Introduction
Beginning with stone tools to the current high-tech communication devices, human beings have made countless innovations throughout history. The people who lived during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods invented many things. This paper presents a discussion of the course readings on the Paleolithic people during the Ice Age, the early Neolithic farming methods, and the society during the New World era.
Part 1
The people of the Upper Paleolithic period formed the first part of the discussion in part one of the course. The period began about 2 million years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago. This period is also known as the Ice Age or the Pleistocene in Europe and its people are credited with many technological innovations. The people developed some form of social structures by living in families, and making artworks such as rock paintings and engravings. The populations were minimal and death rates very high due to the harsh living conditions. However, those people achieved substantial innovations in spite of living in very hostile climatic conditions that were characterized by freezing temperatures.
Climate
Glaciers characterized the climate of the Upper Paleolithic period and hence the name Ice Age. Although the glaciers retreated about four times, they were the most prominent feature due to the extremely cold climate of that period. The glaciers covered most of Europe and extended to Canada and much of the Atlantic region as well as extreme parts of Europe such as Spain. The conditions compelled human beings to be hunters and gatherers (Lecture 1, P. 2).
Cultures
Four major cultures dominated the Upper Paleolithic period. In order from the oldest to the youngest, these cultures were the Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian. The Aurignacian culture lasted from 34,000 to 30,000 BP (Smiley Unit 2 lecture P. 2). The people used blades and hafted bone points as the major tools of hunting, gathering, making art works and other basic uses (Smiley, Unit1 Virtual). In addition, the people made ivory carvings (Smiley Unit 1 Lecture 4 P. 3). After the Aurignacian culture, came the Gravettian culture, which lasted, from 30,000 to 22,000 BP. This culture was dominant in modern day France. In other parts of Eastern Europe, the culture the Gravettian culture lasted until 12,000 BP (Smiley Unit 1 Lecture 4 p. 8). The most notable things about this culture were Venus figurines, which have been discovered at several sites across Europe such as Dolni Vestonice. After the Gravettian culture, came the Solutrean one, which lasted, from 22,000 to 18,000 BP. The people in this culture are historically prominent for using flaked tools that are comparable to those found in the Americas (Smiley Unit 2 p. 2). The Magdalenian culture was the most recent. It lasted from 18,000 to 11,000 BP (Smiley Unit 1 Lecture 4 p. 8). Its people were famous for making cave art and sites where this culture has been discovered include Lascaux.
Technological and Artistic advances
Going by the technological innovations that characterized each culture, it is evident that the early mad enjoyed substantial technological and artistic advancements. According to Price and Feinman the extensive use of stone blades; the widespread manufacture of a variety of objects from bone, antler, ivory, and wood; the invention of new equipment, such as the spear-thrower and the bow and arrow; the domestication of the dog; and the appearance of art and decoration” all point to great and important advancements (p. 123). During hunting, man attached stone blades to his projectiles (spears) in order to wound and bring down animals. He also used the blades as knives in his daily life. On the art scene, the Upper Paleolithic period saw man make cave paintings, engravings, and carvings from materials such as rocks and ivory.
Part 2
The Neolithic period forms the second art of the discussion of the Ice Age period. The most notable feature of this period was the shift by man from reliance on hunting and gathering to farming and domestication of some animals. Farming societies emerged in the Middle East especially in the Fertile Crescent. In other places such as Europe, China, Pakistan, and India, people began to take up farming as a simpler way of obtaining food.
Farming
Farming began about 10,000 years ago whereby people settled in permanent villages and began to domesticate animals and grow plants. The Fertile Crescent in the Middle East specifically Mesopotamia between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates is credited with advanced ancient farming. It is from the Middle East that faming spread to Europe and parts of Asia. In the Middle East, people domesticated goats, pigs, sheep, barley, einkorn wheat, and emmer wheat. Goats were first domesticated in the Zagros Mountains in present day Iran while the pig is said to have first originated from Anatolia (Smiley Unit 5 Lecture).
Settlements
The most famous settlement sites during the Neolithic period were Mohenjo-Daro, Çatalhöyük in central Turkey and Jericho. The discovery of the Natufian sites in the Middle East that dated 13,000 years ago shows that the area could have been an ancient settlement site (Smiley Unit 5 Lecture). The European in those times featured many megalithic monuments that were part of rituals and burials. Some places in the Indus Valley civilizations such as Mohenjo-Daro have shown evidence of having been great cities with complex road and canal systems.
Importance of agriculture
The shift from hunting and gathering to farming brought many important developments. Since man was settled, he could afford more food and therefore ensure higher rates of survival. This led to increment in populations. The larger populations needed to be organized and therefore man began ritual activities as well as social stratification. In addition, man began craft specialization and involvement in diverse activities such as trade, tool making, and farming among others. The diversification of life brought about by settled agriculture yielded many ancient civilizations.
Part 3
The last part of the discussion was the New World. This includes the upcoming of maize farmers, the Maya, Moche, and Andean civilizations. The maize farmers or the Basketmakers and the Maya were very prominent in the New World.
The Basketmakers
These were the first farmers in the Southwestern United States. Those people were named the Basketmakers II because archaeologists expected to find an earlier farming society that had existed before. The Basketmakers II inhabited the northern part of the Southwest part of the Colorado plateau between 2000 BC and 500 AD. These people are the link between the early farmers of the Middle East civilizations and the Americas. Like the semi-sedentary Natufians, the Basketmakers were also a transitioning society from the hunting era to the farming era.
Maya
The Maya lasted from about 1500 BC to 1524 AD. They occupied the South Americas and were known for forming large complex kingdoms. They were fierce people and fought each other constantly. Their classic period of existence was from 200 to 910 AD (Smiley Unit 10 Lecture). The Mayans had advanced calendars and cosmology. They also had well developed astronomical, architectural, and mathematical systems that ensured their advancement and expansion. However, the most conspicuous thing about the Mayas were their violent rituals and bloodletting.
Conclusion
This course discusses the transition from the ancient beginnings of man in the Paleolithic period about 2 million years ago to the more recent New World period. The Upper Paleolithic period details the Ice Age in Europe and the prevalence of hunting and gathering as man’s way of life. There were crude discoveries such as rock art and the use of blades and bone tools. The Neolithic period that followed had more advancements on technology with carvings, more cave art and the discovery of farming. Faming improved the life of the early man drastically and led to technological advancement. Later on came the New World era, which saw the rise of civilizations such as the Maya. The archeological evidence gathered from different sites across the world has proven the existence of these three periods and the technologies that the people used. For instance, evidence of Neolithic farmers has been found as permanent, large-scale villages that have material evidence of domesticated animals and plants. In conclusion, the discussion explains how the civilizations came to the Americas through the new world civilizations and the Basketmakers of Southwestern US.
