Five thousand years ago writing changed the worldHow?

Prehistory – time before writingHow do we know about this time?Historians – scholars who study and

write about the historical pastWhat do they use to figure out what

happened?

Artifacts – objects made by humans in the past – ex. Clothes, coins, art, tombstones…written evidence Is what is written always reliable? What if it is written by someone who was

there? A witness to the occurrence? What bias might a person have? What is bias? Historians attempt to explain the past

clearly and unbiased

Anthropology – the study of the origins and development of people and society Focus on how humans acquired physical

traits over time – like what? Focus on the culture of a society / peopleCulture – way of life of a society

-their beliefs, values and practices -handed down from one generation to

the next. -How? -what are some of our / your cultural

aspects?

Archaeology – subfield of anthropology Study of past people and culture through

the remains they left behind…to figure out how they lived. Like what?

Tools, weapons, writings Are they wrong? why or why not? New

evidence? Change? How do they know how old artifacts are?

Relative Dating – similar items are grouped together and put in order according to their style Lower levels to higher levels – Higher = newer Lower = older When the age of some items are known,

items around them can be approximately dated

Absolute Dating – determine the age of an artifact due to actual physical deterioration Bones lose chemicals at a certain rate – test

them Wood grains – can tell how old a piece of

wood is Carbon 14 decay in biological matter This way we can tell if items that are found

next to each other are the same age or not

Technique – procedure or skill What is needed to find artifacts or

archaeological dig sites 1800’s – early 1900’s – guessing game! Now … we use technology to help find spots to

dig – digitally map out areas, enter data and let the computer decide the best spot to dig

Also, communication with other professionals to help determine the: age of rocks – Geologist. Plant and animal identification – Zoologists and Botanists

Pre-1950, we did not know much about prehistory…which is what?

Mary and Louis Leakey – Anthropologists – 1930’s – Worked in East Africa – Canyon in Tanzania called Olduvai Gorge

Explored layers of sediment in canyon dating back to 1.7 -2.1 million years ago… prehistory?

Found ancient tools made of stone – sign of technology

Technology – skills and tools people use to meet their basic needs and wants Prehistoric tech vs. current tech.As the Leakey’s explored the newer layers they

found advanced technology…smooth and polished tools

1959 – found skull of early hominidHominid – group that includes humans and close

relatives but must meet this requirement:*must walk upright on two feet*humans are the only hominids alive today

Legends of other Hominids?

Donald Johanson – Anthropologist – 1974Found pieces of single hominid – 3 million

yrs. how do you think this was dated? Relative

or absolute?Named the partial skeleton “Lucy”. Why?Australopithecus – earliest group of

hominids“Lucy” was one of theseLived in Africa around 7 million yrs. ago

Homo Habilis – 2 million yrs. Ago “Handy Man” – first hominids to make tools Cutting, scraping, chopping, sawing How did they make these tools? Have discovered tools about 2.6 million

years old. Who made them? Homo Erectus – 2 million years, fully

upright “Upright Man” – larger brains and bones –

smaller teeth than Homo Habilis – First to use fire and hand axe Found in Asia and Europe – first to migrate

out of Africa Disappeared 250,000 – 100,000 years ago

Homo Sapiens – modern humansTwo theories theories

1) developed in Africa and then dispersed from there

2) Homo Erectus evolved into homo sapiens at about the same time around the world

“multi-regional hypothesis” Modern humans bred with archaic humans and overtook them

Two Groups of Homo Sapiens:Neanderthals and Modern HumansLived mostly in Europe and AsiaSpread all over the rest of the worldAround 50,000 – 60,000 years ago

Neanderthals died outWhy?Who was left?

Row 1: Pliopithecus, Pronconsul, Dryopithecus, Oreopithecus, Ramapithecus Row 2: Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Advanced Australopithecus, Homo Erectus, Early Homo Sapiens, Solo Man, & Rhodesian Man Row 3: Neanderthal Man, Cro-Magnon Man, Modern Man

Color Transparency 2: Locations of Hominid Finds in Africa

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Who?Otzi the Iceman was 5'5" tall, weighing in at 84 pounds. He was aged 46 years at the time of his death and hailed from the Copper Age, in Neolithic times.  He spent his childhood in an Italian village called Velturno, to the north of Bolzano.  Otzi enjoyed long walks through the hilly terrain of Italy, suggesting that he was perhaps a mountain shepherd, since his level of mobility is not common to most copper Age Europeans.  He had approximatley 57 tattoos of simple dots and lines.

Why?So, why was the discovery of Otzi the Iceman so monumental?  It was because his corpse gave scientists and archeologists an unrivaled view into the lives of humans during the Copper Age, which had previously been, for the most part, a mystery. Understanding the Copper Age is important because it was a time when advanced metal working, like smelting, first emerged. Otzi was also a pop culture phenomenon.  There has been countless books written about him and he even stars in a play.