Human Migration And Settlement Powerpoint

HUMAN MIGRATION AND SETTLEMENT

mi·gra·tion [ mī gráysh'n ] 1) movement from one place to another: the act or process of moving from one region or country to another

2) group moving between places: a group of people, birds, or other animals that are moving together from one region or country to another

There are no historical records that track the paths of migration of the earliest humans. Scientists piece together the story of human migration by examining the tools, art and burial sites they left behind and by tracing genetic patterns. These fossils and DNA provide strong evidence that modern human beings (Homo sapiens) originated in Africa in about 100 000 BCE during the Palaeolithic period or ‘Old Stone Age’. It is called this because early people used very basic stone tools to help them survive. The fossils and DNA evidence strongly supports the theory that the human race started out of Africa; however, even with these clues, much information about early human migration is uncertain.

Draw in the arrows on your sheet, showing the different routes people took out of Africa.

• It is not known for certain why the movement out of Africa began. The early humans lived a huntergatherer lifestyle, which could be a difficult one, as it relied heavily on the weather conditions and how many animals and plants were available to eat. When the climatic conditions changed, the early humans reacted by moving on to other areas. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5orVEJburQ Watch video explaining the earliest human migration (right click and open hyperlink).

Evidence of Human Migration Proof of the migration of early humans can be found at many archaeological sites around the world. This includes caves, cliff and rock shelters, open campsites and middens. Middens are pretty much ancient rubbish heaps, which are filled with the litter of early human life; such as bones, shells, seeds as well as broken tools and arrowheads. They allow archaeologists to estimate when humans arrived in the areas where they are found. In recent times, scientists have used something called molecular biology to learn about the migration patterns of early humans. By comparing DNA from fossils with DNA from modern humans, scientists can try to work out how Homo sapiens settled the Earth and when changes or splits in the population occurred.

We can also tell where people migrated to by the many paintings and artefacts that have been discovered by archaeologists. One of the most famous finds was in France at a place called Lascaux. Here, a huge cave was found containing over 600 realistic paintings of bison, ox, stag, mammoth and various other animals. These paintings are estimated to have been drawn in about 17 000 BCE. The paintings managed to remain preserved all this time because of the unusual atmospheric conditions inside the Lascaux Caves. http://vimeo.com/40849516 (open link for a virtual tour of the cave). Discuss as a class, why these pictures may have been painted and what they might mean.

THE STONE AGE • Historians divide the Stone Age into three different periods based on the sophistication and methods of tool design. The first such period is referred to as the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age. Some scientists say the Old Stone Age began about 2 million years ago with the development of the first tools and lasted until around 12,000 years ago.

• The Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age, began around 12,000 years ago and continued through about 8,000 years ago. • The Neolithic, or New Stone Age, lasted from 8,000 years until around 5,000 years ago. As the Stone Age progressed, the tools people used became more and more advanced. From simple rocks to sharpened stones to tools made from bones antlers, teeth and ivory. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/stone-age-toolkit.html (open link to complete ‘Tools Of The Stone Age’ worksheet)

The Neolithic Revolution During the Neolithic or New Stone Age, a new way of providing food emerged that would change humanity forever – farming. Instead of hunting and gathering food from the environments where they lived, humans learned to simply grow their own food. Grains such as wheat, barley, rice and corn were grown in different parts of the world. Wild animals were also domesticated. Goats were kept for their meat and milk, while cattle, pigs and chickens provided a steady source of food for the support of a group of humans.

• Farming allowed people to build villages along rivers, or wherever the ground was fertile enough for crops to grow. Archaeologists have found some villages that are believed to have been built more than 8,000 years ago. Some of these ancient villages, such as Jericho, still survive to this day.

• With an plenty of food and permanent shelters, people had more time to spend developing new technologies. Better farming equipment, such as the ox-driven plough, were invented. The wheel helped humans greatly in transporting goods from one location to another. The loom allowed people to weave cloth and create finer and more comfortable clothing.

Tools were created for measuring the passage of time, such as calendars, star charts and sundials. This helped farmers track when the growing season would arrive, and when the best time to plant crops would be. The Neolithic ended when people stopped using stone tools and started to use tools made out of metal. No one really knows how or why people started to use metal tools rather than stone; the inventors of metal tools didn’t write anything down. Scientists think people started using copper and gold for ornaments and jewellery before they started using metal for tools. The reason scientists think jewellery came first is because they have found human skeletons surrounded by metal jewellery and stone tools. Play ‘Agriculture’ video (on the J-Drive). Discuss as a class.

The watch ‘First Cities Appear’ video. Discuss as class and fill in the ‘Cities society and Civilisations’ worksheet as you go.

• As tools and farming techniques improved, the groups of people living and working together began to grow. Groups of people living and working closely together in cities are called societies. As mankind began to develop more complex ways of life, and as cities began to increase in size and complexity, a new type of society emerged. These societies are known today as civilisations. For a city or society to be known as a civilisation, it needs to have 9 specific features, which show that is an organised and advanced group of people. Open your ‘SOSE Alive History 1’ text book to page 18 and read through the information as a class. Then fill in the ‘Features of a Civilisation’ part of the sheet.

As cultures became more complex and evolved, they needed to keep records about their societies. Priests began to record who had donated religious offerings, traders recorded their transactions among different groups of peoples, and leaders recorded their victories in battle, as well as laws for their people to follow. Written language began as pictures known as glyphs. These glyphs represented objects and ideas. Over many thousands of years these glyphs have evolved becoming the letters that we use today. Many writing examples have been found in Egypt and Iraq that are to do with the trading of grain, land, and animals. As Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), ancient Egypt, and ancient India traded with each other, it is possible that the idea of writing could have spread between them. Mesopotamia was part of the Sumerian culture. Their early writing has become known as cuneiform (wedge-shaped) due to its style. In Egypt, one of the oldest examples of a pictogram is the name of a Pharoah, possibly written in about 3400 B.C. These ancient Egyptian symbols are called hieroglyphs and are thought to have developed from cuneiform symbols.