
such as mammoths. They were the first species to bury their dead performing rituals and
preparing them for the “afterlife”. It seems they were able to speak, play music and
paint inside the caves. They lived together with our species in Europe for almost 10.000
years. Nowadays, scientists have discovered that both Neanderthal and Sapiens had
offspring, and we all have DNA from them. They disappeared 30.000 years ago, so
today our specie is the only one hominid on the Earth.

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

Homo sapiens sapiens

It means wise man, and maybe

that is the reason why some
scientist called our species “the
story tellers”. Our specie
appeared in Africa about 130,000
years ago. Homo Sapiens were
slimmer but taller than
Neanderthals. We use less energy
when walking and probably are
better adapted to different environments. However, it doesn´t mean that we are more
intelligent than them; in fact, our brain size is more or less the same (1500 cc.). They
spread from Africa across all the continents, and although they were able to make finer
tools of bones, horns and flint, they probably copied techniques of Neanderthal.
Moreover, they created art and developed different religious rituals.

III- Palaeolithic

You know the Palaeolithic is the longest period of the past, so we have to divide it into
three periods:

- Lower Palaeolithic (2,5 millions- 125.000), the longest period when the process of
hominitation happened, where we can find all our ancestors.

- Middle Palaeolithic (125.000- 40.000), where we can find Homo Neanderthal (Europe
and Asia) and Homo Sapiens.

- Upper Palaeolithic (40.000- 10.000), when our species spread all around the world as
the only one member of genus Homo.

At the end of this period, in some places of Europe there was a transition period with
some characteristics of the Neolithic cultures, which were born in the Middle East. It is
called Epipalaeolithic.

Each Homo developed tools that can be found today in archaeological digs and can help
identify their respective cultures. In the following picture you can find a brief summary
of the most important ones:

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

The first species of Homo made tools as choppers and hand- axes (bifaces), but
Neanderthals made the best examples of tools made of flint. Our specie learnt the
techniques and improved them, but we also made tool of bone, ivory and many other
raw materials.

These tools were a necessity for surviving in Prehistory in the changing environments.
Genus Homo spread in all the continents and they had to struggle with many other
species of predators. We were more intelligent and adaptable, but our first activity was
only gathering. We were scavenger. The addition of meat was essential for our
ancestors, especially for those who lived in glacier times and places such as Europe,
where mammoth, deer or bison were the common preys. The use of fire was necessary
for heating and cooking, but also for travelling all around the world.

Throughout this period our ancestors formed the first clans and tribes as a way of
improving their possibilities of survival. Cooperative gathering and hunting was
necessary if they wanted to face difficult environments and predators. Moreover, the
socializing process diversified the roles in the tribes, with the old wise men, the young
hunters and the witches (shamans) as leaders of the groups.

All these tribes were nomads and lived in different sites depending on the season. They
tried to live in huts and caves to obtain refuge, but they had to chase the herds of
mammals and look for resources such as wood, flint, honey or whatever they needed.

Another feature of the process of hominisation is the cultural development we can find
in every species. Sometimes we can only imagine what they believed by studying tools
or paintings, but anthropologists who studied modern tribes a few decades ago could
obtain a similar sight of some of the oldest thoughts of our ancestors (remember the
videos we watched in class).

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

Although archaeologists found possible

evidences of beliefs in Atapuerca (a ritual
hand axe belonging to Homo
1
Heidelbergensis and named Excalibur),
Homo Neanderthal is considered to be the
first human being who believed in the afterlife. We know
that because they buried their dead, performing a ritual
that included grave goods, ochre paintings and fetal
position of bodies)

Moreover, one of the latest discoveries about prehistoric culture is the fact that
Neanderthal also made the first paintings inside the caves of Europe, around 35000
years ago, in the Upper Paleolithic. It was believed that only Sapiens Sapiens could
have done these paintings, but this discovery shows us the great intelligence of these
men.

Probably the most known examples of Palaeolithic paintings are from the Franco-
Cantabrian region, with Lascaux or Altamira caves as the best ones. Later, at the end of
the Palaeolithic or even in the Neolithic, we can find hundreds of paintings in the

Levantine area of Spain, but many of these

paintings were not made inside the caves, but in shallow rock shelters.

If you take a look at these examples you will probably notice several differences. To
start with, the technique and composition in the first one, the Altamira Palaeolithic
bison, show us the intention of drawing a single animal. It is painted quite realistically,
polychrome and uses the irregularities in the rock to obtain relief. The colours were
obtained using dust, fat, oxide, and whatever they could find. Most times these people
went into the deepest part of the caves, crawling and using torches... and at the end
nobody was going to observe their job! Probably they made these paintings for magic or
religious reasons, painting only animals (sometimes pregnant females) and a few human
beings. On the other hand, Levantine monochrome paintings were drawn using

1
Homo Heidelbergenis is considered the following species after Antecessor that lived in Europe half
million years ago.

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

schematic outlines to represent hunting scenes. Movement is

the main characteristic of these paintings which were made for
thousands of years in our country.

Apart from these paintings, portable art and jewellery are found
in many of these archaeological sites. Probably the most known
examples are figurines of Venus (Venus of Willendorf),
possibly a representation of fertility worship. It will continue
until present times.

