AP World Unit 1 Part 1

1. AP World: Unit 1 Part 1
From Human Prehistory to the
Early Civilizations
Chapter 1

2. Way back when…
 Fire tamed 750,000 years ago
 Homo erectus emerged between
500,000 and 750,000 years ago
– Reached population of 1.5 million
 Homo sapiens emerged 100,000
 Paleolithic era – prehistory

3. Diffusion of man
 Based on Fernandez-Armesto’s “The
World”
Chronology: Early Human Migration
150,000 yrs ago Hypothetical African Eve (H. sapiens )
100,000 yrs ago H. sapiens migrates out of Africa to Middle East
67,000 yrs ago H. sapiens in China
60,000 yrs ago H. sapiens reestablishes colony in Middle East
50,000 yrs ago H. sapiens in Australia
40,000 yrs ago H. sapiens in Europe
15,000 yrs ago H. sapiens in the Americas

4. Paleolithic Life
•Hunters-and-
gatherers
•Nomadic life
•Groups of 20-30
•Tools of
wood/stone
•Emergence of
language

5. BRRRRRR
•Ice Age begins
about 150,000 yrs
ago
•Peaks at 18,000
yrs and starts to
thaw after that
•World emerges
from the Ice Age
between 15,000-
20,000 years ago

6. Other Developments
 Early Religious Beliefs
 Animism
– Belief that the world is
full of spirits and
forces that might
reside in animals,
objects, or dreams
– How do we know this?
 Cave paintings
 Elaborate burial
ceremonies

7. The warmth means…
 Better climate = population increase =
search for better/new food sources
 Retreat of big game = smaller hunting
yields = increasing reliance on other
animals for dairy and skins
 Also increasing dependence on regular
harvests

8. Neolithic Agricultural
Revolution
 The New Stone Age (8500-3500 BCE)
– Seeds
 Wow! If you scatter seeds on the ground, plants later
grow in the same place! (not quite…but close…)
– Domesticating animals
 Chicken, goat, cow, horse, llama, etc.
 Pastoralism – nomadic herding

9. Effects of the
Agricultural Revolution
– Changing ways of life
 Status of women declines (no longer “equal” contributors)
 Warfare increases
 Acquire more possessions (material girls)
– New Technology
 Develop calendars to time planting and harvesting
 Use animals to plow
 Tools to make farming easier
– Pros and Cons to Agricultural and Pastoral Life?
 Pros: supports more people
 Cons: more labor intensive/more man hours
 And the Awesome Chart!!!

10. From Fernandez-Armesto “The World”

11. What are tools made
with?
 Wood
 Stone
 Bone
 And then it gets better!
– Copper
– Bronze! (Bronze Age ~3000 BCE)

12.  Three crafts that really develop during
the Neolithic Age:
– Textiles
– Metallurgy
– Pottery

13. Features of Civilization
 Split up – Why are these features of
civilization? What do these features suggest
about a society?
 1 – Cities
 2 – Well-organized central governments
 3 – Complex regions
 4 – Job specialization
 5 – Social classes
 6 – Arts and architecture
 7 – Public works
 8 -- Writing

14. Early Cities
 Jericho – Palestine,
near the Jordan River,
going strong by 7000
BCE
– Early walled urban
culture based on
sedentary
agriculture
– Modern day Israel

15. Catal Huyuk
•Catal Huyuk –
southern Turkey
(Anatolia),
•c. 7000 BCE
•Most advanced
human center of
Neolithic Age

16. Rise of Civilizations
 Four major areas
– Tigris-Euphrates
– Nile River
– Indus River
– Huang He River