Prehistory, History, and Beginnings
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The document provides an overview of prehistory, beginning with a definition and description of the fields that study this period such as geology, paleontology, anthropology, archaeology, and ethnography. It then discusses early humans including Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens. Finally, it covers some key developments like the earliest cave art and paintings, architecture, language, writing systems including cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieratic and demotic scripts, and the importance of the Rosetta Stone in deciphering hieroglyphs.
Prehistory, History, and Beginnings
- 2. Prehistory Encompasses the period before historical documents Various fields work together to provide information Geology—(geo-,Earth; -ology, study of) the study of the Earth’s rocks and their patterns of change Paleontology—(paleo-, ancient) the study of prehistorical life Anthropology—(anthro-, human) the study of human cultures and societies Archeology—(arche-, old, out of date) a branch of anthropology that specializes in prehistoric life and earlier civilizations Ethnography—(ethno-, culture; -graphy, field of) the field looking at relationships of culture to those listed above
- 3. Earlier Humans Australopithecus (Latin australis"southern", Greekpithekos"ape‖) ~ 3 Million BCE sharp rocks for skinning and chopping Homo habilis (Latin homo ―man/human‖, habilis―handy, useful‖) ~ 2.5 – 1 Million BCE tools (signifying the development of culture), problem-solving, and attempt to master nature Homo erectus (Latin homo ―man/human‖, erectus ―upright‖) ~ 1.5 – 0.5 Million BCE more advanced tools for efficient work Neanderthals ( ―from Neander‖) ~ 150,000 BCE – Present burial of dead showed self-awareness and possible anticipation of life after death Homo sapiens (Latin homo ―man/human‖, sapien―rational‖) the surviving class of Neanderthals from roughly 80,000 BCE (classification depends on resource) communication as the primary distinction from all other classes and species
- 4. Time Periods Prehistory/History Boundary (~10,000 BCE) Paleolithic Mesolithic Chalcolithic Neolithic Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age Minoan civilization Assyrian begins Republic assault/ earliest first Parthenon falls agricultural Rome cave Egyptia unification founding society art n ofBabylonian forms bone tools pharaoh Empire use of basis of and weapons burial rituals domestication pictograms monotheism Alexander the Great of the dead of animals PaxRomana conquests development of ends population growth Sumer Egypt advanced and trade begins (first civilization) Phoenician lastmigration alphabet weapons and sharpened of Paleolithic rocks more use of ~ 3700 BCE ~ 500 BCE Ancient History (1 AD) fire people
- 5. Earliest Cave “Art” made use of natural minerals for basic colors natural images were depicted, such as animals and hands both prey and predators are thought to be shown speculation leans towards hunting rituals or story-telling purposes very little showing human figures outside of hands hands thought to be highlighted because of use with tools and hunting later drawings show stick figures in hunting Cuevas de las Manos, Argentina (Mesolithic, ca. 9,000 BCE)
- 6. Cave Paintings Sequence of images for a possible event Shading and hues Pictorals and various methods Lascaux, France cave complex (Paleolithic, ca. 18,000 BCE) Bhimbetka Caves, India (Mesolithic, ca. 8,000 BCE)
- 7. Earliest Architecture Dwellings were huts from natural elements, such as straw Ritualistic or religions forms were simple structures, such as megaliths or mounds
- 8. Beginning of Language pictographs/pictograms—graphic images that looked like the items they represented, i.e. cave paintings; began around 3,000 BCE, likely as a result of trade ideogram—combination of pictograms to represent a complex concept, i.e. hand and bow for to hunt phonetic system—one symbol having a single sound associated with its use, rather used individually or in combination with others, i.e. ka for mouth, mi for food, kami (or kamit) for to eat Cuneiform took pictograms and altered a literal drawing into wedge structures somewhat resembling the items they represented. Cuneiform was not one language but a new system of representation that was found in multiple settlements of early civilization. Phonetic systems followed, eventually developing further and spreading through trade and war.
- 9. Cuneiform Uruk tablet, unknown language, clay, ca. 3300 BCE Fara tablet, Sumerian, clay, ca. 2600-2500 BCE
- 10. Cuneiform Adab (Old Assyrian), Sumerian, clay, ca. 2340-2200 BCE
- 11. Cuneiform Babylon tablet, Akkadian language, clay, ca. 323-63 BCE Kültepe (Old Assyrian), form of Assyrian, clay, ca. 1950-1980 BCE
- 12. Egyptian Writing • Three primary forms of writing were used in Egypt, depending on the readership: Hieroglyph ca. 3100 BCE - 400 AD mostly pictograms with some phonetic implications; combinatorial properties allowed for names to be represented primarily used for royal and formal purposes, inscribed in stone, pottery, and sometimes ivory Hieratic ca. 2000 – 500 BCE a cursive form with variations throughout development, creating a stronger phonetic system of writing primarily used for religious and administrative purposes of less formal applications while still having an educated readership that allowed faster writing
- 13. Egyptian Writing • Three primary forms of writing were used in Egypt, depending on the readership: Demotic ca. 650 BCE - 450 AD resembles cursive style of hieratic but is considered a separate style rather than a form no longer made use of icons or representations written horizontally and rightward used for daily purposes
- 14. Coptic Coptic ca. 100 BCE - 640 AD considered an Egyptian language form by some scholars but debated as a combination of Greek influence during the fall of the Egyptian civilization borrowed from Greek and Semitic languages 24 Greek letters for a phonetic alphabet with six signs from Demotic to substitute sounds not found in Greek Unlike hieroglyphs, it was a fully alphabetic system with vowels and consonants. constituted the last phase of Egyptian writing
- 15. Coptic “The language that has the largest army behind it is the one that survives.” —Anonymous
- 16. Rosetta Stone Discovered in 1799 by Napoleonic militia It contains three languages— hieroglyphic, Demotic, and the standard Greek which developed in the Hellenistic period (323 BCE – 31 BCE)—with the top portion broken but the bottom two sections complete. Demotic and Greek were understood at the time, and it was thus reasoned that the upper section translated the same content into hieroglyphs—the first time hieroglyphics were understood after the fall of the Egyptian rule of pharaohs. In the early 1800s it was translated as a historical account of war efforts of King Ptolemy, who reigned during its creation.
- 17. Critical Thinking With so many different fields contributing to the knowledge of prehistory (paleolithic period), why do you think there is still so little definitively known about much of human existence pre-10,000 BCE? If humans became capable of developing tools for surviving between 1-2 million years ago, why might it have taken them so long to develop further to modern day? Scholars suggest that 99% of human ―technology,‖ that is the tools we use for innovation to survive and make life easier, was developed in our prehistorical period—but our inventions were basic before 10,000 BCE. What evidence do you believe might support scholars’ arguments that 99% of our invention was in prehistory and everything after is innovation? Ritualistic and/or religious structures were built before primary writing systems were used. What does this say about the human society from prehistory or as a whole? Why might King Ptolemy have his historical account translated into three different languages on one tablet?