Chapter 1 8/31/2018

Chapter One

 "First Peoples; First Farmers"

After reading chapter one, I learned a lot of things about the first people and farmers. I will talk about the things that stood out to me the most, and that I found interesting. I learned that Africa was the place where "human revolution" began, as well as culture, first known as the homo sapiens. This was about 200,000-250,000 years ago.  This is also the place where humans began their technological innovations like axes, stone blades, even tools made out of bones. They used these tools for hunting and fishing. More advancements in human culture, technology, and migration started happening after.

Although there were many years to keep track of, just knowing an estimate of when and where helped me visualize a time line. The map in the book also helped. So, after Africa, humans migrated to the Middle East, and then onto Europe and some east of Asia. However, among those areas, in the book the author stated that the areas that were carefully researched were in Southern France and nothern Spain. Something I thought was interesting was that because of the Ice Age, European people were pushed southward into warmer parts (20,000 years ago). They left a record of their culture and ways in many cave paintings (included bulls, horses, animals, and alot of bright colors like red, yellow, brown, and black). About 60,000 years ago, human migration went onto Australia. In 1788, research showed that about 300,000 people (Europeans) were living in Australia around 1788. During that time, they developed 250 languages. Dreamtime was also developed, which was done by sharing wstories, holding cereomonies, and rock art. This focused on their communication, culture etc... Finally, I read more into migration in the Americas and the Pacific. So according to research, it was about 30,000 and 15,000 years ago, when humans migrated to the Americas. Something interesting that I read was evidence from DNA suggested that a possible seperate migration took place by the sea from Pacific Polynesia. "Clovis point", a term used by Archaeologists, referred to Clovis culture which emerged 13,000 years ago. They spread across North America, but 11,000 years ago their culture disappeared. I really want to know more about why or how this could've happened to their culture.

The last phase of human migration ended at the Pacific.

I learned that Paleothic women provided a bulk of the family's sustanence. Also, most marriages were monogomous.

I learned about how Agriculture began- also known as the Neolithic Stone Age. Both terms referred to cultivation of plants as well as the breeding and taming of animals. Selective breeding and men and women were "changing nature".

Domesticiation also began as the New Stone Age began - taming and the changing of nature to benefit humankind.
Intensification  (getting more for less). I also learned about the term horticulture, which was known for depending on what plants or animals were available locally. An example would be that potatoes were found in Andres region but not in Asia or Africa.

The extension of farming occured in two ways: diffusion, gradual spread of agricultural techniques. The second way was the slow colonization or migration of agricultural peoples as growing populations moved them outwards.  Th globalization of agriculture was a prologned process as it stated in chapter one.

As time passed, agicultural village socities began. Many of the villages flourished well.  A chiefdom was when these villages came to become politically organized. This included things like inherited power, and privledge.

The major question I have and want to be able to explain is how did the various Paleolithic societies/cutures differ as time passed? The pros and cons..