Iron Age II
Broken down into
Babylonian and Persian period
Hellenistic period
Alexander the Great brought
Hellenistic (Greek) civilization to
Southeast Europe and East Asia
Roman period
The Roman Empire dominated
the Western world
Evidence found in the Olduvai Gorge (near the Great Rift Valley in northeast Africa) shows that our
human ancestors were using simple stone tools some 2.5 million years ago. More sophisticated tools
such as hand axes were developed about 1.6 million years ago. Stone tools were used for tasks like
chopping, scraping hides, and cutting. They were also sharpened into spear points for hunting game.
Fire came into use among our hominid ancestors (such as
Homo erectus
) about 1.5 million years ago.
Our species,
Homo sapiens sapiens
, appeared about
200,000 BCE
. Thereafter, clothing was in use from
about 170,000 years ago.
Cave art also appeared around this time.
The image is one of more than six hundred cave paintings found in the Lascaux region of southwestern
France. The images date from the Upper Paleolithic period (c. 1770 BCE). They’re attributed to our
earliest fully human ancestors, the
Cro-Magnons
.
Study the image shown. Try to unravel the story it tells. You might come up with ideas like this:
The
hunters appear to be working as a group to bring down one of the charging animals, which may be elk.
The hunters are familiar with the use of bows and arrows as tools. They seem to have planned and
coordinated this hunt.
This type of cave art offers evidence that the bow was designed early in human history. It also shows
how early humans worked together to solve problems.

In any case, you might like to know that the caves of Lascaux have been designated as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
The so-called
Venus of Willendorf
(shown) is a
stone figure about 4.4 inches tall
. It dates from about
28,000 to 25,000 BCE. This figure is one of many similar artifacts discovered across Europe around the
time ceramics were invented (c. 25,000 BCE). This statuette tells us something about the status of
women in times past. It may also hint at the religious significance of women in ancient times.
Humans domesticated animals (the horse being key among them) beginning around 15,000 BCE. They
used bows, slings, and copper tools by around 8000 BCE. Additionally, humans began to develop crop
agriculture and invented the plow around this time. Early writing appeared around 3500 BCE. Bronze
tools followed around 3300 BCE, along with the use of salt in trade and as currency.
Humans invented the wheel around 2500 years BCE, probably in Mesopotamia. This invention is an
example of
transformative technology
; that is, an invention that drove significant social change. The
invention of the wheels led to the development of different types of transport, from handcarts to
chariots to carriages, bicycles, and motorcars.
Technological Advances: From Egypt to the Present
Egypt
As already noted, Egypt may have been the first civilization. However, whether first or not, Egypt was the
major power of the Mediterranean for more than 3,000 years. Many mighty states rose and fell while
Egypt simply evolved.


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- Fall '16
- Mesopotamia , Technology Lesson