H I S TO RY O F

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Reconstruction by the late Maurice Wilson of Australopithecus afarensis. https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=hominidsbeginning-of-agriculture

Report by:

Rosalie Q. Capistrano
Masters in Public Administration

Subject:

Urban Planning and

Development
https://www.colorado.edu/socialreactors/ .
Neanderthal Museum
https://eduindex.org/2021/07/14/human-settlements/

THREE OBJECTIVES

• TO DISCOVER THE FIRST HUMAN

SETTLEMENTS;

• TO UNDERSTAND HOW SETTLEMENTS

EVOLVED THROUGH TIME; and

• To study from patterns of mobility made by our

ancestors and continuously learn from it.
 Introduction:

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/village https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/relics-of-ancient-human-colony-show-
british-civilisation-began-in-norfolk-n7x2z3hgxs9
 DISCUSSION OF TOPICS:
• SOME OF THE WORLDS OLDEST HUMAN

SETTLEMENTS;

• HUMAN SETTLEMENTS DURING THE

PA L E A N T H O L I C , MESOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC

AGES; AND

• FA C TO R S A F F E C T I N G H U M A N S E T T L E M E N T S I N C E
 SOME OF THE EARLIEST
SETTLEMENTS IN THE WORLD
W H I C H H AV E B E E N P R E S E RV E D :

• Göbekli Tepe was built and occupied during the 

Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN)—the earliest
division of the Neolithic period in Southwest
Asia—which is dated to between 9600 and 7000
Gobekli Tepe in modern Turkey, about 12 km (7mi) from the city of Sanliufa. BCE.

• The ancient city of Hasankeyf, built on and

around the banks of the river in southeastern
Turkey, may be one of the oldest continuously
inhabited settlements in the world, spanning
some 10,000 years.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-10-03/ancient-city-
hasankeyf-underwater
 • Aleppo, Syria, is thought to be one of the world’s
oldest continuously inhabited cities. Covered with
olive, pomegranate, and pistachio trees, it has had an
important role in science, music and the arts since it
was built in the 3rd Millennium BC.

https://interestingengineering.com/culture/aleppo-ancient-city-now-destroyed
• Beirut, Lebanon (3,000 BC) settlement by the
Canaanites, WHICH established great maritime, trade,
and religious city-states in several of Lebanon’s
coastal cities: Jbail (Byblos), Sour (Tyre), Saida
(Sidon), and Beirut.

https://www.visit-lebanon.org/leisure/history#:~:text=Phoenicians%20(3%2C500%2D334%20B.C.),(Sidon)%2C
%20and%20Beirut.
 • Jericho, (Arabic Arīḥā), a town located in the West
Bank, a place which is under dispute of Israel and
palestine. However, historically, the same was
within the Palestinian borders.

• Jericho is one of the earliest continuous settlements

in the world, dating perhaps from about 9000 BC.
Traces of visits of Mesolithic hunters carbon-dated
to about 9000 BC have been found therein and By
about 8000 BC, the inhabitants had grown into an
organized community capable of building a massive
stone wall around the settlement, its size justifies
the use of the term town and suggests a population
of some 2,000–3,000 persons.

• 3D RECONSTRUCTION OF ANCIENT
JERICHO

https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/ancient-jericho-the-first-walled-city-in-history
 • Byblos, TURKEY, modern Jbail, also spelled Jubayl, or Jebeil, biblical
Gebal, an ancient seaport, the site of which is located on the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea, about 20 miles (30 km) north of the modern city of
Beirut, Lebanon. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in the
world. The name Byblos is Greek; papyrus received its early Greek name
(byblos, byblinos) from its being exported to the Aegean through Byblos.
Hence the English word Bible is derived from byblos as “the (papyrus)
book.”

• Modern archaeological excavations have revealed that Byblos was occupied

at least by the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age; c. 8000–c. 4000 BC) and
that during the 4th millennium BC an extensive settlement developed there.
Because Byblos was the chief harbour for the export of cedar and other
valuable wood to Egypt, it soon became a great trading centre; it was called
Kubna in ancient Egyptian and Gubla in Akkadian, the language of Assyria.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Byblos
 The Acropolis of Athens. Photo by Leonard G.

• The site of Athens, greece has been inhabited since the Neolithic Period (before 3000 BCE).

