Human Biocultural and Social Revolution

• Stages of Human Evolution

  Hominid (Manlike Primates)

  2. Homo Habilis ("Handy Man")

  3. Homo Erectus ("Upright Man")

  4. Homo Sapien ("Wise Man")

  Hominid (Manlike Primates)

  There have been various relics of hominids which could be described as manlike primates:

  1. "Ramapithecus"

  believed to have lived 14 million years; remains could be found in Siwalik Hills of India.

  ⚫ could stand upright and used stones and sticks to frighten enemies.

  was found by Mrs. Mary Leaky at the volcanic ash of Laetoli, Tanzania, East Africa in 1975.
• b. "Lucy"

  ⚫ discovered by American archaeologist, Donald C. Johnson.

  was a whole skeleton of a teenage girl, at Hadar, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

  c. "Australopithecus"

  ⚫ was believed to live in Africa about 5 million years ago.

  had small brain but could walk straight and use simple tools
• 2. Homo Habilis ("Handy Man")

  The apelike men used stone tools as weapons and protection from their enemies.

  1. "Zinjanthropus"

  ⚫ was about 4 feet; could walk upright with small brain, believed to have lived about 1.75 mil. years ago.

  used crude stone as weapons for protection against predators.

  ⚫ was discovered by Louis S.B. Leakey in Olduva Gorge, Tanzania, East Africa in 1999.
• b. "Lake Turkana" ("1470 man")

  was about 5 ft tall and walked upright, had a brain double the size of a chimpanzee's brain.

  used more refined tools.

  was excavated in Lake Turkana, Kenya East Africa by Dr. Richard Leakey (son of the Leakeys) in 1972; remains consisted of a shattered skull and leg bones.
• be the first manlike creature that lived 500,000 years ago in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

  this manlike specie could walk straight; with brain almost the same as that of the modern man.

  made refined tools for hunting and weapons for protection from the enemies.

  a."Pithecanthropus Erectus" (Java Man)

  about 5 ft tall; could walk erect; heavy and chinless jaw; hairy body.

  Looking Back at Human Biocultural and Social Evolution
• "Sinanthropus Pekinensis" (Peking Man) was discovered at Choukoutien village, Beijing, China in 1929
• Peking Man was about 5'2" tall and could walk upright
• The brain size of Peking Man was almost as large as that of modern man
• Peking Man is believed to have lived 500,000 years ago
• Homo Sapiens ("Wise Man") is believed to be where modern man directly descended from
• Homo Sapiens lived about 250,000 years ago
• Homo Sapiens had similar physical descriptions as the modern man
• Activities of Homo Sapiens were largely dependent on hunting, fishing, and agriculture
• Homo Sapiens buried their dead, used hand tools, and had religion
• 1. Neanderthal Man

  was discovered in the cave of Neanderthal valley near Dusseldorf, Germany in 1856.

  was believed to have lived in the high temperate zones in Asia and Europe about 70,000 years ago.

  ⚫ heavily built with powerful jaws; brutish and primitively intelligent.

  usually lived in caves and dependent in hunting and fishing.

  had religious beliefs and more advanced than homo erectus.

  Looking Back at Human Blocultural and Social Evolution
• b. Cro Magnon Man

  was stronger homo sapiens than the neanderthal which was discovered by French archaeologist Louis Lartet in the Cro Magnon Cave at Ley Eyzie.

  was believed to live in Europe, Asia and Africa.

  their remains had been found in western Asia including Italy, Spain, France and Russia and all over Africa.

  about 5 ft 11 inches with more developed brain than their predecessor.

  ⚫ as prehistoric men, they had stone implement
• Paleolithic Period:

  • Common primitive men: Homo erectus (Java Man, Peking Man), Homo sapiens (Neanderthal, Cro Magnon Man)
  • Rough stone tools used as main weapons and tools like chisels and knives
  • Lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering fruits
  • Used fire, lived in caves, and later learned to build primitive shelters
  • Developed primitive arts, personal ornaments, and other art forms
  • Nomadic lifestyle, always moving
• Neolithic Period:

  • Disappearance of Cro-Magnon, replaced by modern men
  • Development of refined stone tools and weapons
  • Made their own houses
  • Learned to domesticate animals like horses, pigs, dogs, and cattle
  • Learned to weave and use clothes for protection
  • Started cutting trees for boats for transport
• Age of Metals:

  • Use of metals like bronze, copper, and iron led to historical development in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, and China
  • More developed social, cultural, political, and economic systems in Middle East, Asia, and South America
  • Direct contacts through tribes, kingdoms, empires, and states with political activities through conquest, wars, and trade
• b. Civilizaton Makes Its Debut (8000-3000 BC)

  Neolithic means "new stone" though agriculture was the crowning achievement of the period,

  Agriculture increasingly became widespread causing surplus of food and to stay and be rooted to protect property causing social and cultural bonds to form.

  When everyone did not have to farm anymore, people became artisans and craftsmen which brought trade and a class of merchants.

  • Artisans contributed to the homogenization of culture.

  • Merchants caused Cultural Diffusion; human religion began to evolve. (Sharing of culture)
• Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime
• It can be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy, or a transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic political system
• Origins of Democracy:

  • Democracy means people-power or rule by the people
  • The term "democracy" originated from the ancient Greeks who combined the words demos (people) and krates (rule) to create the term
  • Coined during a period in Greek history when the city of Athens experimented with a form of government where all citizens made the laws of their state
• Democracy is a system in which people decide matters as a group, typically used in the context of a form of government where all citizens have a vote
• • The democracy in Athens was only a very small minority of the population, but it was the closest to establishing a democratic society at that time
• Athens was the first city-state to allow ordinary citizens access to government offices and courts

  • In theory, all Athenian citizens were to speak and vote in the Assembly which set the laws of the city-state
  • In reality, Athens was not a true democracy as women, foreigners, slaves, or freed slaves were not included
  • According to the rules of citizenship, both parents must have been Athenian citizens for a person to qualify to take part in the Assembly
• Causes of Democratization:

  • Wealth
  • Social equality
  • Culture
  • Education
  • Foreign trade
  • International cooperation
  • Dictatorship
  • Democracy protests
  • Threat of conflict
• The Neolithic Revolution marked the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural communities
• Agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals were key factors in the origins of civilization
• Causes of the agrarian transformation included the domestication of plants and animals
• The Neolithic Revolution spread as early people transitioned from nomadic lifestyles to settled agricultural communities
• Before the Rise of Civilization (Paleolithic Age):

  • Early people were nomadic hunter-gatherers who lived off the land
  • Pastoral societies helped tie groups to specific areas of land
  • Raising animals created strain on nomadic people to find large and reliable food sources
  • Drawback: unusually aggressive behavior and high dependency of babies on adult care
  • Homo sapiens evolved with beliefs in the afterlife, developed social structures, and hierarchies
• Relics of the Paleolithic Age include cave paintings, burials, and tools
• Social structures were ruled by an old man as an adviser and the strongest individual as the leader, based on kinship