Exam 1 Flashcards
Homo sapiens
The first humans; they emerged in small region of Africa about 200,000 years ago and migrated out of africa about 100,000 years ago. They had bigger brains and greater dexterity than previous hominin species whom they eventually eclipsed. Homo sapiens mean “wise man” have technical skills and they are adaptable They lived as hunter and gatherers for 150+ years
Neanderthals-
members of an early wave of hominins from Africa who settled in western Afro-Eurasia, in an area reaching from present-day Uzbekistan and Iraq to spain, approximately 150,000 years ago. Closer to homo sapiens than we think
Migration
long distance travel for the purpose of resettlement. In the case of early humans, the need to move was usually a response to an environmental shift, such as climate change during the Ice Age. Food supply was a big factor on why they migrated because they would with the seasons and animals. The environment had an effect on when they could migrate. The rivers could overflow and sometimes they could migrate places since sea level was low. We tracked Migration with DNA as a diverse and not as individual people.
Hunter-gatherers
Lifestyle in which food is acquired through hunting animals, fishing, and foraging for wild berries, nuts , fruit, and grains, rather than planting crops,vines, or trees. As late as 1500, as much as 15%of the world’s population still obtained food by this method
Small groups usually like a dozen no more than 100
Need to help eachother out when hunting
Extended family
Collected food
leisure time - this was when language was evolving as well as faces and music
They were resourceful but they were also very destructive. They would hunt animals to extinction/ trample things until they were dead
Deforestation and erosion was caused by them since they would take away trees which helped contribute to the erosion
Transhumant Herders
Nomads who entered settled territories in the second millennium BCE and moved their herds seasonally when resources become scarce
Followed migrating animals and learned that animals are creatures of routine
Start heading which manipulated the environment a little. They would try to make sure that they stayed in their own valleys so they would not have to go searching for them
Cultivation where they planted seeds and give water
This happened where there was warmer weather because it was easier to plant
First Great Transition-
was a long process and had a lot of change in climate which made it difficult to stay in one place. It went warm to cold and it made less ability to migrate
There were some drawbacks to this such as health and died which helped with the life span, they were only dependent on the local environment which was very bad since they didn’t know how to migrate, and labor intenses. During this time period a lot of diseases were forming and they couldn’t get better. With not alot of moving you start to forget how to migrate and become more dependent on the environment. On top of all of this no one really knew why people were going into agriculture
Domestication
Bringing wild plants and animals under human control
Key qualities were to eat in a domestic environment, be able to breed in captive area, not eat humans (for animals)
Goats and sheep were the first domesticated
Other domesticated animals included water buffalo, cows, pigs, horses, 2 camels, and more there were 13 large mammals
It was successful and happened in different places from each other
Agriculture only a few hundred around 12 crops produced most worlds food
Beringia Land Bridge
prehistoric thousand mile long bridge that linked siberia and north America. About 18,000 years ago, Homo sapiens edged into this landmass
Radio-carbon dating
what allowed us to know when clovis theory happened
Clovis Theory
Found bones and stone tools and spear heads
found in New mexico
Sea levels were low so he was allowed to travel from siberia to north america following the animals that were migrating
Monte Verde Theory
Sats that maybe clovis missed something
They discovered something 2000 years earlier
Beringina standall was an updated version on how people came to the americas
DNA evidence shows that everyone might not of come all at once
Don’t know how successful it was
Cowrie Shells
used as currency: China, Southeast Asia,India, East Africa; main source: Maldives (indian ocean); they are shells; one of the first universal currencies out there (before gold, silver, ect); they are hard to counterfeit; they are a testament of long distance trade
Mesopotamia
Richest First to learn how to farm First city state Main river was tigris and Eurphrates which would flood at unpridictable times which could be dangerous in terms of farming Political structure was Uruk
Hammurabi’s Code
First Laws in existence; Some of these crimes have capital punishment; They want you to fear the law so you do not break it. Trying to take away the attempt to steal; Legal code created by hammurapi, the most famous of the mesopotamian rulers, who resigned from 1792 to 1750 BCE. Hammurapi sought to create social order by centralizing state authority and creating a grand legal structure that embodied paternal justice. The code was quite stratified, dividing: free men, dependent men, slaves, each with distinct rights and responsibilities.
Gilgamesh
ancient sumerian story that was a oral tradition then it is written on a stone that is then dug up and is translated so we can read it; he was a king, created by the gods with a perfect body strong and he is attached to the king “Hero of the story”, Enkidu( man of the forest or wild man) meets a prostitute who is attached to the religious establishment who teaches Enkidu about civilization; Enkidu and gilgamesh become best friends and have adventures together go to the cedar forest and now they can chop down trees in the cedar forest which you can use to build stuff create fires; Enkidu died because gilgamesh and him have been getting the gods mad.