• The earliest buildings date from the Late Bronze Age, particularly about 1200 BCE when the
Acropolis was the citadel. Around its top was built a massive wall of cyclopean masonry (a
type of construction using huge blocks without mortar).
 Overview map of the peopling of the world by anatomically
modern humans (numbers indicate dates in thousands of years
ago [kya])

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_human_settlements
Paleolithic

Mesolithic

neolithic
 • PA L A E O L I T H I C ,
PA L E O L I T H I C (GREEK:
PA L A I O S - O L D AND
LITHOS-STONE) OR OLD
STONE AGE;

was period that fully coincide with

Pleistocene Epoch. For this period were
related first cultural paleolithic groups,
movement and spread of cultural groups, as
well as their influence and disappearance.

• It started from about 2.5 MILION

YEARS  BP (BEFORE PRESENT)
AND IT LASTED ALL THE WAY TO
10.150 BP when Holocene geological
epoch came to the scene.

https://www.shorthistory.org/prehistory/palaeolithic-old-stone-age/
 pAleolithic era

https://www.dailysignal.com/2011/11/30/sex-equality-and-no-property-the-good-ol-upper-paleolithic-era/

Generally, in Paleolithic era, our ancestors were NOMADS, defined as a group of people who have no fixed residence
and moves from place to place usually seasonally and within a well-defined territory. Being hunters and gatherers, they were
constantly moving and searching for a new land to look and hunt for food. However, as time passed by, they learned to take
shelter in caves and trees but preferably near bodies of water where they are assured of food supply, although temporarily this
might be the reason why they had the idea taking shelter and staying at one place at a certain time is also beneficial for them.
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nomad)
 • Time before
PEOPLE
DEVELOPED
CIVILIZATION
S AND
SETTLED IN
ONE PLACE.

https://www.westmorelandschool.org/cms/lib/NY01914042/Centricity/Domain/150/Global%20Basics%20Paleolithic%20Era%20Neolithic%20Revolution.pdf
 New standards for reconstructing extinct hominids could lead to more accurate representations, such as this sculpture of a 2.8-million-year-old Australopithecus
africanus youngster known as the Taung child. (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-hominids-reconstruction-extinct-human-evolution-taung)

• The H o m i n i d a e  (/hɒˈmɪnɪdiː/), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (/ˈhɒmɪnɪdz/

), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: Pongo (the Bornean, 
Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); Gorilla (the eastern and western gorilla); Pan (the chimpanzee and the 
bonobo); and Homo, of which only modern humans remain.
https://www.westmorelandschool.org/cms/lib/NY01914042/Centricity/Domain/150/Global%20Basics%20Paleolithic%20Era%20Neolithic%20Revolution.pdf
MESOLITHIC AGE
• The MESOLITHIC AGE, also known as Middle
Stone Age, was the second part of the Stone Age.
In India, it spanned from 9,000 B.C. to 4,000 B.C.
This age is characterized by the appearance of
Microliths (small bladed stone tools).

• The Mesolithic Age was a transitional phase

between the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic
Age. The people of this age lived on hunting,
fishing, and food gathering; later on they also
domesticated animals.
• Period:
Middle of Stone Age

• DATES:
20,000 to 10,000 BP (Southwest Asia)
15,000–5,000 BP (Europe)
 Mesolithic mobility models. (based on Clark 1972; Evans et al. 2007, pp. 2161–2162; Preston 2011 [Fig. 10.3] p. 532; 2013a, b [Fig. 6] p. 30;
Schulting and Richards 2000, pp. 58–59; Spikins 1996).

https://www.india.com/viral/during-mesolithic-period-man-ate-fish-and-plants-ancient-tooth-reveals-3089607/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesolithic

In Mesolithic era, our ancestors learned to make huts using animal carcasses especially those of mammoths which they
were able to obtain through hunting. Later, they learned to create houses made of wood, straw and rocks, however, still,
our ancestors were not able to stay permanently in one place since they eventually ran out of food supply. But like today,
our ancestors evolved as time passed by, they learned to make tools, those that they can use in hunting aquatic animals
and this prompted them to live in caves near lakes and rivers.
 NEOLITHIC AGE
• The Neolithic Age is sometimes called the New Stone Age. Neolithic humans
used stone tools like their earlier Stone Age ancestors, who eked out a marginal
existence in small bands of hunter-gatherers during the last Ice Age. (https://www.history.com/topics/pre-
history/neolithic-revolution)

