Unit 1Strayer, Chapters

1 and 2

Lecture Notes

Mr. Fahler

Dawson High School

AP World History

Period 1: Technological and

Environmental TransformationsMaterials borrowed from

Mr. Duez at http://whap.mrduez.com

Key Concept 1.1: Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth

The term Big Geography draws attention to the global nature of world history. Throughout the Paleolithic period, humans migrated from Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas. Early humans were mobile and creative in adapting to different geographical settings from savanna to desert to tundra. Humans also developed varied and sophisticated technologies

I. Archaeological evidence indicates that during the Paleolithic era, hunting-forager bands of humans gradually migrated from their origin in East Africa to Eurasia, Australia and the Americas, adapting their technology and cultures to new climate regions. a. Humans developed increasingly diverse and sophisticated tools—including multiple uses

of fire--as they adapted to new environments. b. People lived in small groups that structured social, economic, and political activity. These

bands exchanged people, ideas, and goods.

Key Concept 1.1 -- Throughout the Paleolithic era, humans developed sophisticated technologies

and adapted to different geographical environments as they migrated from Africa to Eurasia,

Australia, and the Americas.

First Peoples: Populating the Planet• For 95% our existence, humans have gone

without farming. The means of life was gathering and hunting – not agriculture. • Food collection, not food production• This period was known as the Paleolithic,

or “old stone age” era – approximately 2.6 mya to 10,000 BP – also includes pre-human hominids such as Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens

Homo Erectus & then Homo Sapiens first migrated from Africa.

Evidence: Human genome sequences from Ethiopians & AfricansMigration was S L O W -- VERY SLOW. Only 2-3 miles per generation. They did not take a bike, car, train, or plane. This was on foot, or by small canoe or raft.

“But the most striking and significant change in the lives of Paleolithic peoples occurred as the last Ice Age came to an end between 16,000 and 10,000 years ago. What followed was a general global warming...”

Migration Focus: Into Oceania/the Pacific• Last phase of the great

human migration – started ca. 3,500 years ago

• Included migration by water and very quick migration over long distances

• Austronesian languages spoken – can be traced back to China

• Settled every habitable area of the Pacific basin within 2,500 years – also spread to Madagascar

• Pacific settlers:

• Took agriculture, unlike earlier groups

• Apparently followed a deliberate plan for colonization

• Created highly stratified societies or chiefdoms (e.g. Hawaii)

• Had massive environmental impact on new land

Relative egalitarianism may have existed among men & women because both had such large roles in food production.➢ Patriarchy: not fully recognizable yet

Much of our knowledge of this era comes from modern-day hunter-gatherers such as the Hadza and !Kung peoples.

• Men: Physically stronger did most of hunting• Women: Most of the gathering & cooking **Equally

providing food & seen as equals.Began building simple shelters in areas that lacked natural ones (like caves) → “Paleolithic settling down” – leads to semi-permanent settlements

Roles of Paleolithic Men & Women

Culture Develops Before CivilizationCulture: Learned patterns of

action & expression ▪Material objects (dwellings, clothing,

tools, & crafts)

▪Non-material values (beliefs,

languages)

• The idea of gathering and hunting peoples being “primitive” and impoverished is fading with recent scholarship shedding light on their lifestyles both through anthropology and archaeology.

• Modern studies: they worked fewer hours, wanted or needed little, but had lower life expectancy (35 years)

•During the Paleolithic era, the first people developed rituals to help them deal with human existence.

•Rock art and statues explain what was important to them

•Major belief system: animism – a belief that animals, rivers, and other elements of nature embody spirits – led by shamans

The Realm of the Spirit:

Paleolithic Religion and Art

• Belief amongst some in a cyclical view of timewhich emphasized endlessly repeated patterns of regeneration and disintegration.

Andrew Marr: HOTW “Survival” Part 1: Early

Humans (2:57 – 19:12)

First Farmers: The Revolutions of Agriculture, 10,000 BCE – 3,000 BCE | Strayer Chapter 2

Key Concept 1.2: The Neolithic Revolution & Early Agricultural Societies

In response to warming climates at the end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, some groups adapted to the environment in new ways, while others remained hunter-foragers. Settled agriculture appeared in several different parts of the world. The switch to agriculture created a more reliable, but not necessarily more diversified, food supply. Farmers also affected the environment through cultivation of selected plants to the exclusion of others, the construction of irrigation systems, and the use of domesticated animals for food and labor. Populations increased; village life developed, followed by urban life with all its complexity. Patriarchy and forced-labor systems developed, giving elite men concentrated power. Pastoralism emerged in parts of Africa and Eurasia. Like agriculturalists, pastoralists tended to be more socially stratified than hunter-foragers. Pastoralists’ mobility facilitated technology transfers through their interaction with settled populations.

