Ch 1 and 2

History of the Planet-

                Emergence of solar system 4.7 billion years ago

                Life 600 million years ago

 

Most history books focus on only the human species

What we usually study comes in the final days of the December “calendar”

                U.S.A. has been around for only the last second

 

History of human species broken down into three major phases- Paleolithic, Agricultural Revolution and Industrial Revolution

Three Cs of the world history- Change, comparison and Connection

 

Ch1

First 150K years of humans were in Africa

Intro to Eurasia was 45K years ago

Intro to Australia was 60K years ago

Intro to Americas was 15K-30K years ago

Intro to Pacific was 3,500 years ago

 

First human societies were Paleolithic and small bands of 25-50 people

Relationships between men and women were far more equal than later societies

 

Settling Down

Largest change to lives of Paleolithic occurred at the end of the last Ice Age- 16K to 10K years ago

Societies in Japan settled by the sea

 

Agriculture

This replaced gathering and hunting

Revolutionary aspect – relationship between humankind and other living things

Humans were directing the process of revolution

Intensification – more food and resources for less

Simple technology – digging stick/hoe

First full area to experience the Agricultural Rev was the Fertile Crescent

Domestication of plants and animals

 

Ch2

Emergence of Civilizations

Earliest emerged around 3500BC – southern Mesopotamia, Egypt and central coast of Peru

Civilizations had their roots in the Agricultural Revolution

Urban revolution- cities.  Uruk (in Mesopotamia) had walls around the city

Hierarchies of Class and Gender began to appear

Women were thought to be paternalistic and were offered protection but must have submitted to men

Rise of States – organized around cities or large territories

Writing and Accounting began

Interaction and exchange took place often between the early civilizations of Mes and Egypt