Human Migration amp Beginning of Agriculture Setting the Stage Who are we Ev idence suggests humans could be much older than originally thought Scientists use artifacts to search for answers ID: 778315
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Slide1
The Earliest Humans
Outcome: Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Slide2Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Setting the Stage: Who are we?
Evidence suggests humans could be much older than originally thoughtScientists use artifacts to search for answersArtifact: human made objects like tools and jewelryUnfortunately, prehistory can leave more questions than answersPrehistory: time before the invention of writing
Slide3Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Important: The
story is not complete
and there are many questions left to answerTwo prevailing ideas (you will not be forced to pick a side):Creation: Idea that a higher power put humans on earthEvolution: Theory that humans evolved from another being
Slide4Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Interesting Evidence Found in Africa
Anthropologists
(people who study culture) and paleontologists (people who study fossils) attempt to use artifacts and fossils to understand early human’s cultureCulture: a people’s unique way of life
Slide5Lucy
Slide6Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Lucy
Unusually
complete skeleton of female hominidHominid: being that walks upright on two legsDiscovered by Donald Johanson in 1974 in AfricaNamed after Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”Dated to be 3.5 million years old
Slide7Laetoli Footprints
Slide8Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Laetoli
Footprints
Two hominid footprints preserved in volcanic ash in AfricaFound by anthropologist Mary Leaky in 1978Dated to be 3.6 million years old
Slide9Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Neither
Lucy nor the
Laetoli footprints were made by actual humansOther beings such as Cro-Magnons, homo erectus, & Neatherthals walked the earth before we didNo link to these beings has been made; “missing link”
Slide10Migration out of Africa
Slide11Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Humans Migrate
Humans are known as
homo sapiens which means “wise men” due to brain sizeEventually homo erectus & homo sapiens migrated out of AfricaEarly humans were nomads or highly mobile people who move from place to place foraging, or searching for new sources of foodAll early humans were also hunter-gatherersHunter-gatherers: those whose food supply depended on
hunting animals
and
collecting
plant foods
Estimates show they started leaving Africa around
125,000
years ago
Slide12Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Settled in
Europe 33,000
years ago, China 67,000 years ago, Australia 38,000 years ago, North America 12,000 years ago, and South America 12- 33,000 years agoWe know this due to similar stone tool artifacts found in different regions that date to roughly the same time periodShows that early humans used technology: applying knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet their needs
Slide13Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Why did they leave Africa?
Competition with other humans
Following animal herdsHuman curiosity
Slide14Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Agriculture Changes Everything!
Early nomadic humans lived in bands of
25-70 peopleAround 10,000 years ago, the Neolithic Revolution began: the beginning of farmingIt started accidentally when some women scattered seeds near a campsite and noticed crops growing there when they came back next seasonRising temperatures worldwide provided longer growing seasonsFarming produces more food than hunting or gathering
Slide15Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
More food means a
higher population
, thus more laborDue to labor and farming methods, permanent settlements developedPermanent settlements turn into villages, villages turn into cities, cities turn into civilizationsOnce you reach a certain population, you can begin specializationSpecialization: the development of skills in a specific kind of work (other than farming)
Slide16Human Migration & Beginning of Agriculture
Slash & burn
farming was used (cut a field and burn it for nutrients)
Domestication or taming of animals began as well
Slide17Coming Up Next…!
Eventually all of this led to the creation of the first civilization on Earth in
Mesopotamia
called Sumer