IV- Neolithic

It is not still clear why some human beings started to cultivate the land and domesticate
animals in some places about 10.000 years ago. That is probably the greatest revolution
of our history and it began in different places all around the world. If you take a look at
the map you will notice that our continent was affected by the Middle East Neolithic,
although this process spread new discoveries very slowly. Historians think that there
were severe changes in the environment and people had to obtain their own resources to
survive. They were still hunting- gathering, but their knowledge of the nature enabled
them to raise their livestock and guarantee meat, milk, leather or wool. Moreover, they
selected the best seeds to obtain abundant harvest of wheat or barley (in the Middle
East), corn (in America) and rice (in China). The common feature in all these places
was their proximity to big rivers, so they could obtain water for irrigation easily. 2

In any case, we are going examine this process in the Fertile Crescent. This is the
environment where Vere Gorgon Childe studied the Neolithic Revolution. He was an
Australian archaeologist who claimed the theory about this process eighty years ago. He
said that Neolithic was invented at least seven times in different places, domesticating
wild animals and plants. However, in many places these people were sedentary before
producing their own food, and that is something confusing for us. Why did they live
settled in one place before breeding their livestock? Moreover, they had many problems
2
Next unit you will study the fluvial civilizations: China and river Yang- Tse, India and river Indo, Tigris
and Euphrates in Mesopotamia

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

to obtain enough food and new illnesses were transmitted from animals to human
beings.

In the following text you can read a short summary about this process and its
consequences:

Between 10,000 and 3000 B.C.E., people in several areas around the earth developed new
agricultural methods and machines, such as the plow pulled by horses or oxen. During this
time, people also began the slow domestication and development of both crops and animals.
The results of these changes made agricultural production much more productive. Food output
increased. More land could be farmed by fewer people or in fewer hours. This resulted in
greatly improved production and increased the availability of food.

RESULTS:

1. Agricultural innovation greatly increased food production output and created a surplus
beyond what was needed for survival.

2. Producing more food freed people’s time from agricultural work. Some people continued to
work in agriculture, while others did other forms of work.

3. People could specialize in work other than agriculture. The amount of non-agricultural
goods produced increased.

4. With more food and temporarily better nutrition, population increased. Often, a population
increased at a faster rate than an area’s resources were capable of sustaining it, and nutrition
per person returned to its original level.

5. As families and the number of potential workers grew, food production could increase even
more.

This way we have more people, but where did they live? First villages appeared in the
Middle East, such as Jericho or Catalhoyuk. Houses were made of mud and wood, and
they began to build specific buildings such as storages or workshops. The division of
labours allowed them to improve the techniques to make new tools of smooth flint.
Moreover, they made wool clothes, basket and pottery, and
many other things. So, one of the first distinctions in these
villages were the labour one person did, although a
craftsman and a farmer were at the same level. Probably the
chieftains of the village were the old wise men, who taught
the traditional believes to new generations. These religions were based on the worship
to fertility, nature forces and their ancestors. We know many of their ideas because of
the burials and the grave goods we have found.

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

V- Metal Age

The discovery of metallurgy transports us

to the last stage of the Prehistory. New
tools improved productivity and population
increased, so the old tools made of flint
were forgotten quickly. It was a difficult
technique because of the necessity of very
high temperatures inside the ovens to smelt
the metal and make new tools and objects.

The three periods we divide the end of this era are the Copper, the Bronze and the Iron
Age. In some places, such as Mesopotamia and Egypt, this period is the beginning of
History because these civilisations created the first written documents.

- Copper Age began before 5000 BC, when some Anatolian societies obtained this
metal smelting the ore in an oven.
After that, they shaped the objects
or poured the smelt copper into a
mould, most of the times
jewellery and decorative objects.

- Bronze Age started in

Mesopotamia around 3000 BC,
when the alloy of copper and tin
created this new metal. It was
harder so they could use it to
make weapons.

- Iron Age began in Anatolia

(Turkey) when some craftsmen obtained temperatures above 1000 ºC inside the ovens.
This new metal was used for many tools, and armies with iron swords conquered great
empires in the I Millennium BC.

Moreover, new metals and innovations such as the pottery wheel, war carts or sail boats
allowed these societies to create kingdoms crossed by trade routes. This was the perfect
way to spread knowledge and innovations throughout the known world.

Increased population and richer societies created the first walled towns in Mesopotamia,
Anatolia and Egypt. These towns received many people, who were dedicated to
specialized jobs, so the social division was a fact from this moment. Warriors and
chieftains obtained political power and clergymen gave them religious authority. It is
the first step to create a state, and very soon they needed to organise this society through
laws, accountability and religion. That is the origin of the writing.

But undoubtedly the most known elements of this time in Europe are megalithic
monuments. Big stones were used to create commemorative, funerary and astronomical

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Geography and History 1º ESO Unit 5 Prehistory

monuments which needed many workers to

be built. We can find different monuments,
but probably the best known are menhirs,
dolmens and cromlechs.

Our country was at the stage where many

cultures and societies left their archaeological
reminds. We can find the Bell Beaker
culture, the Millares Culture (dolmens), and
the Celts and Iberians of the 1st millennium
BC. Some of these cultures, such as Tartessos, traded with eastern civilisations (Greek
and Phoenician) which brought the alphabet, innovations (coins, pottery wheel...) and
new products (wheat, olive trees, hens, etc.).

Archaelogy sites of the Iberian Peninsula from Paleolithic to Metal Age

Dama de Elche/ Elche Dame

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