Human Origins. The agricultural revolution

Neanderthal

Early hominid from Eurasia.

Java man

Early hominid from Java.

Peking man

Early hominid from East Asia.

Lucy

Famous fossil, more than 3 million years old, belonging to the Australopithecus Africanus class of early hominids.

Homo erectus

Advanced version of hominid with larger brain.

Homo sapiens

Modern humans.

Homo floresiensis

Unique species of hominids from the island of Flores in Asia, only 3 feet tall.

Bipedalism

Walking upright on two feet.

Hunter-gatherer society

Main social organization and subsistence strategy for more than 95% of human history.

Dreamtime

Collection of stories and ceremonies in Australia telling the early beginning of occupation during prehistory.

Clovis culture

Prehistoric culture of North America.

Venus of Willendorf

Famous prehistoric female figurine.

Otzi the Iceman

Famous fossil of a prehistoric man found in the European Alps in the 1990s, fully dressed and with all his tools including a bronze axe.

Lascaux

Prehistoric cave in France dating to the Magdalenian period, known for over 600 parietal wall paintings.

Fertile Crescent

Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean coast where agriculture was practiced for the first time on a large scale.

Sorghum

A type of African grain.

Manioc

Mesoamerican plant.

Catalhuyuk

Prehistoric farming settlement in Turkey, dating back to 7000 BC.

Gobekli-Tepe

Ceremonial site c. 11k years old, built in southeastern Turkey; evidence of early agriculture.

Jericho

Early settlement in Jordan, first town with defensive wall enclosure.

Banpo

Ancient fortified village in China close to modern Xian, an early agricultural community.

Patriarchate

Communities ruled by men.

Matriarchate

Communities ruled by women.

Paleolithic

Old Stone Age (hunter-gatherers).

Mesolithic

Middle Stone Age (transition to agriculture).

Neolithic

New Stone Age (agricultural communities).