prehistoric man

Prehistoric Man

• Prehistory is the period that begins with the appearance of the human being, about five million years ago, and finishes with the invention of writing, about 6,000 years ago.

• It is a long period divided into three stages: the Palaeolithic Age, the Neolithic Age and the Metal Age.

Hominization

• Hominization is the evolutionary process that results in the present human being. It was a very long process.

Australopithecus

Australopithecus• The first ancestors of the human beings appeared

about five million years ago. They were quite similar to chimpanzees.

• Face proportions (a flat nose, a strongly projecting lower jaw) and braincase (with a small brain, usually less than 500 cubic centimeter) and a body that stood on two legs and regularly walked upright.

• Height: Males: average 4 ft 11 in (151 cm); Females: average 3 ft 5 in (105 cm)

• Weight: Males: average 92 lbs (42 kg) ; Females: average 64 lbs (29 kg)

Homo Habilis

Homo Habilis• Two million years ago a new human species

called Homo Habilis appeared. They made tools of stone and lived on hunting and gathering. Homo Habilis lived in Africa.

• Has a slightly larger braincase and smaller face and teeth than in Australopithecus.

• Height: average 3 ft 4 in - 4 ft 5 in (100 - 135 cm)• Weight: average 70 lbs (32 kg)

Homo Erectus

Homo Erectus • Appeared a million and a half years ago. This

species discovered and learned how to use fire. Homo Erectus remains have been found out in Africa, in Europe and Asia.

• Body proportions with relatively elongated legs and shorter arms. Braincase relative to the size of the face. Have the ability to walk and possibly run long distances.

• Height: Ranges from 4 ft 9 in - 6 ft 1 in (145 - 185 cm)

• Weight: Ranges from 88 - 150 lbs (40 - 68 kg)

Homo Antecessor

Homo Antecessor • is an extinct human species discovered in the

Atapuerca site ( Spain). He appeared about 800,000 years ago. Most probably he is the oldest European.

• Brain size: approximately 1000 cc • Body size and shape: similar to modern

humans, but more robust, males averaged about 1.6-1.8 metres tall.

• Robust teeth, receding chin.

• Then, about 100,000 years ago Homo sapiens appeared. This species is divided into two subtypes: Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis or Neanderthal man and Homo sapiens sapiens.

Neanderthal Man

Neanderthal Man • Neanderthal man looked like us but he was more

robust and sturdy. This species became extinct.• Some defining features of their skulls include the

large middle part of the face, angled cheek bones, and a huge nose. Their bodies were shorter and stockier than ours.

• Height: Males: average 5 ft 5 in (164 cm); Females: average 5 ft 1 in (155 cm)

• Weight: Males: average 143 lbs (65 kg); Females: average 119 lbs (54 kg)

Homo Sapiens Sapiens

Homo Sapiens Sapiens • Homo sapiens sapiens is the species we belong

to. Archaeologists have found remains of Homo Sapiens in America and Australia.

• Body size and shape: Modern humans now have an average height of about 160 centimetres in females and 175 centimetres in males.

• Brain: average brain size of about 1350 cubic centimetres which makes-up 2.2% of our body weight.

• Jaws are short which result in an almost vertical face.

• Teeth are relatively small compared with earlier species.

• Legs are relatively long compared with the arms.

Palaeolithic Age

• The Palaeolithic Age began with our first ancestors and finished about 10,000 years ago. During that period, human beings used tools made of stone and lived on hunting and gathering.

The Palaeolithic Age

Hunters and Gatherers• The first human beings

survived because they hunted, fished and gathered wild fruits.

• These groups of human beings were nomadic.

• The groups that they formed are called tribes.

How Palaeolithic human beings used stone:

• Paleolithic means Old Stone. In the Palaeolithic objects were made of stone, wood and animal bones. Most objects were made of stone and that is why this period was also called Stone Age.

• The technique to make tools and objects out of stone was very simple. They knocked two stones together until they got small pieces from one of them. These pieces became cutting objects. They used them to hunt and cut animals skins and meat. Examples of objects made of wood and animal bones are: harpoons, needles and lances.

The Discovery of Fire

• Fire was discovered about half a million years ago.

• For human beings in the Paleolithic Age it was one of the most important discoveries.

• The climate was extremely cold and with fire they could heat and light their caves, cook their food and frighten wild animals away

Cave Art• Palaeolithic tribes decorated their

caves walls with paintings and made sculptures to keep these divinities favourable to them. Among the sculptures that they made the Venus forms were exceptional.

• The most famous prehistorical paintings are in the caves of Altamira, in Spain, and Lascaux, in France. This kind of art is called cave art

Neolithic Age

• In the Neolithic Age, which began about 10,000 years ago, human beings lived in villages. Human communities cultivated the land and raised cattle. Agriculture and cattle raising gave rise to a productive economy.

The Neolithic Age

• Human beings discovered agriculture and cattle raising about 10,000 years ago in the Middle East ( Mesopotamia, Egypt)

• Hunting wild animals and gathering fruits and plants were not the only way of getting food. They learnt to cultivate plants and domesticate animals.

• When human beings knew how to produce their own food their lives changed. This process is so important that we call it revolution.

• When men and women started to live in villages, there was a specialization of work.

• Some people cultivated fields, other people looked after the animals and others made weapons, fabrics, and other objects.

• There were two important technical innovations in the Neolithic Age: fabrics and pottery.

• They produced fabrics from animals wool using tools like bone spindles, and rudimentary looms.

• Pottery was made by hand and baked in a bonfire.

Cave PaintingsThe Neolithic Art• Art is an excellent testimony of the

way human beings in the Neolithic Age lived.

• The human figure becomes more important in the paintings in the caves and artists began to paint scenes: groups of people hunting, harvesting vegetables or dancing. Figures were very schematic.

Metal Age

• We call the the Metal Age to the period beginning about 7000 years ago, when human beings started to make objects out of metals.

The Metal Age Inventions• The wheel, the sail and the

plough were invented in the Middle East about 5000 years ago. We still use them today.

• The wheel had different applications: for transportation being used in carts pulled by bullocks or in pottery wheels to make better ceramic pieces.

The First Cities

• Agriculture, cattle raising and the new technical advances, improved peoples lives. Because of this, population increased. Some villages became small cities with hundreds of inhabitants.

• Cities were encircled by walls, and inside there were buildings with different functions: houses, stores, shops or workshops. First cities houses were small, their walls were made of adobe or stone and their ceilings were made of straw.

Art of the Metal Age: Megalithic Monuments

• In the late Neolithic Age, human beings built what we can call the first monuments using big blocks of stone, called megaliths (Big stones). The main monuments were menhirs, dolmens and cromlechs.

Menhirs

• Menhirs were big, long stones vertically driven into the ground. Menhirs were probably religious constructions dedicated to worship the sun.

Dolmens

• Dolmens were collective burial places. They were composed of big, long vertical stones which formed a wall and were covered by several horizontal slabs of a great size.

Cromlechs

• Cromlechs were wide circles formed by several menhirs. They were probably used as sanctuaries.