Darwins Tea Party Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Last update

Darwin’s Tea Party Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Last update: Fall 2016

Timeline: Prehistoric Era Ü I. PREHISTORIC ERA (Origins to 6, 000 ya) Origins Period (15 bya to 2. 5 mya) Origins of the universe (“Big Bang”) 15 bya Origins of the Earth (5 bya) Origins of Life (3 bya) Origins of Hominids (Australopithecus) hominid biological evolution 5 mya II. Paleolithic Period (2. 5 mya – 10, 000 ya) Australopithcus, Homo erectus, H. habilis, hominid biological evolution Emergence of Homo sapiens (150, 000 ya? ), human cultural evolution III. Neolithic era (10, 000 – 6, 000 ya) “Invention” of agriculture and animal husbandry Birth of civilization/history/end of prehistory 6, 000 ya to now

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Biological knowledge is human knowledge of the living environment. Ü The living environment includes animals (including humans), plants, and microorganisms Ü Biological Knowledge has been crucial to the survival and spread of Homo sapiens (Human beings) from the very beginning.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü This presentation looks at Biological Knowledge during the prehistoric period; specifically, from the upper (more recent) Paleolithic (100, 000 ya) era to the end of the Neolithic era (6, 000 ya). Ü The main question it examines is: how has biological knowledge transformed human society?

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Paleolithic Era (2. 5 mya to 10, 000 ya) Ü The earliest human societies survived by hunting and gathering of fruits and other wild vegetation. Ü They also scavenged from already dead animals. Ü These are called hunting and gathering societies

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge “The Hadzabe, an indigenous nomadic huntergatherer population in northern Tanzania…” Nationalgeographic. com Ü Photograph by Jenny Kubo Ü

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Paleolithic Era (2. 5 mya to 10, 000 ya) Ü Hunter-gatherer society was relatively small (a few hundred at the most) Ü Hunter-gatherer society was also relatively egalitarian (no rich and poor)

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Paleolithic Era (2. 5 mya to 10, 000 ya) Ü The biological knowledge of huntinggathering societies included: Knowledge of the habits, behaviour and properties of animals in their environment. Knowledge of the nutritional, medicinal, toxic, hallucinogenic and other properties of plants, herbs, roots and tubers in their environment.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Paleolithic Era (2. 5 mya to 10, 000 ya) Other kinds of knowledge possessed by hunting -gathering societies is demonstrated by the stone tools and weapons they created and later discovered by scientists.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Paleolithic Era (2. 5 mya to 10, 000 ya) Ü Hunter-gatherer societies lasted for over one hundred thousand years Ü This is much longer than all of recorded history Ü Today only a few such societies remain

This map shows the gradual disappearance of the hunting-gathering way of life.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Early hunter-gatherers-scavengers depended on Knowledge of animals and plants for their survival. Ü Some of this traditional knowledge is being sought out by modern science, however, much of it is now lost due to the expansion of modern society (“civilization”) into their natural environment.

Early evidence of knowledge and appreciation of animals comes from caves Prehistoric Biological Knowledge such as that of Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Cave painting of three aurochs (now extinct) from Lascaux, France.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Note depiction of a bison and a human figure Ü The bison seems to have gored or is about to gore the human figure

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Today there are only a few remaining prehistoric cultures that still survive by hunting and gathering.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Such groups include the Waorani of the Amazon rain forest Ü The Waorani culture has accumulated an impressive body of biological knowledge Ü They know all of the intimate details of the key plants and animals in their environment Ü Waorani with blow gun Zoltan Kacs http: //zoltantakacs. com/zt/pw/na/index. shtml

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Like other hunter-gatherer cultures, their biological knowledge focused on recognizing: The valuable properties of plants, roots, herbs Medicinal properties of the living plants and creatures in their environment The habits and valuable properties of animals in their environment See text for an example Working with a Waorani Shaman in the Amazon (Ecuador). Photo by Steven R. King, 1996 Connie Veilleux and Steven R. King, Ph. D. Linda Morganstein, editor An Introduction To Ethnobotany http: //www. accessexcellence. org/RC/Ethnobotany/pa ge 2. html

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Photo by Clayton Robarchek; ©all rights reserved. “In the late afternoon, a young Waorani mother strips fibers from leaves for string-making. The fibers will be boiled and dried before being rolled into string and then woven into nets, hammocks, and bags”. Clayton Robarchek and Carole Robarchek, Waorani: The Contexts of Violence and War. Harcourt Brace and Company 1998 http: //webs. wichita. edu/anthropology/faculty/robarchek/

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Though huntinggathering societies have almost disappeared, many writers claim that we remain huntergatherers in our behaviours and attitudes. Ü They argue that behavior patterns laid down during this and earlier periods in our Ü

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü 10, 000 ya, a new form of society that would eventually spell almost the end of hunting and gathering society emerged.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge The Birth of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (The Agricultural Revolution)

