THE BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATION

1.) ACHIEVEMENTS ARE MADE IN THE

OLD STONE AGE
 PREHISTOR
Y
THE PERIOD OF TIME
BEFORE PEOPLE
KEPT WRITTEN
RECORDS.
UNWRITTEN EVIDENCES
(search for knowledge-
CONTINUING
PROCESS)
 1.) ARTIFACTS
objects shaped by human hands
(tools, drawing, pottery, weapons and jewelry)
 2.)FOSSILS
human or animal bones/teeth/other traces left in
rocks by plants and animals
 Scientists examine evidence in diff.
ways
• 1. ARCHEOLOGISTS Study places

• “DIG A SITE’
• 2. Field of Anthropology
• people looked like, ate, how long-live/char.
• 3. GEOLOGISTS analyze fossils and the rocks
4. CHEMISTS AND
PHYSICISTS USE SPECIAL
METHOD

a. CARBON-14 DATING
(BY WILLARD LIBBY AMERICAN 1948, NOBEL PRIZE)
all living organisms(dies) contain certain amt.
of radioactive carbon(decrease/left)
b. Radioactive elements
“potasium-40, uranium and thorium” for dating rocks/mineral
c. Chemical and Physical Analysis
 OLD STONE AGE/PALEOLITHIC AGE
(GK. palaios=”ancient”, lithos=”stone”) longest part most
scientist believe that life was like in
prehistoric times.

NOMADS
STONE AGE HUNTERS/GATHERERS
=men and women of Paleolithic Age.
=have no permanent homes,
wander from place to place.
=gathered wild fruit, nuts, seeds, honey, roots, and grains, and caught
fish in streams and rivers
 Achievements of Chinese scientists
=excavated the cave inhabited
460,000 yrs.ago

=found over 100,000 stone artifacts/evidence that

cave dwellers used fire.
=7000 large pottery figures of horses and
warriors
=buried in a Chinese emperor’s grave, 210 BC.
 IMPRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENTS
1.)PALEOLITHIC TOOLS

•
SHARPENED
WOODEN STICKS

STONE AGE ART

TO DIG
(ROOTS
) TO
PEEL
(BARK)
 IMPRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENTS 2.)TO
CONTROL AND USE FIRE
(brought changes in the lives of
Paleolithic people)
• a.) Provide warmth and light in the
cave/shelter.
• b.) Kept wild animals away at night.
• c.) Useful in hunting.
• d.) A band of hunters with TORCHES
could drive a herd of large animals
over the edge of a cliff.
• e.) For cooking food.
• f.) Smoke from a fire helped
preserve food.
• g.) Make animal skins more
waterproof.
 IMPRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENTS 3.) USED
SPOKEN LANGUAGE
(a great advance for Paleolithic People)
• a.) Anthropologists believe
that speech contributed
much to human progress
and achievements.
• b.) Knowledge, skills and
information could be passed
from parents to children.
• c.) People could discuss ideas
and share experiences.
 Did Stone Age cavemen talk to each other in symbols?
Previously overlooked patterns in the cave art of
southern France and Spain suggest that man might have
learned written communication 25,000 years earlier
than we thought
 NEANDERTHAL
PALEOLITHIC HUNTING PEOPLE (DEVELOP
BELIEFS/RITUALS)
• Lived from 100,000-40,000 yrs. ago
(Scientists estimated)
• They were named for the valley in
Germany, remains 1st found
• artifacts and living sites found in
Europe, Asia and North Africa
RITUALS
• =they hoped would guarantee-
success in the hunt
• =buried their dead
• *placing tools,
• *ornaments,
• * food and
• *bunch wildflowers (grave)
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
=idea of a life after death
 CRO-MAGNON PEOPLE
(DEVELOP ART)
• in southern France found
Grave filled w/ artifacts
• in Europe(hundred deco.cave
paintings 12,000-30,000
yrs.ago)
• In Asia found beads,
necklaces, and braceletes
carved from ivory and bone
sculptures depicting animals,
birds, and fish.
• (religious beliefs) inspiration
for prehistoric art
• (rituals) animals as
part,hoped-success in hunting