One of the reasons I was so interested in taking a World History class was to get a better sense of how we as a people and a global society evolved. I, too, have always asked the question, “How did we get here?” The timeline presented in class helped with that, but my objective is to try to create my own timeline as I go through this course.
The Snapshot on page 13of the text shed some light on the history of man. I learned what hominids were—great apes and relatives of humans even closer than chimpanzees. The first upright hominid walking on two legs scientists say roamed the earth 7 million to 6 million years ago. I realized that I would love to learn more about the evolution of man, knowing that it is still a work in progress. Perhaps I need to think about an anthropology class next. In any event, it was incredible to learn that Homo sapiens, man, were found in Africa 250,000 years ago. Question: The text (and Snapshot) indicates that the first controlled use of fire was 1.9 million to 200,000 years ago, and it was the Homo erectus species that was credited with this accomplishment. I believe that the controlled use of fire indicates that there was some intellectual and executive brain function. Is it possible that the Homo erectus species was actually man?
I found the discussion on the migration of man and the discussion of the Paleolithic societies fascinating. The first human societies were small bands of people, numbering between twenty-five to fifty people. These nomadic groups of people moved frequently and in regular patterns to take advantage of the wild plants and animals they depended upon to exist. They were constantly on the move, so there was not an opportunity for storage of goods or transporting of any surplus. These societies were egalitarian. The many inequalities that were seen in later history (and in some cases continue today), were not seen in these early societies. Most people possessed the same set of skills. Although male and female were responsible for different tasks, the relationships between men and women were more equal than in later societies. It was interesting to note that the text indicated that women, as the primary food gatherers, provided 70% of the diet, while men provided the remaining 30% through hunting. While these peoples had no written language, there is evidence that they had a ceremonial, spiritual life, evidenced by the rock art found deep inside caves. I found their global migration (with the exception of the Arctic and Antarctic) unbelievable!
Paleolithic cultures saw changes as time went on: People moved to new areas, climates changed, populations slowly grew, and people interacted with one another. I never realized the global impact the agricultural revolution had. However, having read the chapter, the importance of the agricultural revolution makes sense. In order to sustain the existence of man, having the ability to produce food within one’s environment on an ongoing was extremely important. With the ending of the Ice Age over 11,000 years ago and the concurrent migrations that were taking place, Strayer presented a unique picture of global warming as a very natural phenomenon (rather than a manmade one). Changes in the climatic conditions coupled with the extinction of many of the large mammals from over-hunting, man had to find new food sources. The warmer, wetter climates were producing more wild plants, especially cereal grasses, that provided food for both man and beast. The textbook indicated that the breakthroughs in agriculture took placed after the hunter/gatherer populations grew in numbers and their nomadic lifestyles were replaced with what was described as sedentary lives.
In Southwest Asia, we saw the Fertile Crescent (Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, south Turkey), where a variety of wild plants grew and the ability to domesticate animals for man’s use were recognized. In Africa, it was interesting to learn that the Sahara Desert as it is known today did not exist then. The area received lots of rainfall and had grasslands and vegetation that could sustain human life. In Africa, we saw the domestication of the donkey and cattle before the domestication of plants. In most other parts of the world, we saw the domestication of plants first. In the Americas, the domestication of plants occurred separately depending on the geographical locations—the Andean regions of West South America and the Amazon Basin in South America; the Mississippi Valley in North America. It was distinctly different in the Americans in that there was an absence of animals to domesticate. The only one that existed was the alpaca in the western hemisphere. Without goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, or horses, people lacked the protein, manure and livestock labor (for plows). So, they depended upon hunting and fishing. They also lacked cereal grains and had only maize or corn. Strayer attributes the first greatest feat of genetic engineering that helped to sustain productive agriculture to the development of a large corn cob and the number of kernels on the cob, which took thousands of years.
The globalization and spread of agricultural products of both plants and animals throughout the then world was accomplished in two ways: diffusion and through slow colonization or migration. Diffusion was the gradual spread of agricultural techniques, plants and animals, but without the extensive movement of people. The migration of agricultural people took place due to growing populations and the pressure for these peoples to expand to other regions. With this globalization, we also saw an explosion of technical innovation, especially the looms that were used for weaving (7,000 years ago). There was a second, smaller, technical revolution, referred to as the Secondary Products Revolution, which found new uses for domesticated animals besides for diet and hides: Milking the animals; harvesting the wool; enriching the soil with manure; the ability to ride horses/camels; hitching the animals to plows/carts to provided labor. As farming was hard work, there was also a diminished life expectancy. The agricultural revolution brought with it a vulnerability to famine, in the event of crop failure, drought or other natural catastrophe.
There were two important impacts that I want to mention that took place during the agricultural revolution that continued through the first civilizations, and, in many respects, continues today. The first is the environmental impact. Farming and herding altered the natural ecosystems that were present at the time. Soil erosion and deforestation led to declining crops. In areas such as southern Mesopotamia, salinization of the soil resulted due to intensive irrigation. Egypt, however, created a more sustainable agricultural system that lasted thousands of years that allowed the continuity of its civilization. Global warming and a sustainable environment are such important issues for us today. Perhaps we as a global people can revisit the history of these civilizations from an environmental standpoint. When the early civilizations had to abandon their environmentally-compromised environments, the early peoples had unexplored areas to migrate to and to start their life anew. We, unfortunately, do not have that luxury today, as our planet has become quite crowded and our resources taxed from overuse. The second issue is the hierarchy of gender. I found it so very interesting that the Paleolithic societies were gender equal, even though gender expectations and duties may have been different. How is it that societies’ philosophies transitioned and changed from this egalitarian philosophy to a patriarchal philosophy? Among other inequities, we still see women treated differently today in so many cultures. While that may be changing somewhat, I am not sure I understand why that practice ever began.
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