AN01b1_Ch01- The Peopling of the World: Humans Try to Control Nature

Timeline: ~10000 BP - 5500 BP (Neolithic Age)

FS: How can people answer questions without books, modern machines, and the Internet?

Main Idea: Culture is a trait peculiar to humans. The archaeological record shows that pre-humans
lived an existence where instinct, rather than culture, may have dominated daily routines. However,
Homo Neanderthalensis exhibited traces of a developing cultural awareness in their burial sites that
may reflect the early stages of cultural development in Homo Sapiens.
Initially, natural phenomena, like death, were inexplicable in a pre-scientific society. Over time,
many other experiences, formerly unexplainable, came to be explained via the development of myths.
The myths, along with rituals developed in tandem.
The revolution in food production establishes a foundation for early river valley civilizations.
This change is comprised of many other small changes involving technology, animal domestication
and transforming social roles. Among some of the smaller changes we would include: New and better
stone tools, Use and improvement of metal tools, Harnessing animal power, and Increasing social
complexity.

CCSS...

I. Vocabulary
A. Proverb: A written expression of a cultural 'truism' generated over time and passed down
from generation to generation.
B. Culture: Customs/ traditions, values and norms of a particular group of people. Culture varies
with a group's historical context.
C. Cultural Diffusion: The process via which hybrid cultures are created when two or more
cultures come in contact.
D. Myth: Greek for Poetic Story.
E. Neolithic Age:Literally means New Stone Age.A period in human history from ~10,000 BP to
5,500 BP marked by the use of increasingly specialized tools made of stone. The period ends
as metal tools replace stone (Copper, Bronze, Iron Ages). (Remember: Homo
Neanderthalensis has already become extinct in Asia by 50k BP, in Europe by ~40k BP)
F. Revolution: Contextually, it refers to drastic and quick change.
G.Neolithic Revolution:The rapid advancement in the domestication and cultivation of crop
plants during the Neolithic period. In addition, many animals were similarly domesticated at
this time. Such advancements contributed to the abandonment of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle
for an agrarian (sedentary) lifestyle.

II.Migrations from Africa and Development of Culture
A. East toward the Far East
B. South toward Southern Africa
C. North toward Europe
AN01b1_Ch01- The Peopling of the World: Humans Try to Control Nature


1. Enroute to East Asia, pre-humans
1
and humans
2
spread into Europe, Central Asia, &
South Asia.
2. By ~50,000 BP, the Bering Straits is bridged by land exposed by lower global water levels
(the polar ice caps fixed a greater volume of water than at the present.) Anatomically
modern humans cross the straits into the Western hemisphere.
3
(Homo
Neanderthalensis became extinct in Asia by 50k BP, in Europe by ~40k BP)
3. Glacial corridors
4
allow human migration southward into the South American continent.

1
Homo Erectus

2
Anatomically modern (Homo Sapien).Recent research, since 1997,now suggests that Homo Neanderthalensis evolved outside of Africa and
is not in the human evolutionary chain.
3
An explanation for crossing over to the Americas could have been the hunting of animal prey that migrated regularly to North America via the
land bridge over the straits. Since no comparable predator existed in the western hemisphere, humans immediately climbed to the top of the
food chain and flourished.
4
Corridors refers to areas of exposed earth (or minimal glacial ice) between large segments of glaciers. These glaciers covered portions of
North America from the Arctic Circle southward beyond the northern border of the lower 48 States of the United States.

III. Myths
Myths are often accepted as the records of religious events that are too ancient to provide some of the
literary proof we've come to expect in modern writing. Think of a newspaper article, textbook chapter,
etc., these modern examples of writing provide data that can be further researched to establish, with a
degree of certainty, that the events highlighted occurred at a certain time much as they were described.
Myths, lacking some of these modern attributes of nonfiction writing, still serve an important role for the
researcher.

Since myths were already ancient by the times civilizations developed, they carried great cultural
importance. That importance earmarked myths as prime candidates for recording when writing became
feasible. In written form, myths acquired immortality and represent some of the oldest and most sacred
of religious texts.

For the anthropologist, myths are a 'window' into the values of early societies. Often, myths from
different lands and time periods appear to be similar. If a society shared many of the same values, it's
logical to think they would have similar myths.

