Paleolithic Era and Early Humans (Video Notes)

Paleolithic Era (Old Stone Age)

The period from early hominins until the adoption of agriculture; nomadic hunter-gatherers, use of stone tools, fire, language, and early art; part of prehistory.

Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis)

A 3.5‑million‑year‑old fossil found in Ethiopia in 1974; evidence of early bipedalism.

Homo habilis

First species in the genus Homo known to use tools; discovered in 1960; lived about 2.5 million years ago.

Homo erectus

Early human ancestor (~1.6 million years ago) who applied tool use to hunting and farming strategies, improving survival.

Neanderthals

Homo sapiens relatives (200,000–30,000 years ago) with human-like rituals and emotions; disappeared after Cro-Magnons arrived.

Cro-Magnons

Early modern humans (~40,000 years ago); skeletons similar to modern humans; planned hunting and farming; created cave art and bone flutes.

Hunter-gatherers

Nomadic people who hunted and gathered to survive; lived in small bands of about 25–70 individuals.

Neolithic Revolution

Around 10,000 years ago, the shift from food gathering to food production, leading to farming and settled life.

Slash-and-burn farming

Clearing land by burning vegetation; ashes fertilize soil and allow farming on new land.

Domestication

Taming and breeding of plants and animals for human use (meat, milk, labor), enabling settled farming.

Gobekli Tepe

Ancient site in Turkey dated to about 11,600 years ago; ceremonial temple suggesting early social interaction and settlement; exact purpose unknown.

Jarmo (Iraq)

9,000-year-old farming village with grain storage pits, animal bones, and signs of early permanent farming life.

Catal Huyuk

Neolithic Turkish settlement (~8,000 years old); 5,000–6,000 residents; mud-brick houses; obsidian tools; religious shrines and a mother goddess.

Obsidian tools

Stone tools fashioned from obsidian; notable at Catal Huyuk and other early settlements.

Cave paintings

Early art found in Europe, Africa, and Australia; depicted lifelike animals and daily life; made with charcoal, mud, and animal blood.

Beads and jewelry

Adornment such as seashells, lion teeth, bear claws, and beads carved from mammoth tusks.

Animism

Nature-based religion in which natural objects and phenomena are believed to have spirits.

Population control practices

Early groups used methods like a five-year nursing cycle and infanticide to regulate numbers.

Nile Valley agriculture

One of Africa’s independent centers of agriculture; early crops included wheat and barley.

Huang He and Chang Jiang agriculture

Independent centers of agriculture in China; millet in Huang He, rice in Chang Jiang.

Modern humans in East Africa

Appeared in East Africa between 200,000–100,000 BCE; lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers and later spread globally.

Global spread by 10,000 BCE

By 10,000 BCE humans lived on every continent except Antarctica.

Americas early crops

Mexico/Central America cultivated corn, beans, and squash; Peru cultivated tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

Life in Paleolithic groups

Most groups were egalitarian and self-sufficient; life expectancy around 35 years or less; men hunted and women foraged.

Kinship groups

Small family or clan groups of around 20 individuals typical of Paleolithic society.