Early Humans

Miss. Easterly
Grade 6 Unit 1
Note taking techniques
Student Cornell Notes
Draw a line on the left side of your paper
Copy left side notes as well as right side
This unit we are learning how to create
questions on the left side
In the first few units, we will learned different
ways to create left side notes
Archaeologists
Historians know about the past with the help
of scientists called Archaeologists
Archaeologists hunt for evidence buried
underground- these objects are called
artifacts
Artifacts can be bones, fossils, pottery, tools,
weapons, and other things made by humans



Who are
Archaeologists?


What do
archaeologists
look for?
Famous Archaeologists
Louis and Mary Leakey

- Found out that ancestors of
human beings first appeared
somewhere in East Africa
millions of years ago
Paleolithic Era
Prehistoric period of human history is
called the Paleolithic or the Stone Age
Humans started using stone tools to make
weapons
Paleolithic people were nomads
Nomads are people who move from place
to place to hunt and gather food








What is a
nomad?
Hunters and Gatherers
During the stone age, men and women had
different tasks
Women were the gatherers and stayed close
to campsite and searched for food nearby
Men hunted animals using weapons such as
clubs, spears, traps and bows and arrows



What did the
women do?


What is the
men do?
Ice Ages
When Paleolithic people discovered fire,
it changed how they ate
Fire helped them survive the Ice Age
(100,000 -8,000 BC)
The Ice Age was a time of extreme cold
Thick ice sheets covered parts of Europe,
Asia, and North America
What was an
important
discovery?





What was the Ice
Age?
Cave Paintings
During the Paleolithic Era, Language was
developed
Language made it easier to communicate
and pass on knowledge
Art began to emerge during this time
through cave paintings
Historians are unsure why early humans
created cave paintings
Possibilities include religious reasons,
roles in society or for good luck during a
hunt
What made
communicating
easier?






Why did early
people paint?
Tools
Paleolithic people were the first to use
technology
They made tools to help them hunt and
to create weapons
People began to make more advanced
tools and used needles to make baskets
and clothing




How were
tools useful?
The Agricultural Revolution
After the Paleolithic Era came the
Mesolithic Age
During this age, people began to stop
hunting animals and start herding them
They domesticated animals, or tamed
them for human use
Animals provided milk, meat, and wool
However, they still remained nomadic






What is
important
about this
era?
Neolithic Era
People began to realized that they
could plant seeds and grow their
own food
Farming began to replace hunting
and gathering
Farming began the Neolithic Era




What began
the Neolithic
Era?
Agricultural Revolution
Farming changed how humans lived
Farming did not begin in one place-
people around the world began to farm
around the same time
Historians consider farming or the
Agricultural Revolution to be one of the
most important discoveries in human
history






What was a
huge
discovery?
Effects of Farming
Farming increased the number of calories
that could be produced from an area of land
This made it possible to feed more people and
this increased the worlds population
People could also stay in one place for longer-
however, this caused the spread of disease
Even though farming was hard work, people
began to live longer and healthier



What
positive
effects did
farming
have?
Growth of Villages
With farming, people began to build more
permanent homes and villages
People began to be able to grow more food
than needed and traded with neighboring
towns
Because not everyone had to farm, people
began to specialize, or create different
jobs




What did
farming lead
to?
Specialization
Since people could farm, it allowed for
specialization
Specialization is when people can spend
time getting good a something
People began to become skilled at making
pottery to store grain
Others began weaving plant fibers to make
cloth
Eventually, people began to make tools
with copper and Bronze- this marked the
start of the Bronze Era 3000 B.C-1200 B.C

What could
people do
because of
farming?