Human Origins in Africa

Taking Notes and Analyzing Key Concepts

Australopithecines	-Discovered in 4 million B.C. -Ended in 1 million B.C. -Found in Southern and Eastern Africa	First stone tool makers possibly hunted for meat and lived in small groups. They made the tools and the later ages polished them. First humanlike creature to walk upright
Homo Habilis	-Appeared in East Africa -Discovered 2.5 million years ago -Discovered by archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey.	May have made tools out of lava rock. Assumptions think they used those tools to cut meat and crack open bones.
Homo Erectus	-Also Appeared in East Africa -Found about 1.6 million years ago, while Homo Habilis left the scene - “Home erectus” means “upright man” -Believed to be more intelligent than Homo Habilis.	-They used intelligence to develop technology -Became skillful hunters -Invented more tools for digging and such -Were the first Hominids to migrate or move
Neanderthals	-Discovered 100,000 B.C. -Ended 30,000 B.C -Found in Europe and Southwest Asia	-First to have ritual burials -Held burials in caves often and had religious beliefs -Were able to hunt in subarctic regions of Europe
Cro-Magnons	-Discovered 40,000 B.C. -Ended 8000 B.C. -Fully modern Humans -Remains were identical to modern humans -Remains indicated that they were probably strong	-They Created Art -They created tools with specialized uses -They planned their hunts -Were the most advanced in spoken language
Paleolithic age	2.5 million B.C.	8000 B.C.	They were known for making the stone chopping tools back in their era
Neolithic age	8000 B.C.	3000 B.C.	They learned to polish stone tools made in the paleolithic age, make pottery, grow crops, and raise animals.

Drawing Conclusions

Anthropologists research, evaluate, and establish public policy concerning the origins of humans; their physical, social, and cultural development; and their behavior, as well as the cultures, organizations, and institutions they have created. All about researching humans and their public policies.

Archaeologists recover and examine materials in order to learn more about past cultures. They take materials and examine them to find more information on their past to have better understandings.

Paleontologists have many jobs some in a list are:

1)Determine location of fossils by analyzing data

2)Locating fossils be excavating sedimentary rock

3)Gather fossil information such as age and where it was found

And many more

A family of anthropologists. Louis Leakey and his wife, Mary, discovered fossils of human ancestors dating back over 3.75 million years. Their son, Richard Leakey, continued to make discoveries in other African areas.

Their Fossil Discoveries were so important because they were able to help lead them back to info on old tribes and humans. Louis Leakey radically changed the way we now view early humans. Leakey is considered to be a significant contributor to the understanding of our origins. He pushed back the known dates for the existence of various species, stimulated research in new fields like primatology, and generated interest and publicity for the study of human origins. He changed how we view ourselves.

Section 1 assignment:
1)Artifact-Artifacts are the concrete items cultures leave behind, such as Native American arrowheads, stone tools from early hominid groups, etc.
2)Culture-Culture is as important as your business strategy because it either strengthens or undermines your objectives.
3)Hominid-is now recognized to include all ancestors and living day species of gorillas, chimps and humans. To classify humans specifically (and all of our evolutionary ancestors) you would use the term hominin.
4)Paleolithic age-The Paleolithic Era is significant because people established the process of hunting-gathering
5)Neolithic age-the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an increasingly larger population. So it moved from the ways in the paleolithic era, to now the Neolithic era ways.
6)Technology-the collection of tools that make it easier to use, create, manage and exchange information
7)Homo-Sapiens- Their intelligence, ability to learn and transmit teachings or their ability to generate art and culture

Section 1 assignment part 2
I think the Australopithecines were the most significant because they were thought to be the first humanlike creatures to walk upright. So this means that they had to pretty much start from nothing and figure out ways to advance their technology and ways to go in a positive direction. They were able to make the first stone tools, that all the groups after them were able to use, so they had to start everything that led to where we are today.

Main Ideas
3)What clues do bones and artifacts give about early peoples?
Discovered bones and artifacts can tell us a lot of information such as where those people lived, how and when they died, how long ago they were living their life, if it was male or female, if it was an adult or child, and what they looked like. It gives us a lot of their background information.
4)What were the major achievements in human history during the Old Stone Age?
The major achievements during the stone age was the invention of tools. They used tools to hunt for food. They learned how to make fire. This was the start of our technology today.
5)How did Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons differ from earlier peoples?
The Neanderthals skulls are shaped differently from the past because their brains are bigger. CroMags skulls are like our skulls today, we came from them. We were smarter than the Neanderthals and wiped them out.

