Academia de San Lorenzo Dema-ala Inc.

Tialo, Sto. Cristo, City of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan

LESSON #1
Subject: Asian/Western Civilization
Name: _________________________
Instructor: Mrs. Mary Grace A. Castellon

LEARNING CONTENT: Geography of Asia: Prehistoric Asia

LEARNING CONCEPT
I. Geography of Asia

Regions in Asia

- East
- South
- Southwest
- North/Central
- Southeast

SOUTHEAST

Popularly referred to as:

– Malay race region
– Brown race region (because of their skin color)
– ASEAN region (Association of Southeast Asian countries)
- Composed of Archipelago (Indonesia, Philippines) and Mainland SEA (Laos, Cambodia, Thailand
and Vietnam)

Southeast Asian countries

• Indonesia • Thailand • Philippines • Malaysia • Vietnam • Singapore • Myanmar / Burma • Cambodia
• Laos • Brunei • East Timor

South
Popularly referred to as:
– Hindu region (with India as point of reference because of its land area)
– Land of Mysticism
- Composed of the subcontinent of India and the island of Sri Lanka and atolls of Maldives
South Asian countries • India • Pakistan • Bangladesh • Sri Lanka • Nepal • Bhutan • Maldives

Southwest
Popularly referred to as:
– Oil
–rich region
– Arab region (because of predominantly Arab ethinicity)
• Cradle of civilization (Mesopotamia as the first cradle of history)
• Three of the world’s oldest existing religion (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) originated from this
region.
Southwest Asian countries • Turkey • Saudi Arabia • Iran • United Arab Emirates • Israel • Iraq •
Qatar • Oman • Syria • Jordan • Yemen • Lebanon • Palestine • Kuwait • Bahrain • Afghanistan

East
East Asian countries • China • Japan • Hong Kong and Macau (SAR) • South Korea • North Korea •
Mongolia • Taiwan (province of China)
Popularly referred to as:
– Mongoloid race region
– Yellow region (because of their skin color)
– Europeans called them as “Far East”

• Composed of the historical countries of China, Korea, Japan and Mongolia

• China has 2 Special Administrative Regions (Macau and Hong Kong) and Chinese Taipei as a
province of China

North/Central
• Popularly referred to as:
– Caucasoid region (because of their skin color)
– Europeans called them as “Near East”

• Countries that gained independence from USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic)
• Countries that mostly ends in “tan”
North/Central East Countries • Kazakhstan • Uzbekistan • Kyrgyzstan • Tajikistan • Turkmenistan •
Armenia • Georgia • Azerbaijan

II. What is Prehistory?

What is Prehistory? We can define prehistory as the period of human development during the time
before the discovery of writing. Prehistory extends from the emergence of our first ancestors, about
five million years ago, to the invention of writing, about 5,000 years ago.

Prehistory is divided into three periods:

● The Paleolithic Age extends from the appearance of our first ancestors to about 11,000 years ago.
Human beings lived from hunting and gathering.
● The Neolithic Age began about 11,000 years ago. Groups of human beings started to live in
villages. They practiced agriculture and raised cattle.
● The Metal Ages began about 7,000 years ago. Human beings learned to use metals to make
objects.

What were early human beings like?

AUSTRALOPITHECUS These appeared about five million years ago. They were very similar to
chimpanzees. However, the Australopithecus normally walked on two feet. HOMO HABILIS These
appeared two million years ago. Their brain was bigger. Their name “habilis” means skilful. They
made stone tools and lived from hunting and gathering

HOMO ERECTUS These appeared one and a half million years ago. They walked upright. This was
the first species to live outside Africa. They lived in Europe and Asia. They discovered fire.
HOMO ANTECESSOR The oldest human remains in Europe appeared in Atapuerca, Spain. They are
800,000 years old.

NEANDERTHAL MAN Neanderthals were a different species who lived in Europe 150,000 years
ago. They were stronger than we are but shorter. They were the first species to bury their dead. It
seems they were able to speak.

HOMO SAPIENS Our species appeared in Africa about 130,000 years ago. Homo sapiens were
slimmer but taller than Neanderthals. They were able to make finer tools. They also created art.

How did people live in the Paleolithic Age?

Life in a cave Many activities were carried out in the open air during daytime Life in the Paleolithic
Age The first human beings:
● Lived from hunting, fishing and gathering wild fruit
● They were nomadic: they did not live in a fixed place.
● They lived outdoors, in caves, or in wood huts.
● They were organized in small tribes, made up of members of the same family.

Paleolithic Stone Age = Men and women made tools and objects of stone. They used them to hunt
and cut animals' skins and meat. Fire was discovered about half a million years ago. It was an
extremely important discovery. Early human beings used fire to heat their caves, cook food and drive
wild animals away

Rites and beliefs: Our ancestors believed in supernatural forces which helped them in hunting or
when giving birth. They also thought these divinities caused disease and death. That is why they had
different rites to ask these divinities for help. They buried the dead. They also buried weapons,
jewelry and food with the bodies.

What was Paleolithic art like?

About 35,000 years ago, human beings started decorating caves with paintings. This type of art is
called cave art.
Paleolithic paintings had the following characteristics:
● Animals, such as deer, bison, horses and mammoths, were often represented.
● The paintings were realistic. The relief surface of the cave was used to give them volume.
● Several colours were used.
● Minerals were mixed with egg white to make the colours. Animal hair was used to make brushes.

How did people live in the Neolithic Age?

In the Neolithic Age, human beings learned how to domesticate animals and cultivate plants Neolithic
means “new stone”
The discovery of agriculture took place about 11,000 years ago. Human beings observed that plants
grew when seeds fell on the ground. This is how agriculture started.
How did agriculture start?
 Cereals were cultivated:
● Wheat was cultivated in the Middle East and Europe
● Rice was cultivated in Asia
● Corn was cultivated in America
In this period, goats, sheep, oxen, horses and dogs were domesticated. Farming and agriculture
made it possible for people to settle in a particular area. When they had enough food, they started to
store it. A pot they became sedentary and built villages, generally located near rivers. Work become
specialized in the villages. Some people worked the land, other people raised cattle, and the rest
were artisans. This series of changes is called the Neolithic revolution.
How did people live in the Metal Ages?
About 7,000 years ago, human beings began to make metal objects. The first metal they used was
copper, but it was not very strong. Later, they used bronze and iron to make tools, weapons, and
jewelry.
What were Megalithic monuments?
In the last years of the Neolithic Age, and during the Metal Ages, monuments were built with big
blocks of stone. These were called megaliths. Menhir Dolmen Stone circles

Mrs. Mary Grace A. Castellon

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