Science, Technology, and Society: Ancient Times and the Early Humans

Historical Antecedents of Science and Technology

This note outlines the historical development of science and technology (S&T) from ancient times through the Stone Age, focusing on the interaction between S&T and society, and the key advancements made by early humans.

Learning Objectives

  • Trace the history of S&T in the world.
  • Understand the interaction of S&T and society.
  • Identify historical antecedents of S&T.

Timeline of Earth's History

The history of Earth is divided into several eons and eras:

  • Cenozoic Era:
    • Holocene: 10,000 years ago
    • Pleistocene: 1.8 million years ago
    • Pliocene: 5.3 million years ago
    • Miocene: 23 million years ago
    • Oligocene: 33.9 million years ago
    • Eocene: 55.8 million years ago
    • Paleocene: 65.5 million years ago
  • Mesozoic Era:
    • Cretaceous: 145.5 million years ago
    • Jurassic: 199.6 million years ago
    • Triassic: 252.2 million years ago
  • Paleozoic Era:
    • Permian: 299 million years ago
    • Pennsylvanian: 318 million years ago
    • Mississippian: 359.2 million years ago
    • Devonian: 416 million years ago
    • Silurian: 443 million years ago
    • Ordovician: 488.3 million years ago
    • Cambrian: 542 million years ago
  • Proterozoic Era: 2.5 billion years ago
  • Archean Era: Earth forms 4.6 billion years ago

Key Developments in Ancient Times

  • 1,000,000 B.C.:
    • Discovery of fire.
    • Use of stone tools.
  • 8000 B.C.:
    • The Bronze Age.
  • 3500 B.C.:
    • The Iron Age.
  • A.D. 1281:
    • Gunpowder.
  • A.D. 1600:
    • Magnetism.
  • A.D. 1700:
    • Newton's Laws, Steam Engine (Newcomen).
  • A.D. 1750:
    • Spinning Jenny.
  • A.D. 1800:
    • Voltaic Pile (Electricity).
    • Watt's Steam Engine.
    • Telegraphy.
    • Steamboat.
  • Technology Revolution:
    • Electricity.
    • Plastics.
    • Telephone.
    • Airplanes.
    • Radar.
    • Atomic Energy.
    • Computers.
    • Space Travel.

Evolution of Early Humans and Cognitive Development

The evolution of early humans is marked by increasing cranial capacity and cognitive abilities:

  • Australopithecus:
    • Communicated through vocalization.
    • Teeth and jaws designed for crushing.
    • Lacked rational thinking.
  • Homo Habilis:
    • More complex than Australopithecus.
    • Creation of stone tools allowed for thinking and skull expansion.
  • Homo Erectus:
    • Doubled cranial capacity compared to Homo Habilis.
    • Allowed for more complex activities, emotions, and expression.
  • Homo Sapiens:
    • Speech developed, providing a large verbal memory.
    • New capacities for cognition and analysis.

S&T in Ancient Times

  • Stone tools were the first recognized technology.
  • Fire was a crucial early conquest.

Characteristics of Ancient Societies

  • Hunting and gathering (or foraging).
  • Agricultural revolution (farming).
  • Use of metal instead of stone tools towards the end.
  • Civilization began to arise (manufacturing, trading, villages with rulers, etc.).

The Stone Age

The Stone Age is divided into three periods:

  • Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age).
  • Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age).
  • Neolithic (New Stone Age).

The word ‘Lithos’ means Stone. The Stone Age is named because people made tools and weapons from stone.

Subdivisions of the Stone Age
  • Palaeolithic (Ancient or Old Stone Age):
    • 2 million years ago−12000 BC2 \, \text{million years ago} - 12000 \, \text{BC}
    • No evidence of people living in Ireland.
  • Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age):
    • 12000 BC−7000 BC12000 \, \text{BC} - 7000 \, \text{BC}
    • First people in Ireland.
  • Neolithic (New Stone Age):
    • 7000 BC−2000 BC7000 \, \text{BC} - 2000 \, \text{BC}
    • First farmers in Ireland.
Palaeolithic Era Characteristics
  • Hunting.
  • Nomadic people (hunter-gatherers).
  • No accumulation of private property and wealth.
  • Lived in groups of 30-50 members.
  • Created tools using stone.
  • Buried their dead with rituals.
  • Artistic forms of expression: cave paintings, stone carvings (e.g., Chauvet Cave, France).
Use of Fire and Soil Knowledge
  • Used fire to warm the body on cold nights.
  • Used fire to frighten animals.
  • Used fire to cook food.
  • Invention of pottery.
  • Knowledge of different types of soils and their properties.
Tools of the Palaeolithic Era
  • Archaeologists discovered that the stone used was ‘flint'.
  • Tiny pieces of flint are called ‘microliths'.
  • Bone and timber were also discovered, used with flint to make arrowheads and saws.
  • Flint struck with another rock creates sparks, making fire.
  • Used for cutting, hunting, and digging up roots from the soil.
Timeline Details
  • Homo australopithecus: Period started about 2.5 million BCE and lasted until 10,000 BCE.
  • Paleolithic: Archaeologists have not found evidence of them in Ireland.
  • People were in Ireland by 7000 BC.
  • The Ice Age in Ireland lasted from 30,000 years ago until close to 12,000 years ago.
  • When the Ice Age ended, the ice melted and the sea levels rose.
  • New plants and animals came to Ireland from Britain and the Continent.
  • People came in dugout canoes and skin-covered boats.
Mesolithic Era Characteristics
  • 12000 BC−7000 BC12000 \, \text{BC} - 7000 \, \text{BC}: First people in Ireland.
  • Earliest known human settlements found in Ireland (e.g., Mount Sandal, Co. Derry).
  • Hunter-gatherers.
  • Hunted wild boar and birds like duck and pigeon.
  • Fished around the coasts and in the rivers.
  • Gathered berries and hazelnuts.
  • Cooked their food on spits.
  • Lived near rivers, lakes, or the coast.
  • Houses were easily built with light branches of trees set into the grounds and covered by skins, grass leaves, or brushes tied together by animal hide or guts.
  • Fireplace in the center of the house or hut.
  • People lived in pointed huts made from timber posts and twigs, covered in sods of earth or animal skins.
  • Wore animal skins.
Neolithic Era Characteristics
  • Difficulties arising from the crisis of the hunting economy led to an intensive search for new foods leading to the invention of the technique of agriculture.
  • The period between the first invention of agriculture and the founding of the cities.
  • Transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers.
  • Farming gave them a more regular supply of food.
  • Food surplus called for special storage houses.
  • Settled for longer on the land and built stronger houses.
  • Houses from wood in round. Houses were arranged in patterns along definite streets with buildings constructed of mud, reeds, logs, stone, or clay.
Neolithic Era Key Aspects
  • Agriculture
  • Domesticated Animals
  • Storehouses
  • Villages
  • Housing
  • Handicrafts
  • Looms
  • Burials
Neolithic Era Tools and Crafts
  • Hunted with polished axes which were better quality than the axes that the Mesolithic people used (more advanced and developed).
  • Made pottery that they used for cooking, storing food, and in burial ceremonies.
Megalithic Tombs
  • The 3 different types of Neolithic Tombs are:
    • Court Cairns
    • Portal Dolmens
    • Passage Graves (e.g., Newgrange, Co. Meath)
Grave Goods
  • The cremated bodies were placed in megalithic tombs along with things they may need in the afterlife – grave goods.

Group Online Activity

  • Topics for group discussion: crops, animals, transportation, the role of women, burial customs, religious practice, trade, art, clothing, and writing systems. Focus on one example per topic.