Paleolithic Notes Flashcards
Achievements
Invention of tools and weapons
Language
Control of fire
Art (sculpture, jewelry, cave paintings)
100,000 BC
Humans evolved physically and mentally to the level of today= opposable thumbs and developed brain
Paleolithic means
Old Stone Age
Paleolithic years
2.5 million years ago– 10,000 BC
Archaeologist
People who study fossils and artifacts
Paleontologist
Study dinosaur fossils
Hominids
Early human ancestors, 3 types
3 types of hominids
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Homo sapiens
Homo
Human
Homo habilis
Ability
Homo erectus
Walks upright
Homo sapien
Thinks
Earliest tool users
Homo habilis
Tools distinguish us from
Animals
Earliest tools
Stone
Hand axes
Some of then earliest tools
First to domesticate fire
Homo erectus
When did the homo erectus domesticate fire?
500,000 years ago
Fire is
Important
What did fire do?
Reduced mortality
Allows us to move to colder climates
Improved diet
Protected us from animals
4 Ice Ages
2 mil–10,000 yrs ago
What happened during the 4 Ice Ages?
Glaciers spread from the poles
Oceans dropped, land bridges came
Humans adapted to cold or moved
Strategies for keeping warm
Clothes and fire
Women ———, men ———-
Gathered
Hunted
Equality between ——
Sexes
——– helped survive
Everyone
Who was responsible for finding food?
Men and women
Out of Africa Theory
Humans evolved relatively recently in Africa, then moved to other continents
100,000 BC
Africa to Middle East
40,000 BC
Africa to Europe
35,000 BC
Africa to Eastern Asia
15,000 BC
Africa to North America
Hunter gatherers
Hunted for food and gathered plants l, nuts, berries, or whatever was edible, also fishing
Hunter gatherers’ hometown?
None
Hunter gatherers were
Nomadic
Nomadic
You follow animals where they migrate and where plants grow, move often
Do hunter gatherers keep extra grain?
No
Extra food saved is called
Surplus
Was stone the only stone?
No
Major innovation=
Wooden handles
Hand axes were given
Handles
Stone to the end of sticks=
Spears
Sticks hardened in a
Fire
Kinship groups
Social, political, and economic unit
20-30
Related people
Kin
Family
Religion
Animistic
Animistic
Saw spirits in places, events, and nature
Lascaux caves
Paintings made of animals between 25,000–12,000 years ago
Art predates
Farming
Art was important from
Our earliest history
Paintings
Possibly a ritual