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World History > The Prehistoric World (to 3000 BC) > Flashcards

The Prehistoric World (to 3000 BC) Flashcards

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1
Q

Approximately how old is the earth?

A

~4.5 billion years old

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2
Q

How long ago did human ancestors split genetically from ape like ancestors?

A

5-6 million years ago

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3
Q

How long ago did anatomically modern humans (homo sapiens) appear?

A

~200,000 years ago

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4
Q

How did our earliest ancestors enter the Americas?

A

Land bridge across Bering straight

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5
Q

When is the there evidence of the very first settled villages?

A

~10,000 BCE

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6
Q

Describe the following for Australopithecenes (“southern Ape man”):

  • Location
  • Timeframe
  • Characteristics
  • Evidence
A
  • Location: East Africa
  • Timeframe: ~4.5 million years ago, among our earliest known ancestors
  • Characteristics: bipedal, more erect posture
  • Evidence: Laetrile footprints in Tanzania (volcanic eruption) and Lucy in Ethiopia 1975
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7
Q

Describe the following for Homo Habilis (“Handyman):

  • Location
  • Timeframe
  • Characteristics
  • Evidence
A
  • Location: East Africa
  • Time: 2.4-1.4 million years ago
  • Characteristics: larger brains, more modern teeth/hands, use of stone tools, primitive speech, maybe slept in trees
  • Evidence: Olduvai gorge Tanzania
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8
Q

Describe the following for Homo Erectus (“upright man”)

  • Location
  • Timeframe
  • Characteristics
  • Evidence
A
  • Location: E Asia, Africa, Europe
  • Timeframe: 2 million - 143 K years ago
  • Characteristics: improved tools, use of fire, skilled hunters, lower-positioned larynx
  • Evidence: Zhoukadian Cave in Beijing (“Peking Man”)
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9
Q

What are some unique features of Homo Heidelbergensus?

A

Among the first to make spears around 500,000 years ago in S Africa. Also possessed hyoid bone which facilitates speech.

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10
Q

Difference between Ape tool use and early human tool use?

A

Humans deliberately shaped tools, whereas apes just use natural tools like sticks and stones

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11
Q

What and when was Great Leap Forward? What examples accompanied it?

A

The era when humans seemed to have developed language/art of the kind we recognize today which occurred 40,000-50,000 years ago.

Language/art enabled our ancestors to pass on skills, traditions and discoveries which pave the way for complex societies

Examples include the cave art at Lascaux France.

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12
Q

Describe the Neanderthals (time, location, characteristics, evidence)?

A
  • Aka Homo Neanderthalensis
  • Time: 350,000 - 40,000 years ago
  • Location: Africa, Europe, W Eurasia
  • Characteristics: short robust build, powerful limbs, protruding face with heavy brow, used stone-tipped spears, dwelt in caves/rock shelters, care for the dead
  • Evidence: Gotham’s cave on Gibraltar
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13
Q

Do we share a common ancestor with the Neanderthals?

A

No, according to DNA evidence. They did live alongside modern humans though.

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14
Q

What are Interglacials and why are they significant?

A

Periods in between Ice ages which allowed humans to migrate globally

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15
Q

When did the last ice begin and end?

A

Began ~2.5 million years ago and ended ~11,000 years ago.

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16
Q

What are some unique characteristics of modern humans - Homo Sapiens - which emerged around 200,000 years ago in Africa.

A

Taller, heavier, less protruding faces, larger than most previous species (smaller than Neanderthals), lower larynx, longer limbs, narrow pelvic girdle (longer gestation).

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17
Q

What are some archaeological sites where modern human fossils have been found?

A

Earliest: Omo in Ethiopia, dated to around 195,000 years ago.

Klasies river cave in S Africa dated to around 120,000 years ago

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18
Q

Where is the earliest known evidence of definitively decorated items? What is its significance?

A

Blombos cave in S Africa - red ochres engraved with geometric patterns, dated around 77,000 years ago.

These examples of art marked a shift into the upper Paleolithic period, in which Homo Sapiens population increased with remarkable migrations globally.

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19
Q

Who is mitochondrial eve?

A

Mitochondrial DNA is passed down from every mother to her offspring. All humans have a common ancestor, known as mitochondrial eve, and we all share at least some genetic information with her.

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20
Q

What are some of the earliest evidence of humans in the Americas?

A

Buttermilk creek in Texas - 15,000 years ago

Monte Verde in Chile around 14,000 years ago

Broken Mammoth and Healy Lake around 11-12,000 years ago

21
Q

What culture did the earliest Alaskan settlers develop? What are some features?

