Beginnings - 600 BCE

Origins of Humans and Early Human Societies

History and Prehistory

• Modern human beings have existed for about 200,000 years.
• Writing was invented about 5000 years ago.
• History before writing is known as prehistory.
• We need to take history with a grain of salt as the writers might have added embellishments.
• Anthropology: The study of human and past human societies.
• Archaeology: A subset of anthropology that focuses on past human societies.
• Paleontology: The branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants.
• Scientists use techniques like radiocarbon dating and potassium-argon dating to estimate the age of past objects.

Homo Sapiens and Early Human Migration

• Homo Sapiens is part of a group called hominids, which were the earliest humanlike creatures.
• Though there were once many kinds of hominids, only one remains: Homo Sapiens.
• Hominid family shared the trait of bipedalism: the ability to walk upright on two legs.

• The Aridity/Savannah Hypothesis states that a climate event took place which removed a lot of the trees forcing the hominids to walk on the ground.
• Between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago, Homo Sapiens began migrating from the African continent and populating parts of Europe and Asia.
• The development of language around 50,000 years ago allowed people to make plans, solve problems, and organize effectively to even travel.
• When humans migrated from Africa to colder climates, they made clothing out of animal skins and constructed fires to keep themselves warm.
• Humans began to use the earth’s resources in new ways when they constructed semi-permanent settlements.

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