CHRISTIAN JEGOU / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY SIMON FRASER / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
 https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-important-events/neolithic-revolution-0010298 https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-important-events/neolithic-revolution-0010298

• During Neolithic age, our ancestors learned cultivation. They became farmers and herders. This
was the biggest factor for our ancestors to finally decide to find a place where they can cultivate
crops and take care of domesticated animals, so that they can finally have a constant supply of
food.
• Slowly, they also learned to build mud houses to keep themselves warm. Eventually, they learned
to pick and follow a leader who shall help their community to provide for themselves the three
basic human needs, namely, food, shelter and clothing.
 An artist's re-creation of the first human migration to North America from across the Bering Sea. (https://www.npr.org/2012/09/17/161278993/what-drove-early-man-across-globe-climate-change)

• When the place they live in is no longer viable for crop

cultivation, they pack their bags and go on another journey to a
greener Pasteur, one where they can start cultivation again.
With the developments in agricultural and social aspect of our
ancestors way of living, their health immensely improved and
thus their population grew and so are the settlements.
The main groups of settlement and
mobility models:
 • Map A: The classic model of inland–
coastal (east–west) mobility in Clarkian
models (e.g. Clark 1972).

• Map B: A typical Territory Model of

independent coastal and inland
populations with north–south mobility
within these territories (i.e. Evans et al. 
2007 interpretation of Schulting and
Richards 2000).

• Map C: River Basin Territory Models

where the main river basins in the north
of England are individual social
territories (e.g. as suggested by Spikins 
1996)

Mesolithic mobility models. (based on Clark 1972; Evans et al. 2007, pp. 2161–2162; Preston 2011 [Fig. 10.3] p.
532; 2013a, b [Fig. 6] p. 30; Schulting and Richards 2000, pp. 58–59; Spikins 1996).
 HUMAN
SETTLEMENTS
RURAL SETTLEMENT: URBAN SETTLEMENT:

• I S O L AT E D D W E L L I N G ; • TO W N ;
• H A M L E T;
• C I T Y;
• VILLAGE
• C O N U R B AT I O N ;
 DETERMINANTS OF
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS:
1. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR;
• Water supply;
• Topography;
• Vegetation;

2. Cultural factor;

3. Historical or defence factor;

4. accessibility
CONCLUSION
 CONCLUSION
• Such settlements continued to be established near bodies of
water as OUR ANCESTORS learned that lands near such
are better for cultivation, this also gave them access to
transportation in which spread the settlements all
throughout their neighboring countries and eventually, the
world;

• The birth of civilization was the biggest factor IN the

history of human settlements.;

https://www.colorado.edu/socialreactors/
 • Some of the earliest settlement WERE
MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION;

• Having fertile lands is the key to sustainable living;

• farming communities following the domestication of

animals and the development of agriculture, most
https://www.loveproperty.com/gallerylist/91093/what-ancient-homes-looked-like-from-the-egyptians-to-the-aztecs

notably irrigation techniques were the prime discoveries

during Neolithic era; HUMAN SETTLEMENTS ARE
CONSTANTLY EVOLVING, and finally;
• MOST OF THE DISCOVERIES MADE BY OUR
ANCESTORS ARE STILL APPLICABLE FOR
SUSTAINABLE LIVING TODAY.
Homo Cosmicos / Shutterstock
 RECOMMENDATION:
• TO EDUCATE MORE IN THE ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF
HUMAN SETTLEMENT;
• TO PRESERVE ANCIENT HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FOR
POSTERITY;
• TO CONTINUE LEARNING FROM OUR ANCESTORS;
REFERENCES:
• https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/relics-of-ancient-human-colony-show-
british-civilisation-began-in-norfolk-n7x2z3hgxs9
• https://
www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/ancient-jericho-the-first-walled-city-in-history
• https://www.visit-lebanon.org/leisure/history#:~:text=Phoenicians%20(3%2C500
%2D334%20B.C.),(Sidon)%2C%20and%20Beirut
.
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Byblos
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_human_settlements
• https://www.westmorelandschool.org/cms/lib/NY01914042/Centricity/
Domain/150/Global%20Basics%20Paleolithic%20Era%20Neolithic
%20Revolution.pdf
 END.

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