Chapter 2 – Part 1: Early Peoples and the Stone Age

Vocabulary flashcards covering early human development, Stone Age periods, early societies, and permanent settlements from Chapter 2 – Part 1.

Creationism

The belief that God made humans.

Evolution

The scientific view that humans descended from a common ancestor who lived millions of years ago.

Glaciers

Huge sheets of ice that covered northern areas of what are now North America, Asia, and Europe from about 2,000,000 to 12,000 years ago.

Stone Age

The period from almost 2.5 million years ago to about 5,500 years ago, during which stone was the material most often used to make tools.

Paleolithic times

The Stone Age period from 2.5 million to 12,000 years ago, characterized by hunters.

Mesolithic times

The Stone Age period from 12,000 to 10,000 years ago, characterized by learning to farm.

Neolithic times

The Stone Age period from 10,000 to 5,500 years ago, characterized by food producers (farmers).

Homo habilis

A stage in the development of humans meaning skillful humans.

Homo erectus

A stage in human development meaning upright humans, who first appeared in East Africa about 1.5 million years ago and lived in small groups of perhaps twenty people.

Homo sapiens

A stage in human development meaning thinking humans, with whom spoken language as we know it probably developed.

Lake Turkana

A large lake in Kenya, East Africa, where archaeologists discovered bones of humans and animals and collections of stones used as tools.

Hand axe

The most-used tool made by early humans as they became skilled toolmakers.

Bering Strait

A land bridge connecting Asia to North America that early humans crossed between 40,000 and 12,000 years ago during the height of the last ice age.

Cro-Magnons

Tall and intelligent Homo sapiens who lived nomadically across Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and Siberia, and developed new methods for making tools.

Jericho

A permanent settlement located in Israel about 10,000 years ago with a population of about 2,000, surrounded by a high stone wall for protection.

Specialization

The development of new skills and production of specific goods for trade, made possible by a secure food supply.

Catal Huyuk

An early settlement located in what is now Turkey about 8,000 years ago, home to about 6,000 people.