A

Clovis Culture

Distinct spear points with bifacial, concave and flutes shape.

22
Q

Earliest evidence of humans in Australia?

A

~40,000 years ago at Lake Mungo in South Wales

23
Q

When did humans reach Southwest Europe and what were they called?

A

~45,000 years ago and referred to as Cro-Magnon man

24
Q

When was the long migration out of Africa complete?

Aside from certain Pacific islands

A

~9,000 BCE when groups migrated to the southern tip of S Africa

25
Q

First evidence of religious belief?

A

Coincided with the first creation of art around 77,000 years ago.

26
Q

What are the Venus figurines?

A

Female statuettes (see pg 39) likely related to hunter gatherer fertility cults.

27
Q

When are the cave paintings of Lascaux France dated from?

A

Around 16,000 years ago

28
Q

Which countries are included in the “Fertile Crescent?” What is its significance?

A

Turkey, Syria and Iraq. It’s where agriculture first took place around 8500 BCE allowing towns and civilizations to form.

29
Q

Other than the Fertile Crescent, where else did agriculture develop independently in the ancient world?

A

China’s Yangtze Valley around 7,000 BCE

Mesoamerica and possible Mehrgarh in Pakistan around 6,000 BCE

30
Q

What were some of the earliest plants cultivated? Evidence?

A

Cereals - emmer and einkhorn, barley and rye.

Evidence of this can be found at sites such as Abu Hureyra in Syria.

31
Q

What were some of the first animals domesticated?

A

Goats first, then pigs, sheep and cattle. They provided a reliable source of meat, milk and other animal products.

32
Q

What may have led to an increase in Pastoralism (animal herding) instead of Agriculture?

A

Agricultural stress caused by growing populations

33
Q

What were the main crops originating in the Yangtze Valley of China?

A

Rice and Millet

34
Q

When did agriculture first enter Africa and the Americas?

A

Egypt around 5500 BCE

Sunflowers 4000 BCE. Staple crops of Native American culture (corn and beans) domesticated in Central America around 3500 BCE. Potatoes in the high altitudes of the Andes in 5000 BCE. Llamas domesticated around 4000 BCE.

35
Q

What influenced the need for food storage vessels and pottery

A

Agricultural living

36
Q

Describe some general characteristics of the earliest villages?

A

Compact huddles of mud brick houses. People cultivated domestic crops and kept livestock.

37
Q

What were some of the first villages?

A
  • Abu hureyra, Syria
  • Jericho in the Jordan Valley
  • Catalhoyuk in Turkey
  • Skara Brae in Scotland
38
Q

What are some characteristics of the Catalhoyuk settlement in Turkey?

A
  • Thrived from 7000 BCE for more than 1000 years
  • Rectangular houses very close together and painted with geometric patterns
  • Trade in Obsodian helped thrive
  • Specialized workers
39
Q

When did the advent of copper working come into play? What do copper ores look like and what are they used for?

A

Around 7000 BCE

They have a distinctive green color. Initially used for copper crude axes and beads. Smelting (heating with charcoal) opened up decorative uses.

40
Q

How is bronze made? What are its benefits?

A

Mixing copper and tin together. Much more durable metal for weaponry, armor and tools.

41
Q

When did the Bronze Age begin?

A

Around 3100 BCE when Mesopotamia and Egypt embraced bronze-working. It eventually spread globally spreading to China and Asia in SE Asia.

42
Q

What is a Henge?

A

Circular or oval area enclosed by a bank containing wooden posts or huge stones. We may never know their exact purpose. Stonehenge in southern England is most popular.

43
Q

Characteristics of early Mesopotamia?

A
  • Culture was called Halafian, eventually replaced by the Ubaid culture
  • Domed houses built of clay
  • Relied on long distance trade
  • Buried dead in distinctive graves
  • Used irrigation to increase crop yields
44
Q

What was the name of the two urban centers developed in Mesopotamia?

A

Eridu and Uruk

45
Q

Which god was honored in building Eridu?

A

Enki, ruler of the abyss, who created order from chaos.

46
Q

What are some characteristics of Uruk?

A
  • Arose between 4800-3750 BCE
  • By 2800 BCE it occupies around 615 acres and may have houses 5,000 people
  • Depended on trade networks for goods in exchange for its grain
47
Q

What were some of the earliest towns in predynastic Egypt?

A

Abydos, Nekhen (Hierakonpolis), Naqada.

48
Q

Who is theorized to have unified upper and lower Egypt and when did this occur?

A

Narmer, the first pharoah of the first dynasty

** Aha (Menes) may have been his successor or the same person

World History (3 decks)

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