Turning Points in Early World History
The Emergence of Humankind
- The human evolutionary line (Homo Sapiens) originated 5-6 million years ago in eastern and southern Africa
- 20-30 species of Homininae or hominid (human like creatures) that shared bipedalism (ability to walk on two legs)
- as time passed brains began to grow
- 2.3 million years ago, Homo habilis made and used tools
- 1 million years ago, Homo erectus migrated from Africa and discovered fire
- All these species died out, except Homo sapiens, emerging from Africa as well about 25o,ooo years ago. Migration started about 1oo,ooo years ago to Eurasia, Australia and eventually the Western Hemisphere
The Globalization of Mankind
- Major human migrations took place in the paleolithic ("stone age") era
- During this era Homo sapiens began to colonize the world
The Revolution of Farming & Herding
- As of 2008, 6.6 billion people lived from food grown on farms and gardens, & domestic animals
- Before 11o,ooo years ago humans lived as hunting-gathering societies
- Food production initially depended purely on luck, climate and soil -- & on the conditions and wildlife available for domestication
- Age of Agriculture
- Farming & herding resulted in huge increase of population
The Turning Point of Civilization
- The appearance of civilizations is recent, not until several thousands of years after start of agriculture did cities and states appear -- around 35oo B.C.E
- Even well after 1ooo C.E., many people lived in unstructured communities, however, structured states and citys were the most powerful of the communities, evoking huge cultural changes, the class system, religion, new technologies, & warfare on a much larger scale.
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