Ancient Civilizattions

Australopithecus

200,000 BCE

Existed 4.5 million years ago
It was the first Hominid.
Located in central Africa (Present Day Ethiopia)
They lived in the trees and they ate fruits and nuts. They were animal like
Start of the evolutionary chain

Homo Habilis

200,000 BCE

2.5 million years ago.
Means abled human.
They had larger brains so they could learn from each other better.
They were the first ones to use stones as a form of tool.
Teardrop shaped hand axes
Allowed them to hunt and process things.
Important because its the next step in our evolutionary chain.

Homo Erectus

200,000 BCE

1.8 million years ago
Translates to the upright man.
Located in Northern, Eastern, and Western Africa.

Homo Sapiens

200,000 BCE

200,000 years ago
Evolved in Africa
Translates to Wise Man
Made smaller, more complex tools like fishhooks, bows and arrows, and sewing needles.
They started to grow food and herding animals

The Development of Fire

200,000 BCE

1.5 Million Years Ago
Created by the Homo Erectus
Provided warmth, protection, improvement of hunting, and the ability to cook food
South Africa has the oldest evidence of controlled fire
This invention was a huge step in the development of humans

Creation of Stone Tools

200,000 BCE

Evidence of stone tools that date back to 2.5 million years ago
The common creations were hammerstones, stone cores, and sharp stone flakes.

Spears

200,000 BCE

Invented an estimated 500,000 years ago
Combined a wooden shaft, mixed adhesives and a stone that had been chiseled to a lethal point
Was another big part of evolution because it would amplify the killing power of early hunters, it also demonstrated that they had developed more complex decision making. It also allowed them to be able to kill bigger animals, this brings more food and allows the hunters more time to focus on other activities.

Traveling Near the Coastline

200,000 BCE

As people started to leave Africa they often traveled along the coastline
This gave then a water supply from the rivers that went to the ocean
The coastline also supported many varieties of food sources

Mount Toba Eruption

73,000 BCE

A volcano in the Barisan Mountains in Sumatra Indonesia
75,000 years ago
The largest volcanic eruption in 2 millions of years
All the ash in the atmosphere made it harder for the sun to reach the earth
Put the world into a 1,000-year long volcanic winter
The average world temperature dropped 3-5 degrees Celsius
Started the Ice Age
Caused most of the human population to die

Mount Toba Eruption Cont.

72,000 BCE

There were areas of the earth that were plentiful with food were refugees for the remaining humans. This made the humans have to migrate to the refugee areas. This made people more aware of the migration paths. Once the people were all located in the same place, they were able to grow food faster and begin to repopulate the earth.

Out of Africa Theory

65,000 BCE

All humans originated from homo sapiens that were in Africa 2,000 about generations ago
They then spread throughout Eurasia and eventually the rest of the world over the next hundreds of thousands of years
They often traveled along the coastline so they had food sources and it was easier traveling even though it was sometimes a longer pass.

The Invention of the Fish Hook

40,000 BCE

Usually made from bone, shell, horn, bird’s beaks, or constructed with a wooden shank and a flint point
Evidence of fishing hooks dates to about 42,000 years ago
This gave people another source of food
They were able to fish in larger bodies of water and catch bigger fish. This also gave them a more stable food supply while they were migrating and doing other travels.

Land Bridge

13,000 BCE

15,000 years ago
It connected Asia and North America
It went underwater when all the ice started to melt and the water levels went up
It helped people migrate back and forth from Asia and North America. It also was a bridge for animals, the people could follow the animals easier.

The Neolithic Revolution

10,000 BCE

The Agriculture Revolution
People started farming and herding animals
First originated in present-day Iraq
It started about 10,000 BCE
Spread to Africa and Europe as the "Fertile Cresent" became drier
Diseases spread more quickly because of the animals
The impact that the Neolithic revolution had on the lives of the ancient people was that it helped to jumpstart the advancement of technology.