I. The Neolithic Revolution led to the development of more complex economic and social systems. a. Possibly as a response to climatic change, permanent agricultural villages emerged first in

the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Agriculture emerged independently in Mesopotamia, the Nile River Valley, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indus River Valley, the Yellow River (or Huang He) Valley, Papua New Guinea, Mesoamerica, and the Andes

Key Concept 1.2 -- Beginning about 10,000 years ago, some human communities adopted

sedentism and agriculture, while others pursued hunter-forager or pastoralist lifestyles—

different pathways that had significant social and demographic ramifications.

Olmec

Norte Chico

Huang He Valley (China)

Indus River Valley:

Mohenjo-daro

& Harappa

Mesopotamia

Egypt

I. The Neolithic Revolution led to the development of more complex economic and social systems. b. People in each region domesticated locally available plants

and animals• wheat, rice, corn are the stars of the show• Animals depended on region – Americas: no large

domesticated animals minus the llama! (remember this) c. Pastoralism developed in Afro–Eurasian grasslands, affecting

the environment in a variety of ways.• Pastoralism led to overgrazing, overgrazing led to soil

erosion• For this reason, many pastoral groups were nomadic

d. Agricultural communities had to work cooperatively to clear land and create the water control systems needed for crop production, drastically affecting environmental diversity.• Agriculture = less crop diversity, less varied diets • Agriculture required water control, which required

environmental change for irrigation canals, dams, and food distribution (roads/canals)

Agricultural Revolution - Neolithic Age

“Domestication” The taming, & the changing, of nature for the benefit of humankind—but it created a new kind of mutual dependence. ▪ Many domesticated plants & animals could

no longer survive in the wild & relied on human action or protection in order to reproduce successfully.

▪ Human beings in the agricultural era lost the skills of their gathering & hunting ancestors

▪ Farmers & herders became dependent on their domesticated plants & animals.

Location Dates (b.c.e.) Plants Animals

Southwest Asia (Fertile Crescent)

9000–7000barley, wheat, lentils, figs

goats, sheep, cattle, pigs

China 6500–5000rice, millet, soybeans

pigs, chickens, water buffalo

Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa

3000–2000sorghum, millet, yams, teff

cattle (perhaps 8000 b.c.e.)

Highland New Guinea

7000–4000taro, bananas, yams, sugarcane

—

Andes region 3000–2000potatoes, quinoa, manioc

llamas, alpaca, guinea pig

Mesoamerica 3000–2000maize, squash (perhaps 7000 b.c.e.), beans

turkey

Eastern woodlands of North America

2000–1000sunflower, goosefoot, sumpweed

—

Development of Agriculture:

Amazing that it develops INDEPENDENTLY initially, & then connections are made between early civilizations.

Agricultural Revolution: Deliberate cultivation of particular plants as well as taming & breeding of particular animals. Dramatic change from food gathering to food production. Systematic Agriculture & domestication of animals gave humans the ability to acquire food on a regular basis.Took place over centuries & millenniaGenuinely revolutionary transformation of human life. Provided the foundation: Growing populations, Settled villages, Animal-borne diseases, Horse-drawn chariot warfare, Cities, States, Empires, Civilizations, Writing, Literature, & much more.

Development of Agriculture:

Amazing that it develops INDEPENDENTLY initially, & then connections are made between early civilizations.

Dramatic change, allows humans to forgo nomadic lifestyle. 1st occurs in Middle East.

Selection of high yield grains by women, like barley, wheat & lentils improves living conditions. Allows populations to increase.

Agriculture: 2nd great human process - After settlement of the globe.

An “intensification” of living: Getting more food & resources from much less land.More food led to more people, more people led to greater need for intensive exploitation.

Agricultural Revolution - Neolithic Age

• Agriculture is a recent development in world history.An adaptation to the unique conditions of the latest interglacial period has radically

transformed human life & life on the planet

One species, Homo sapiens, was given growing power over other animals & plants

• Agriculture also gave some people the power to dominate others

Common Patterns of Agricultural Development & Domestication of Animals

It’s really all about the Aggies & Longhorns, isn’t it?Agricultural Revolution = Domestication of Animals/Livestock (Longhorns!) + Systematic Agricultural (Aggies!)

II. Agriculture and pastoralism began to transform human societies a. Pastoralism and agriculture led to more reliable

and abundant food supplies, which increased the population and led to specialization of labor, including new classes of artisans and warriors and the development of elites.

b. Technological innovations led to improvements in agricultural production, trade, and transportation. • Pottery• Wheels/wheeled vehicles

c. Patriarchal forms of social organization developed in both pastoralist and agrarian societies.

- Pottery: used to store the surplus of grain- Use of metals: (metallurgy) Marked a new level of human control over their environment- Earliest form of writing - Cuneiform developed

Effects of the Neolithic Revolution

Where in the world is this? And why is this place important?

