First Peoples - Populating the Planet

Question 1

What are “Hunter-Gatherers?”

Answer 1

Nomadic foragers/hunters.

Question 2

How many people live on Earth today?

Answer 2

About 7 billion.

Question 3

When did Homo sapiens first start to migrate from Africa?

Answer 3

About 100,000 years ago.

Question 4

When did Homo sapiens first emerge?

Answer 4

About 250,000 years ago.

Question 5

When and what happened during the migration to Eurasia?

Answer 5

It occurred about 45,000 years ago. Humans had to adapt to cold weather for the first time and signs show that the first long-term settlements were made here.

Question 6

When and what happened during the migration to Australia?

Answer 6

It is believed that people migrated to Australia about 65,000 years ago; and it is believed that the first boats were made here.

Question 7

When and what happened during the migration to the Americas?

Answer 7

It is believed that people first migrated here with the Bering Strait between 30,000 and 12,000 years ago. Hunting and gathering was very prominent for a long time here.

Question 8

When and what happened during the migration to the Pacific?

Answer 8

It is believed that people colonized this part of the world only 3,500 years ago. The people here used boats and they greatly relied on the waters. And, because of their water travels, they had very widely-used languages.

Question 9

What was different about man-woman relationships in hunter-gatherer communities?

Answer 9

They were actually treated equally, since women were tasked as gatherers and they brought in a lot of food.

Question 10

What sexist idea formed in Europe?

Answer 10

The idea that men are much better and more important than women.

Question 11

Where did Hunter-gatherer societies usually live?

Answer 11

By bodies of water; because of the abundance of food and other things.

Question 12

What important technologies were developed in early Europe?

Answer 12

Weaving, nets, baskets, pottery, and bone needles (which led to clothing).

Question 13

What changes in the environment did humans cause?

Answer 13

Humans have caused many animal species to go extinct and they have caused some plants to become more resilient or change altogether.

Question 14

What did some people use to find enjoyment and to try to reach the spirits/Gods?

Answer 14

Psychoactive drugs.

Question 15

What things give us ideas of what culture was like back then?

Answer 15

Art pieces such as the Venus of Willendorf, cave paintings, and old tools/items.

Question 16

What huge settlement transition happened and why?

Answer 16

People started to live in permanent shelters; and they did so because of the need to stay still with agriculture. Permanent settlements also allow production of more food and the ability to store more things.

Question 17

What climate change encouraged Agriculture?

Answer 17

After the last Ice Age, there was tons of global warming and the ice melted so everything was wetter and thus more fertile.

Question 18

Who were the San people?

Answer 18

A Southern African group that lived in the area including Angola, Namibia, and Botswana.

Question 19

What group displaced the San and other similar groups?

Answer 19

The Bantu.

Question 20

What was San language like?

Answer 20

They used distinct clicking noises to quickly communicate messages. Many believe that they used clicks to not scare away animals while hunting.

Question 21

What was diet like during San times?

Answer 21

It was about 30% protein and about 70% vegetables, which is very balanced and healthy.

Question 22

In what way is the Hunting and Gathering lifestyle better than the lives of today?

Answer 22

It required much less overall work to feed yourself, so people were very laid back and there was much more family time and free time.

Question 23

What is “Insulting the Meat?”

Answer 23

The idea of speaking negatively about an animal killed by a hunter for food (saying it isn’t thick enough or something like that).

Question 24

Who are the Chumash?

Answer 24

A group that lived in the Southern California area. (They famously invented the Tomol canoe.) They lived by the coast and heavily relied on the Ocean and other such waters.

Question 25

What were Chumash houses like?

Answer 25

They lived in round, permanent, substantial houses; often covered by grass or reeds. Some were up to 50 feet in diameter and were able to hold about 70 people.

Question 26

What change in thought do we have now towards Paleolithic peoples compared to a couple decades ago?

Answer 26

We now appreciate them more and we don’t see them as much as “primitive” or “superstitious.” It is what these old peoples did that led us to how we are now.

Question 27

What was the order of Migration?

Answer 27

Africa, the Middle East, Eurasia, Australia, the Americas, the Pacific.