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge The Agricultural Revolution Neolithic era (10, 000 -6, 000 ya) Ü About 10, 000 ya large scale irrigated agriculture began to develop in various parts of the world. Ü This is called the Agricultural Revolution or the Neolithic Revolution Ü It radically changed both human society and human relationship to the environment

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge The Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic era, 10, 000 -6, 000 ya) The Fertile Crescent The Middle East, also called the “Fertile Crescent”. Shown here with modern political borders. The green zone is the fertile area. This is where large scale irrigated agriculture began about 10, 000 ya. Ü Can you recognize any bodies of water, countries or rivers here? Ü

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge The Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic era, 10, 000 -6, 000 ya) Ü Agriculture led to sedentary existence and the first permanent villages.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge This is an artisit's recreation of the village of Çatal Hüyük in what is today Turkey. The village had a population of between 5, 000 and 6, 000 people and was built around 6800 B. C. Notice that the houses are built so close together that one had to enter each house through a hole in the roof. Çatal Hüyük (c. 6800 BC) The Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic era, 10, 000 -6, 000 ya)

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Çatal Hüyük (c. 6800 BC) Sedentary life, allowed for new inventions and tools to emerge The Agricultural Revolution (Neolithic era, 10, 000 -6, 000 ya)

Catal Huyuk reconstruction http: //khannold. wix. com/worldhistory#!__paleo-neo-photo-gallery

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Many of the implements and tools shown here date back to late Paleolithic times. An exception is pottery which emerges only with the sedentary, agricultural way of life

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge The stone axe, hoe and sickle were tools developed in the early part of the Agricultural Revolution. Obviously, useful for an agricultural way of life.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Along with agriculture came animal husbandry, which refers to the domestication, and rearing of animals. Ü This includes all the familiar farm animals we now know, like chickens, goats, sheep, cows, etc…

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Can you guess what was probably the earliest animal to become domesticated? Ü Clue: This animal was also useful to the paleolithic hunters-gatherers.

Ü Nearing Zero Archive List

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Agriculture and animal husbandry was eventually able to sustain more people per square kilometer than hunting and gathering.

This map shows how agricultur e required far less land to sustain the same number of people.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü Agriculture and animal husbandry eventually provided food surpluses that could be stored. Ü Agriculture also sparked an increase in human population

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge www. smalltownproject. org

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Specialization of occupations Ü The food surpluses meant that not everyone needed to work at producing food. Ü In the early Neolithic Villages, people began specializing in different tasks in exchange for food.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Specialization of occupations Many, of course, remained full time farmers Ü Potters could produce pots and vases for storing things Ü Brick builders could produce bricks Ü Bakers could bake bread Ü Craftsman could make jewelry or other items, tools, implements, etc…

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü In other words, society was becoming more differentiated and more complex. Ü Society was also becoming more stratified or more hierarchical, with growing class differences in wealth and status (i. e. , poor and rich, rulers and ruled). Ü The availability of a storable food surplus was a precondition for this

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Ü By 6, 000 ya (4, 000 BC) some of the small Neolithic villages had grown to be large towns and then the world’s first cities. Ü These first cities, became the centers for another kind of society called civilization.

End of Prehistory and Beginning of Civilization. The Ancient Sumerian city of Uruk in southern Mesopotamia, c 3, 000 BC? (artist’s reconstruction).

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Civilization: the end of prehistory/beginning of history The ancient city of Babylon

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Civilization: the end of prehistory/beginning of history The modern city of New York

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Civilization: the end of prehistory Ü Civilization, in its various forms, continues to be the dominant way of life or culture (society) in the world today. Ü The Agricultural Revolution is thus crucial because it triggered the development of the first urban civilizations. Ü Along with this, agriculture and especially civilization enabled specialists to emerge who could improve technology, including, e. g. , the invention of metal tools and weapons.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Civilization: the end of prehistory Ü With the birth of civilization, the prehistoric ends and the historic period (history) begins.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Summary Ü Earliest human societies: huntergatherers Existed during Paleolithic era (2. 5 mya – 10, 000 ya) Hunted for animals and gathered vegetation for food (i. e. , food finders). Small scale, relatively egalitarian societies Key biological knowledge: knowledge of animals and plants in their environment.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Summary Ü Second earliest human societies: Neolithic farmers Existed during Neolithic era (10, 000 – 6, 000 ya) Agricultural (Neolithic) Revolution causes change in society Hunters begin farming for food and raising animals (animal husbandry) (i. e. , food producers). Larger scale, more complex and stratified societies develop Key biological knowledge: knowledge of agriculture and raising, breeding of animals and plants in their environment.

Prehistoric Biological Knowledge Summary Ü Third earliest human societies: ancient civilization Exists after Neolithic era to the present (6, 000 ya to now) Neolithic villages eventually grow to become first cities (birth of civilization). Civilization now the dominant type of society on the planet Even larger scale, more complex and more stratified than Neolithic Key biological knowledge: Knowledge explodes in various fields (see text)

The End