The Beginning

an introduction to ancient and

medieval history
THE ORIGINS OF THE UNIVERSE
 Three major theories
1. The Genesis Account
2. Creationism with Evolution
3. Evolutionary Theory
 The Genesis Account
 Belief that life on Earth began about 6000 years
ago.
 Account from the book of Genesis from the
Christian Bible or the Jewish Pentateuch (Old
Testament).
 Describes the creation of the Earth in six days by
God.
 Some religious scholars believe the account to be
a metaphor, while others believe it to be a literal
account.
CREATIONISM WITH EVOLUTION
 God started life on Earth and since
then life has evolved and refined into
the various plants and animals we
see today.
 With this theory, humans became the
rulers of the Earth as chosen by God.
 This theory draws on the ideas of
Darwin.
Evolutionary Theory
• “The Big Bang” – 5 billion years ago
• A great explosion in the universe caused a spin-
off of gases and particles that came together
to form planets like Earth.
• At first Earth was molten hot, but then cooled
and was able to support one simple life cell in
the sea.
• From this form of life began a long process of
evolution (that the plants and animals
developed gradually through natural processes
Charles Darwin

• Darwin popularized the theory of evolution in On the Origin

of Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859.
• While serving as an unpaid naturalist aboard the ship
Beagle, Darwin examined, observed and collected data that
led him to doubt the traditional Genesis account.
• Darwin came to believe that species adapted to their
environment in order to survive.
• Those that did not adapt did not survive (survival of the
fittest). He called this process natural selection.
Vocabulary to know
 Archaeologist: specialist in the study of early
humans and early civilizations
 Anthropologists: scientists who study the origin,
development, distribution, social habits and culture of
humans
 Paleontologists: scientist who study the fossil
remains of animals and plant life to understand past
geological periods
 Fossils: recognizable remains or impressions left by
a plant or animal preserved in the Earth’s crust
Dinosaurs
 Fossils tell us that they were among the Earth’s earliest
inhabitants
 200 million years ago
 Theories of their extinction
1. They starved after changes in the Earth disrupted their food
supplies
2. Climate Change – as warm blooded reptiles they were killed by
the cold
3. An asteroid hit the Earth causing dust clouds that blocked out the
sun
4. They evolved.
THE PHYSICAL EVOLUTION OF
HUMANS

 Evidence shows that human developed

through several stages from hominids
(humanlike creatures) to modern human
beings.
 Hominids first appeared over four million
years ago.
 It is still not certain when the split occurred
between the evolution of humans and apes
and who is the common ancestor.
What’s the difference???

 A hominid is distinguished from apes in

many ways.
 Two key differences
1. Bi-pedalism (ability to walk on two feet)
2. Larger brain size
Australopithecus

 One of the earliest ancestors of man is about 4 million years old.

 He probably spent most of his time in the grasslands looking for
roots and seeds to eat.
AUSTRALOPITHECINES

 Molar teeth, no incisors

 1974 – Hadar, Ethiopia, Donald Johanssen found an
3.18 million year old fossil of an Australopithecus
afarensis.
 Nicknamed her “Lucy”
 Jutting jaw, heavy brow, flaring cheeks
 1/3 of modern brain
 Powerful forearms, curved fingers and toes
 Completely bipedal
HOMO HABILIS

 2.5 million years ago

 Known as the “handy man”
 Bridge between Australopithecus and Homo
Erectus
HOMO ERECTUS
 Probably man’s first upright relative
 Sharp focused eyes
 Free moving arms and hands
 High-functioning brain
 Power of speech
 2 million years ago
 Fire was his main tool
1. Heat, warmth, health
2. Protection, able to scare off animals
3. Cooking
4. Eating faster, preserve longer, less disease
5. Better weapons
Early Homo sapiens

 They are about 250,000

years old.
 They hunted and gathered
food.
EARLY HOMO SAPIENS
 Homo sapiens mean “man who thinks”
 1st to formulate spoken language
 More sophisticated tools
 250 000 years ago
 Stone Age (period when articles were made of
stone)
 As they spread throughout the world, their brains
developed to improve hunting and gathering
techniques
 Neanderthals are another type of Homo Sapiens
Modern Homo sapiens

 They are about 20,000 years old.

 They started out as hunter gathers.
 Eventually they became farmers and animal herders.
MODERN HOMO SAPIENS

 Appeared 40 000 years ago in Europe

 Skills = making clothing, better shelters,
more efficient hearths
 Called Cro-Magnons by 19th century
scientists
 Ability to endure colder climates
 Spread from Africa to Europe to Asia then
across the Bering Strait into the Americas