Why is Christianity associated with western civ

Lo1: Define Christianity: Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic  religion based on the life, teachings, and miracles of Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as the Christ, or "Messiah", who is the focal point of the Christian faiths.
Lo2: Identify early events in the spread of Christianity that make it linked to Western Culture:
-Western culture, throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture, and a large portion of the population of the Western hemisphere can be described as cultural Christians
-
Throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations worldwide, including western culture. -
Ever since the spread of Christianity from the Levant to Europe and North Africa during the early Roman Empire, Christendom has been divided in the pre-existing Greek East and Latin West.

The Spread of Christianity

1.    Explain
how the role on one God created a new need for people within ancient society.

If paganism,
rather than Christianity, had inspired their imaginations and guided their
thoughts. The Middle Ages, the Renaissance and modernity as we know them would
also have been unimaginably different. Unlike pagans, Christians
claimed there was only one God and that he should be worshiped not by sacrifice
but by proper belief. Anyone who didn’t believe the right things would be
considered a transgressor before God. And, most significant of all, rewards and
punishments would be dispensed not only in this life, but in the life to come,
so them and their kids would have punishments placed on them for their prior
actions. The kids didn’t even do anything but they are still affected by the
punishments.

2.    Describe
the role of “miracles” in converting people to Christianity.

Miraculous
powers were the Christians’ evangelistic calling card, their compelling proof.
Jesus himself, the son of God, had performed one miracle after the other. These
miracles that kept occurring, began to make the people convinced to become
Christian. he original followers of Jesus told those close to them what they
believed: that the great miracle worker Jesus had been raised from the dead,
and that his wonders continued to be performed among those who believed in him.
They convinced others. Not most of those they talked with, but some. And as it
turns out, small but steady growth from the ground up is all it took.

3.    Discuss
why Christianity was viewed as a “grassroots” movement.

This was considered a “grassroot”
movement because they weren’t trying to get everybody to become a Christian at
once, they were trying to get people in small groups or individually to get to
an end goal. This end goal was to gain as many Christian followers as they
could to make it a predominant faith. This is how they were trying to gain the
amount of Christians in the world.

4.    What
group within Roman society was targeted to be converted? According to the
article, why did early Christians target this particular group?

The group called the
“paterfamilias” were targeted to be converted. If you got the father, that
means you got his wife, children, and slaves in the package. This was a small
family, but it meant that you got four more Christians, and if you continued to
do that, the multiplier effect would go a long way.

What is Economic Liberalism

Lo1: Define Economic Liberalism
It is an economic system that is organized and created on individual lines, this means that if there is any economic decisions that are needed to be decided it will be done by individuals. Or maybe households by collective institutions or organizations, and has many different economic policies.
Lo2: Identify characteristics of "Capitalism"
Considered a "production for exchange", it is driven or desired for personal gathering of money, and is mediated by free markets. Those markets are driven by the wants and needs of consumers and a whole society in want.
Lo3: Compare capitalism to other economic systems (communism, socialism)
Capitalism is the only economic system that does not claim that the state in some form owns the people, all the other systems say that they own their people at least in some way. Some of the other systems can't be compared to Capitalism such as Statism, because since they assume that they own all of their people and their property, which means all of their money production.

What is Western Civlization?

Lo1: Define western civilization
A term used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems and specific artifacts and technologies that have some origin or association with Europe. The term also applies beyond Europe, to countries and cultures whose histories are strongly connected to Europe by immigration, colonization, or influence.
Lo2:Identify "The West"
The West as a geographical area is unclear and undefined. More often a country's ideology is what will be used to categorize it as a Western society.Many parts of the Eastern Roman Empire are considered Western today but were Eastern in the past. Geographically, the "West" of today would include Europe. Since the West is more closely associated with certain characteristics of people and places rather than possessing a geographic location, it is easier to identify Western countries and peoples based on those associative traits.
Lo3:Describe the characteristics of the Modern Western World

Thinking Historically: Characteristics of the Modern Western World

1) Liberal Democracy- Liberal democracy is a liberal political ideology and a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of classical liberalism. 

2)Economic liberalism- is an economic system organized on individual lines, meaning that the greatest possible number of economic decisions are made by individuals or households rather than by collective institutions or organizations.

3)Christianity- he religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices.

4)Separation of church and state- The principle that government must maintain an attitude of neutrality toward religion 

5)Progress-forward or onward movement toward a destination.

6)Human Rights and Guaranteed civil liberties- Civil liberties are freedoms guaranteed to us by the Constitution to protect us from tyranny (think: our freedom of speech), while civil rights are the legal rights that protect individuals from discrimination