A. To pre-scientific societies, myths helped explain natural phenomena and answer questions
about human origin, earthly purpose, and mortality. Creation myths offer an explanation for the
historical and/ or present condition of a people. Often, these questions could not be answered to
anyones satisfaction in any other manner. In essence, myths develop over time to address a
gap in a culture's history. Myths...
AN01b1_Ch01- The Peopling of the World: Humans Try to Control Nature
1. Show the wonders of the universe/ nature.
2. Relate the universe to our lives.
3. Validates a social order. (Who should be leaders, followers, honored, revered, etc.)
4. Teaches us how to live under a variety of circumstances.
5. Myths explain the human condition/ nature as products of divine intervention. 'History,'
therefore, is predominantly a result of divine forces and not the will of Man.

B. Myths reveal that...
1. gods intervene.
2. gods are anthropomorphic
3. there is a Human Divine Connection
4. 'Floods' serve to cleanse the earth and punish.
5. Kings are divine or divinely chosen.
6. Heroes' live long lives but often the lives are very difficult.
7. Questions are posed and addressed that focus on Immortality, divine knowledge,
morality, etc.

How can we explain the similarity in content (and moral) of these and other myths?
1. Joseph Campbell:* The Human psyche is the same all over the world. Archetypes are the
common ideas of myths.
2. Cultural Diffusion: Contact on one or more levels (conquest, commerce, assimilation,
etc.) between cultures could partially explain how myths from a few cultures are similar.

IV. Climate Change andNew Tools Contribute to a Farming Lifestyle
A. Warmer + Drier = increased world food supply (Ice Age ends 18,000 BP + glaciers begin
receding). Increased food supply as grasses populate open areas revealed by the retreating ice
sheets. Three weeks of labor cultivating grains and other domesticated crops meets the calorie
needs for one year.
1.Fertile Crescent: Nile, Tigris-Euphrates Rivers- Wheat, Barley, Rye (~9000 BP)
2.China: Huang He River- millet (~8000 BP)
3.Mesoamerica: Corn(~9000 BP)
4.Andean: Potatoes (~7000 BP)
B. Population pressures [Increased food supply in environment = more people]
C. Domestication of animals [horses, dogs, sheep, goats, pigs-meat, milk, wool]
#
V.The Transformation of Human Communities- The Revolution
The agricultural revolution had such a profound impact on society that many people call this era
the "dawn of civilization." During the same period that the plow was invented, the wheel, writing, and
AN01b1_Ch01- The Peopling of the World: Humans Try to Control Nature
numbers were also invented. During this period, stratification became a major feature of social life.The
elite gained control of surplus resources and defended their position with arms. This centralization of
power and resources eventually led to the development of the state. As the rich and powerful
developed statehood, they often used itto further consolidate their gains. These 'revolutionary' changes
have left traces in the ruins of very early permanent settlements- Jericho and Catal Huyuk (8,000 -
10,000 BP).


VI. Impact of the Neolithic Age
This age marked a 'revolution' in agriculture (which replaced hunter-gathering as the dominant
source of calories) and culture. Many societal roles, especially those that would appear in the civilized
societies of the ancient river valley peoples, have their origins in the developing agricultural
communities of the Neolithic age. Men, for example, turn from 'hunter' to 'farmer'. Women, who were
previously responsible for a major portion of the family's caloric intake as 'gatherers', are now
increasingly relegated to duties in a confined area (home, garden, etc.). The pivotally important role of
providing sustenance to the family has shifted toward the Man and away from the Woman. This shift in
roles has many implications on other roles men and women fill in the developing 'sedentary' lives of
agricultural communities.

Ponder: What does the quote below reveal about the increase in trade and specialization of labor
found in Neolithic (sedentary) societies?
Agriculture allows humanity to think between meals...[Sir Mortimer Wheeler]

* Joseph Campbell was a world-renowned expert on human myths. His famous TV series of discussions with PBS's Bill Moyer in the 1980's
(and the accompanying text) is the source I tapped for portions of this lesson.

The Jedi Sanctuary <http://www.jedisanctuary.org/articles/index.php?page=joseph-campbell>, accessed Sept. 07.

Materials/Sources:Refer to the course calendar for additional assignments and pertinent due dates.
What Makes a Hero? A TED Ed lesson at http://blog.ed.ted.com/2014/08/07/what-makes-a-hero-3-ted-ed-lessons-about-
fictions-finest-figures/
World History: Patterns of Interaction