UNDERSTANDI

NG
CULTUR SOCIET POLITIC
Teacher Roselle M. Rosuelo
HUMAN CULTURAL
EVOLUTION
HUMAN CULTURAL EVOLUTION

• Paleolithic Period – (Old Stone Age)

• Neolithic Period – (New Stone Age)
• Age of Metals
Paleolithic Period
• Old Stone Age
• 3 Million years to 8,000 B.C.
• Use of simple pebble tools.
• Learned to live in caves.
• Discovered the use of fires.
• Developed small sculptures; and monumental painting,
incised designs, and reliefs on the wall of caves.
• “Food-collecting cultures”
neolithic Period
• New Stone Age
• 10,000 B.C.
• Stone tools were shaped by polishing or grinding.
• Settlement in permanent villages.
• Dependence on domesticated plants or animals.
• Appearance of such crafts as pottery and weaving.
• “Food-producing cultures”
Age of metals
• New Stone Age
• 4,000 – 1,500 B.C.
• The used of metal such as bronze, copper, and iron
produced a new historical development form cradles
civilization of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, including
India and China which later on spread throughout
Asia.
 Neolithic
Paleolithic Age Metal Age
Age

4. Domestication 7. Polished
1. Unpolished stone tools
stone tools of plants and
animals
2. Use of metals 5. Nomadic way 8. Tribes,
of living empires, and state

3. Civilization
6. Living in 9. Hunting and
permanent places gathering
 Neolithic
Paleolithic Age Metal Age
Age

1. Unpolished 7. Polished 2. Use of metals

stone tools stone tools

9. Hunting and 4. Domestication 8. Tribes,

gathering of plants and empires, and state
animals
5. Nomadic way 6. Living in 3. Civilization
permanent places
of living
Early Civilization and Rise of the State

• Mesopotamia
• Ancient Egypt
• Ancient India
• Ancient China
mesopotamia
• Greek word for “Land between two rivers”
which is often referred to as the cradle of
civilization
• One of the earliest states and civilizations was
found in the Fertile Crescent
• is a valley between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers.
mesopotamia
• The history writing appeared as early as over
5,000 years ago

• This invention was so important that it

marks the end of the Prehistory, and the
beginning of history
Major contributions
• Cuneiform - One of the first writing systems

• They used a reed stylus to make wedge-shaped

markings on clay tablets. Writing was for record
keeping, teaching, and law.

• Writing was for record keeping, teaching, and law.

mesopotamia
• Cuneiform - One of the first writing systems

• They used a reed stylus to make wedge-shaped

markings on clay tablets. Writing was for record
keeping, teaching, and law.

• Writing was for record keeping, teaching, and law.

Major contributions
• Literature
• The Epic of Gilgamesh, the most important
piece of Mesopotamian literature, teaches
the lesson that only gods are immortal.
Gilgamesh is wise and strong, a being who
is part human and part god.
Major contributions
• The Sumerians invented important
technologies, such as the wagon wheel.
• In mathematics they invented a number system
based on 60, and they made advances in
applying geometry to engineering.
• In astronomy, the Sumerians charted the
constellations using their number system of 60.
Major contributions
• Sundial
• potter‘s wheel
• 1st to make bronze out of copper and tin,
creating finely crafted metalworks
Social classes
• Nobles - included the royal family, royal
officials, priests and their families.
• Commoners - worked for large estates as
farmers, merchants, fishers, and craftspeople.
• Slaves worked on large building projects,
wove cloth, and worked the farms of the
nobles.
religions
• Like the Egyptians, the Mesopotamians
were polytheistic because they believed in
many gods and goddesses.

• 3,000 gods have been identified through

archaeology and anthropology.
The Babylonia
• In 1792 B.C.E. Hammurabi of Babylon, a
city-state south of Akkad, established a new
empire over much of both Akkad and Sumer.
The law
• Hammurabi’s code punished public officials
who failed in their duties or were corrupt.

• It also had consumer protection provisions,

for example, holding builders responsible
for the quality of their work.
The law
• If a building collapsed and killed anyone
other than a slave, the builder was executed.

• Damages had to be paid to people injured.

Patriarchal society
• Hammurabi’s code expresses the patriarchal
nature of Mesopotamian society.
• Women had fewer privileges and rights than
men.
• The code enforced obedience of children to
parents.
• For example, a father could cut off the hand of a
son who had hit him
Assyrian empire
• The Assyrians of the upper Tigris River
formed the Assyrian Empire by 700 B.C.E.
Major contributions
•Learned to extract iron from ore
•Created state of the art weapons
•Nineveh held one of the ancient world’s
largest libraries
The Akkadian Empire lasted about 200 years. In
the year 2350–2150 B.C, Babylonian Empire
overtook Sumerians around 2000 B.C., and they
built capital, the Babylon, on Euphrates River.