A History of Human Civilization.ppt

1、A History of Human Civilization,Jeff Feasel 17 Feb 2006,What well learn,Brief overview of human history. What does the archeological record show? Discuss which factors contributed to human civilization.,When Did Human History Happen?,See Timeline 200,000 BC: Split from all other Homonid species 100,

2、000 BC: Anatomically Modern Humans as shown by fossil bones 50,000 BC: Cro-Magnons (“Mentally Modern”) as shown by archaeology 8,000 BC: First signs of settled life 4,000 BC: Written record begins,Ice Core Sample,Early Migration of Humans,Early Migration of Humans,See Migration Map Long before the l

3、ast Ice Age, people were already spread out through most of Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. Lived as hunter gatherers. No evidence of farming/herding before Holocene.,Arriving in The New World,“Clovis” people Broke from Mongoloid population living in Siberia. Already adapted to arctic conditions Ent

4、ered North/South America via land-bridge on Bering Strait. Exact timing is known because of “airlock” effect. Tremendous boom! Spread from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in less than 1000 years. Mass extinction of large land mammals,The Pace of Civilization,10,000 BC: End of last Ice Age Humans had reac

5、hed every habitable area. Everyone has roughly the same lifestyle: hunter-gatherer. 1400-1600 AD: European Expansion Guns vs. Spears Why did civilization proceed so much faster in some parts of the world than in others? And what does this tell us about civilization?,Who Had What, and Why?,Mesopotami

6、a Egypt Indus River China Mesoamerica Andes hunter-gatherers: Southern Africa Australia / New Guinea Northern / Western Europe North AsiaSee tables: Earliest Domestication of Animals/Plants,Natural Resource: Animals,Table of Domesticated Animals Uses? food, clothing, hunting, transportation, tractio

7、n Necessary for domestication: Pack behavior dominance heirarchy Able to live in dense groups Willing to breed in captivity Usually herbivorous Usually relatively large (50 lbs) (often the same animals youd hunt) No new animals domesticated until after the Industrial Revolution. Compare New World to

8、 Old World. Why such an imbalance of useful domesticatable animals available? Luck-of-the-Draw or Mass Extinction Why werent Old World animals hunted to extinction?,Earliest Domestication of Animals,Natural Resource: Plants,Table of Domesticated Plants Grains and legumes form most of the human diet.

9、 (70% of calories come from cereal) Necessary for domestication: Fast-maturing Large-enough seeds or fruits Storable Not quite as imbalanced as animals, but still. Compare New World to Old World Why did some areas take to farming more than others? Climatic advantage. Incoming solar energy gradient.

10、What are the “sweet-spots”? Band near, but not on, Equator. Which are suitable for GRASSES to grow?,Earliest Domestication of Plants,Bracketed crops were borrowed from other cultures,The Effects of Geography,Climate Migration of people. Diffusion (or stimulus diffusion) of domesticated plants/animal

11、s and technology.,So, what happened to the Native Americans when the Europeans came?,Putting it all together,What is Civilization? What factors allow it to happen?,Factors,Climate Geographical location Available domesticatable speciesFood production (animals, plants) Surplus Sedentary Lifestyle Spec

12、ialization Increased Population Density Germs & Immunity InfrastructureExchange of ideas within culture across culture,Recommended Reading,Cook, Michael. (2005) A Brief History of the Human Race. W. W. Norton and Company, New York. Diamond, Jared. (1997) Guns, Germs, and Steel. W. W. Norton and Company, New York. Diamond, Jared. (1992) The Third Chimpanzee. HarperCollins Publishers, New York.,