Where in the world is this? And why is this place important?

Fertile Crescent: Region sometimes known as SW Asia that includes modern states of Iraq, Syria, Israel/Palestine, & S Turkey; earliest home of agriculture.

Jericho: Site of important early agricultural settlement of perhaps 2,000 people in present-day Israel.

Mesopotamia: Valley of Tigris & Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq.

Where in the world is this? And why is this place important?

Mastering the art of farming led to complex societies and the development of armies to protect walled cities

One early city was Catal Huyuk, located in present day Turkey. Built mud-brick homes. Catal Huyukmeans Forked Mound.

High point from 6700 to 5700 B.C.

Archaeological excavation & conservation by an international team started in 1993 under the direction of Dr. Ian Hodder of the Çatalhöyük Research Project, Stanford University. Catal Hukuk is one of the first major human settlements.

Where in the world is this? And why is this place important?

Agricultural Village Societies

• The most common/characteristic form of early agricultural societies• General equality and freedom –

weak central govt. • Later: Development of

inequality• Know: Catalhuyuk in Turkey•Weak politically but important as

trade hubs – these are continuitiesthrough history as they exist alongside larger empires and groups• Especially in Africa (Niger River)

2 Early Neolithic Towns: Catal Huyuk & Jericho

Modern Jericho pictured

Economic and Political Effects of Agriculture“Secondary Products Revolution”: Term used to describe series of technological changes that began ca. 4000 b.c.e., people began to develop new uses for domesticated animals, exploiting a revolutionary new source of power.

Stateless Societies: Village-based agricultural societies, usually organized by kinship groups, functioned w/o a formal government.

Agricultural Societies compared to Paleolithic Hunting & Gathering:

● Experienced greater social inequality● Larger & more densely settled● Were less mobile (exception - pastoral societies)

▪ Developed advanced technologies, including techniques for making pottery, weaving textiles, & metallurgy

▪ Life & health was not necessarily better. ▪ Farming involved harder work than gathering & hunting. ▪ Agricultural diets often nutritionally poorer, more

vulnerable to famine should crops fail.

How did early agricultural societies differ from

Paleolithic era?

Pastoral Society: Human societies that rely on domesticated animalsrather than plants as the main source of food; pastoral nomads lead their animals to seasonal grazing grounds rather than settling permanently in a single location. KC 1.2.I.B. ➢ Because it is more difficult for them to develop, they tend to be poorer – most

civilizations we cover will be agricultural except for…

Social Variations in the Age of Agriculture – while there are similarities in

terms of why agriculture developed, there are differences in what it meant

for various human societies.

Key Concept 1.1: Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth

I. Archaeological evidence indicates that during the Paleolithic era, hunting-forager bands of humans gradually migrated from their origin in East Africa to Eurasia, Australia and the Americas, adapting their technology and cultures to new climate regions. a. Humans developed increasingly diverse and sophisticated tools—including

multiple uses of fire--as they adapted to new environments. b. People lived in small groups that structured social, economic, and political

activity. These bands exchanged people, ideas, and goods.

Key Concept 1.1 -- Throughout the Paleolithic era, humans developed sophisticated technologies

and adapted to different geographical environments as they migrated from Africa to Eurasia,

Australia, and the Americas.

Key Concept 1.2: The Neolithic Revolution & Early Agricultural Societies

I. The Neolithic Revolution led to the development of more complex economic and social systems. a. Possibly as a response to climatic change, permanent agricultural villages emerged first in

the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Agriculture emerged independently in Mesopotamia, the Nile River Valley, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indus River Valley, the Yellow River (or Huang He) Valley, Papua New Guinea, Mesoamerica, and the Andes

b. People in each region domesticated locally available plants and animalsc. Pastoralism developed in Afro–Eurasian grasslands, affecting the environment in a variety of

ways.d. Agricultural communities had to work cooperatively to clear land and create the water control

systems needed for crop production, drastically affecting environmental diversity.

Key Concept 1.2 -- Beginning about 10,000 years ago, some human communities adopted

sedentism and agriculture, while others pursued hunter-forager or pastoralist lifestyles—

different pathways that had significant social and demographic ramifications.

II. Agriculture and pastoralism began to transform human societies a. Pastoralism and agriculture led to more reliable and abundant food supplies, which

increased the population and led to specialization of labor, including new classes of artisans and warriors and the development of elites.

b. Technological innovations led to improvements in agricultural production, trade, and transportation. • Pottery• Wheels/wheeled vehicles

c. Patriarchal forms of social organization developed in both pastoralist and agrarian societies.

Key Concept 1.2: The Neolithic Revolution & Early Agricultural Societies

Key Concept 1.2 -- Beginning about 10,000 years ago, some human communities adopted

sedentism and agriculture, while others pursued hunter-forager or pastoralist lifestyles—

different pathways that had significant social and demographic ramifications.