FROM THE PALEOLITHIC TO THE NEOLITHIC:The Sedentarization of Man

Sec. 1 HistoryMiss Witczak, HRHS.

What were some of the characteristics of the Paleolithic Era (the Old Stone Age)?

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PALEOLITHIC ERA Approx. 2 MILLION

BCE to 9000 BCE Lived in SMALL

GROUPS OF 20-30 PEOPLE

HUNTER-GATHERERS Division of LABOUR:

Men HUNTED and FISHED

Women GATHERED food and CARED FOR CHILDREN.

NOMADIC Followed WILD GAME

and RIPENING FRUIT Invented CLOTHING Made TOOLS from

ROCK, WOOD and BONE.

CAVE PAINTINGS were RELIGIOUS RITUALS.

Eventually learned how to MAKE FIRE.

PALEOLITHIC TIMES

WHAT CHANGED? Sedentarization is

THE PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF A PEOPLE IN A TERRITORY.

This began in APPROX. 12 000 BCE.

People began to SEDENTARIZE in the MIDDLE EAST.

This area is called the FERTILE CRESCENT. It is so-named

because of its GEOGRAPHICAL SHAPE and the RICHNESS OF ITS SOIL.

Today, this region includes ISRAEL, JORDAN, SYRIA, LEBANON and EGYPT.

THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD The NEOLITHIC

PERIOD is characterized by the SEDENTARIZATION OF HUMANS.

This word is of GREEK origin and it is made of of the words NEOS, meaning “NEW” and LITHOS, meaning “STONE”.

It is also called the NEW STONE AGE.

CONDITIONS WHICH ALLOWED FOR SEDENTARIZATION AGRICULTURE

Emerged around 10 000 BCE in the FERTILE CRESCENT.

This is called the AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

Humans noticed that SEEDS buried in the EARTH would sprout and grow into PLANTS.

They used this OBSERVATION to develop AGRICULTURE.

By FARMING, sedentary peoples could obtain LARGER AMOUNTS OF FOOD and learned that PLANTS could be made into TEXTILES (FABRICS TO MAKE CLOTHES).

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY Emerged around

8000 BCE. People realized they

could DOMESTICATE ANIMALS which ATE GRAIN.

CAPTURED HERDS of animals and kept them in ENCLOSURES.

Raised ANIMALS for FOOD.

DOGS used for HUNTING and GUARDING herds.

Approx. 4 000 BCE, humans use DONKEYS and HORSES as BEASTS OF BURDEN.

WOVE WOOL and USED FUR from certain animals (ex: SHEEP, RABBITS, LLAMAS) to make CLOTHING.

DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALSANIMAL DATE AREADOG 11 000 BCE Middle EastSHEEP 8000 BCE Middle EastGOAT 8000 BCE Middle EastCOW 8000 BCE Middle EastPIG 7000 BCE Middle EastHORSE 4000 BCE Western AsiaLLAMA 4000 BCE AndesDONKEY 35000 BCE Middle EastDROMEDARY 3000 BCE ArabiaGOOSE 3000 BCE Southeastern

EuropeCAMEL 2500 BCE Central AsiaCHICKEN 1000 BCE Pakistan

CHECK IT OUT! https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuVK6aHZyfQ

This short video illustrates a hypothesis about the human domestication of animals, most notably dogs. There is a reason they’re called Man’s Best Friend: they’ve been with us for over 13 000 years!

SOCIETAL TIES A society is a CERTAIN

NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS who: LIVE TOGETHER COORDINATE THEIR

ACTIVITIES SETTLE IN A TERRITORY ORGANIZE

THEMSELVES TO BETTER MEET THEIR NEEDS

ESTABLISH LASTING RELATIONSHIPS

HOW WERE NEOLITHIC SOCIETIES ORGANIZED? Land Development

People SETTLED near their AGRICULTURAL FIELDS and PASTURES.

VILLAGES were very CONDENSED, meaning that the BUILDINGS were CLOSE TOGETHER.

Surrounded by a STONE WALL

Housed 150-200 PEOPLE.

CATAL HUYUK is one of the WORLD’S OLDEST VILLAGES. It is located in PRESENT-

DAY TURKEY. Home to 7000 PEOPLE. Houses were SQUARE or

RECTANGULAR and made of BRICK.

NO STREETS: houses were CONNECTED TO ONE ANOTHER.

INSIDE WALLS were painted with FRESCOES.

CATAL HUYUK, 6000 BCE.

NOTION OF OWNERSHIP When HUMAN

BEINGS began producing their OWN FOOD, they started to CLAIM TERRITORY for themselves.

People wanted to PROTECT THEIR CROPS.

FERTILE LANDS became a SOURCE OF CONFLICT.

DIVISION OF LABOUR As a result of FOOD

SURPLUS, the POPULATION GREW.

New DIVISION OF LABOUR

SKILLED TRADES emerged.

SPECIAL TRAINING developed for CERTAIN JOBS.

NEW ACTIVITIES included MINING, BASKET-MAKING, POTTERY, WEAVING, METALLURGY and WAR.

New JOBS lead to new SOCIAL GROUPS within the SOCIETIES.

DIVISION OF LABOUR (IN ANCIENT EGYPT)

TRADE NEOLITHIC PEOPLES

exchanged GOODS and SERVICES without the use of MONEY.

This is called the BARTER SYSTEM.

Ex: LIVESTOCK BREEDERS exchanged MILK for JARS or BASKETS.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS know that the NEOLITHIC PEOPLE traded ACROSS REGIONS because they found RAW MATERIALS far away from their REGIONS OF ORIGIN.

This means that MERCHANTS travelled LONG DISTANCES to TRADE PRODUCTS.

POLITICAL POWER In NEOLITHIC

VILLAGES, the amount of WORK that needed to be done required a great deal of ORGANIZATION.

SOCIETIES needed POLITICAL STRUCTURE.

SOCIAL HIERARCHIES developed due to POWER DIFFERENCES between GROUPS.

VILLAGE COUNCIL Hypothesis: An ASSEMBLY gathers

together the FAMILIES of the village to make COMMUNITY-BASED DECISIONS.

CENTRAL AUTHORITY Hypothesis: A SINGLE LEADER,

advised by his CLOSE FAMILY and FRIENDS, controls the VILLAGE and COORDINATES the work.