Revision details

Mammoth hunt, not tests!

TOPICS FOR REVISION:

BC, AD, BCE, CE

◦The Stone Age (use the quizzes on this blog to help you revise).

◦Neanderthals – don’t confuse them with Natufians!

Summary:The Neanderthals appeared about 300,000 years ago and died out about 35,000 years ago. Their brains were larger than ours; they were strong and well-adapted to the ice ages; they made tools and they were effective hunters. Perhaps most interesting of all, they buried their dead and looked after the old and infirm. YET they did not survive.

Modern humans, called homo sapiens (wise or knowing man [person]) developed more sophisticated tools than the Neanderthals did. They were the first to create art works as far as we know.  They are generally believed to have developed more complex language skills than Neanderthals. They are the only hominid to farm and learn to write, but they did not begin to do so until long after the Neanderthals had become extinct. For most of their history (that’s our prehistory!) they were hunter-gatherers. That period and lifestyle lasted for almost 2 million years.

The Old Stone Age (hunting and gathering) and the New Stone Age (farming and herding)

◦The hunter-gatherer lifestyle dominated human life from 2 million years ago until about 10.000 years ago, and continued in many parts of the world for much longer.

Summary: People moved from place to place. In other words, they were nomads, who followed the migrating herds of wild animals and moved around to find wild plants. They hunted wild animals for meat and gathered wild foods such as berries, nuts, fruits, vegetables and eggs, using stone tools and weapons. Their lives would have been harsh and difficult at times.  They had to find food during the Ice Ages, suffer fractures and injuries caused by hunting and deal with constant uncertainties about food, especially in the less fertile areas.

◦The farming and herding lifestyle began to develop in the New Stone Age; advantages and disadvantages of each kind of lifestyle

Domesticated for 10,000 years, woolly and, in this one's case, exceptionally friendly - photo taken by my sister Barb and used with her permission
Domesticated for 10,000 years, woolly and, in this one’s case, exceptionally friendly – photo taken by my sister Barbara and used with her permission

Summary: Farming and herding began about 10,000 years ago in the Middle East and spread from there to Europe. It also began independently in Asia and the Americas a little later. It changed human societies and lifestyles in many ways. For instance, people could stay in one place and gradually build larger settlements.  People’s jobs began to vary more within more complex societies, with specialists such as builders, potters and leaders, etc. People began to have more possessions, which needed to be protected from theft and conquest. Since the land was being farmed intensively, it could support a denser population. In short, this change to farming and herding, many anthropologists believe, was the basis for more structured and more hierarchical societies.

Primary and secondary sources in history

A primary source is any source created at the time being investigated. This might include: a mummy from the time of the ancient Egyptians, a letter from a World War 1 soldier to his family in Australia, a medieval castle, a tomb painting from ancient Egypt or a painting from Renaissance Florence.

A secondary source is written or created much later and might include: an artist’s representation of a gladiatorial fight, an encyclopedia entry about Tutankhamen, a blog article written by me, an essay about a historical topic written by you, the explanations in your textbook and so on.

The Hierarchy of Ancient Egypt – You need to focus on the “buzz words” that will help you to describe a hierarchy. To do this, look through your notes and pay attention to your original handout and the blog post below this one. Here are some of the words and phrases you will need.

Useful words for describing a social hierarchy
Useful words for describing a social hierarchy

• A social hierarchy is a ranking system in which people are positioned according to …

• In ancient Egypt people were placed in different levels of the hierarchy based on their …

• The people who were higher in the hierarchy had more power, status and wealth

• One factor that influenced people’s prestige and importance was their education. A scribe was considered more important than a peasant farmer because writing and reading were valued and admired skills. In the same way, an artisan such as a stonemason had a skill that was valued in the society.

• Another factor was their birth. If your family was related to the pharaoh, then you would always be more important than a peasant farmer…


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