History | Graded Assignment | New Evidence of Earliest Settlements

Natasha Fernández

Graded Assignment
New Evidence of Earliest Settlements
Total Score: ____ of 50 points

Be sure to save this document to your computer like this:

HST103A_01_05_New_Evidence_of_Earliest_Settlements_YourFirstInitial_YourLastName.doc
Refer to the rubric at the end of this assignment for details on how you will be graded.
Compose an Essay
Your essay will be about the recent discoveries that suggest the first human settlements in Africa and the Middle
East occurred much earlier than previously thought. Your essay should:
 Describe the discoveries that suggest the first human settlements in Africa and the Middle East occurred
much earlier than previously thought
 Describe the significance of this evidence to the study of history
 Be between 4-5 paragraphs in length
 Cite evidence for your stance from the materials you read.
Feel free to use the work you did in your History Journal to help with your essay. Review the lesson content. In
your essay you should support your points using evidence from the lesson and the material you just read.

The first Human Settlements in Africa and the Middle East

The origin of humanity is one of the most debated topics in the world, that is, it took millions of years to

be able to be a society as a whole. If we recapitulate the history of humans, this starts from Homo sapiens

sapiens (current human). According to what was said, they lived for 100,000 years, but with the

advancement of technology, satellite photographs, and the discovery of fossil remains. This argument

changed, concluding that the first humans to settle in North Africa and the Middle East were much longer

than previously believed. So, how many years ago did the first humans settle in Africa and the Middle

East? How did they live?... How do these discoveries affect history?.

© Stride, Inc. All rights reserved. No reproduction without written consent of Stride,
Inc.

Page 1 of 4
 History | Graded Assignment | New Evidence of Earliest Settlements

In 2002, a fragment of an eight-toothed jaw was found in the Misliya cave, Israel. This fossil was studied

by several archaeologists, giving the result that the bone was from a modern human, concluding that the

bone was between 17,000 and 194,000 years old. As in the archaeological sites of Skhul and Qafzeh

located in Africa, pieces between 90,000 and 125,00 years old were found. From the fossils found,

different animal species were identified, including elephants, horses, rhinos, hippopotamuses, antelopes,

pigs, hyenas and crocodiles. Something that dethrones what was believed, since this affirms that the first

humans began more than 100,00 years earlier than estimated.

"We have to rewrite the entire history of human evolution, not just for our own species but for all the

others that were living outside of Africa by then," Israel Hershkovitz, a professor at Tel Aviv University,

told the BBC. "We had so many pieces of new evidence and we didn't know how they fit together,"

Hershkovitz add.

From this, more fossil evidence was collected, not only from Africa, but also from the Middle East, in

Daoxian and Zhirendong, China. They are between 80,000 and 120,000 years old, suggesting that there

were early migratory waves that entered Eurasia earlier than previously believed. In 2016 a team of

historians found signs of pioneer groups from Africa intermingling with Neanderthals in Altai, Siberia,

some 100,000 years old. With so many studies indicating that they are 195,000 years old, it is generally

considered that they began to settle in the Middle East and North Africa more than 200,000 years ago.

With this, the migration of populations began earlier than previously believed.

© Stride, Inc. All rights reserved. No reproduction without written consent of Stride,
Inc.

Page 2 of 4
 History | Graded Assignment | New Evidence of Earliest Settlements

Currently, these studies have given a new path to the history of the world, since if we follow this

chronology, everything changes. The conditions in which man lived before, as the animals that existed are

similar to those of now, as from caves man has written history. As with it, fire and forms of survival were

given, which generated the great establishments, and the beginning of the villages, towns and cities. An

evolution that man began more than 195,000 years ago. Incredible, don't you think?...

References:

1. Ghosh P., (2018), The surprising discovery of a fossil that changes the history of the first humans,

BBC NEWS WORLD.

2. Duval M., Sahnouni M., (2018), The first humans reached the Mediterranean much earlier than

we thought, The Conversation.

3. Definición de Homo sapiens, Definicion.de.

Submit Your Assignment

Submit both parts of your assignment to your teacher for grading.

© Stride, Inc. All rights reserved. No reproduction without written consent of Stride,
Inc.

Page 3 of 4
 History | Graded Assignment | New Evidence of Earliest Settlements

Graded Assignment Rubric

New Evidence of Earliest Settlements
Total Possible Score: 50 points

Content
(Score: ___ of 32 points)

Objective: 104282 Describe locations and/or characteristics of humans' earliest settlements.

Score 26–32 points 17–25 points 9–16 points 0–8 points

Level Exemplary Proficient Emerging Not evident
Scoring creates a deep and creates a description Somewhat describes Lists locations
notes thorough description of locations and/or locations and/or and/or
locations and/or characteristics of characteristics of characteristics of
characteristics of humans' earliest humans' earliest humans' earliest
humans' earliest settlements; work is settlements; work is settlements but
settlements; work is factually accurate factually accurate does not describe
factually accurate them; work
includes factual
inaccuracies; or no
assignment turned
in

Citations
(Score: ___ of 18 points)

Objective 104931: Relevant, sufficient, and well-chosen evidence supports the reasons, claims, or concepts.

Score 15–18 points 11–14 points 5–10 points 0–4 points

Level Exemplary Proficient Emerging Not evident
Scoring cites and precisely cites and integrates cites well-chosen does not cite
notes integrates relevant, relevant, sufficient, and evidence from the evidence or does
sufficient, and well- well-chosen evidence material to support not turn in
chosen evidence from from material to analysis but support is assignment
material to support the support the analysis not integrated
analysis

© Stride, Inc. All rights reserved. No reproduction without written consent of Stride,
Inc.

Page 4 of 4