Why do historians use the first humans as the mark for the beginning of the prehistoric period?
Because History seeks to understand humans in time, so the study of the past only begins when there are humans.
Why do historians use the invention of writing as the mark to define the end of prehistoric times?
The invention of writing marks the ending of prehistoric times, because that is when History begins documenting and registering the past.
How do archeologists help historians study the past?
Archeologists help historians by discovering material evidence from the prehistoric or ancient past.
What are the different periods of the Prehistoric Era?
Stone Age 1. Paleolithic 2. Mesolithic 3. Neolithic and Metal Ages: 1. Copper, 2. Bronze, and 3.Iron ages
Which tools could be found in the Stone Age?
First it was chipped stone tools, then, in the Neolithic, polished stone tools. They could also create tools from leather, wood and bone.
Which tools could be found in the Metal Ages?
During the metal age, since the end of the Neolithic, humans created objects with different types of metal, like swords, spears, shields, hammers.
Explain: “Early humans were the ‘original affluent’ society”. Marshall Sahlins
Even though they were nomads, the first humans were affluent because they had enough food, shelter, and safety to survive.
Cite 4 characteristics of the nomadic lifestyle of the first humans.
They migrated from place to place, they didn't extinguish the local resources, they were hunter-gatherers and they made caves their shelters.
In which period of prehistory did humans live a nomadic lifestyle?
Paleolithic and Mesolithic.
In which period of prehistory did humans live a sedentary lifestyle?
Neolithic and Metal Ages.
Cite 4 characteristics of the sedentary lifestyle of the first humans.
They created villages, cultivated their own resources and didn’t need to migrate to find new resources, were able to do pottery, weave clothing, etc.
List 3 different material evidences historians can discover from the paleolithic.
Simple chipped stone tools, cave paintings, bonfires, fossils, etc.
List 3 different material evidences historians can discover from the neolithic.
More complex polished stone tools, stone houses, fossils, bonfires, pottery, weaving instruments, etc.
Explain if stone tools are considered a type of prehistoric technology. Justify your answer.
Yes, because they were men-made items created to facilitate prehistoric men’s lives.
Define the concept of revolution and explain why the Neolithic Revolution/Agricultural Revolution was considered a revolution.
A revolution is a structural change in human society, the neolithic revolution represented the change of the nomadic lifestyle to the sedentary lifestyle.
What are some of the dangers historians face when analyzing material evidence from the distant past?
Because some of them: may be written in a dead language, or may show a one-sided perspective, or may have been modified with time.
