# •●ஐ Early Civilizations ஐ ●•



## bint_cool (5 أبريل 2007)

How did it begin?
-Science explains the creation of the Earth as The Big Bang.
-Stages of evolution took place that changes the geography and the climate on this planet and created an environment in which life could begin.
-This happened around one billion years ago but it is estimated that the earliest man existed about 1.7 million years ago.



What is the scientific name of the early man?
HOMO SAOIEN is the man who lived about 20,000 years ago and resembles the present humans in the shape of his body and the structure of his skull.



How do we know information about early man?
1- Pre-historic remains of physical objects, artifacts and structures found by archaeologists during digging.
2- Practices and customs of Primitive people of today that are studied by anthropologists.​


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## bint_cool (5 أبريل 2007)

To learn more about history of mankind, it is important to undersatnd some definitions of terms:

-Pre-history:

The time that is before history can be recorded or written.

-Primitive:

A group of people existing in some remote area in the world, even at present times. They live in isolation and do not mix up with other cultures. Their every day habits are very traditional and change is not allowed, it is severely punished. They do not trust progress and live a simple life of early man i.e. the hunter-gatherer.

The history of mankind has gone through many stages of development:

-Old Stone Age
-New Stone Age


I INTRODUCTION

Stone Age, the earliest period of human culture, when tools were made of stone, bone, antler, or wood, and before metals were first used. The term “Stone Age” encompasses almost the whole of human existence, because it starts with the very earliest tools detectable in the archaeological record, but ends only a couple of centuries ago in some parts of the world, such as Australia or Polynesia, where metal was not used until the arrival of Europeans.

By the mid-19th century, antiquarians in Europe had established that humans had existed in remote antiquity alongside extinct animals; that the stones which formerly—in Classical and medieval times—had been seen as thunderbolts were actually early tools; and that flaked stone tools preceded polished stone tools in the archaeological record, even though nothing was known of the extent or duration of their periods of use. This “Stone Age”, which preceded the Bronze Age and Iron Age, was eventually subdivided by the British naturalist and politician Sir John Lubbock: in 1865 he coined the terms Palaeolithic (from the Greek palaeo, old, and lithos, stone) and Neolithic (from neo, new) for the periods of flaked stone and polished stone tools respectively.​


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## bint_cool (5 أبريل 2007)

*The Stone Age*

This Stone Age is divided into two periods:

-Paleolithic Period
-Neolithic Period


PALEOLITHIC PERIOD
(Old Stone Age extending back to 500,000 years)

-Caves as first home of man
-France (chauvet and Lescaux)
-Paintings are found drawn on the walls and roofs of these ancient caves.
-Paintings show animals as bison, horses, bulls, deer, lion and man as their hunter.
-Use of stone tools, knives for hunting.
-Use of fire for cooking and warmth and scare animals.
-Early shelters were made from natural materials.







NEOLITHIC PERIOD
(New Stone Age extending back to 100,000 years)

-Using stone to make new tools.
-Sharp pointed tools made it possible to till the land.
-Larger groups living together.
-Farming starts.
-First villages near banks of rivers.




​


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## bint_cool (5 أبريل 2007)

DEVELOPMENT OF FIRST SHELTERS:

1- Natural (Caves): stone structure, natural, existing in landscape.
2-Man-Made (Shelters): simple materials simple tools, man-made, not existing in landscape.

Basic Characteristics of primitive shelters:

-Small and round in plan.
-Materials present on site.
-Simple tools and techniques.
-Easy to construct.
-One entry door.
-Fireplace in center.​


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## bint_cool (5 أبريل 2007)

*stone age tools*

Some of the important Shelter Types are described below:

CAVES:

-The cave is a naturally existing shelter like a deep hole in the mountain.
-The Lascaux caves are like galleries which are on three levels below ground, each level is separated from the next by a sharp ramp.
-The entrance is a hole through which we pass into a narrow passage about 20m long and then it suddenly opens up to an oval shaped room known as the Hall of the Bulls.
-The cave walls and roofs are painted with drawing of animals and man as the hunter.






DOLMENS:

-Larg stones are arranged in a particular way to form an interior space.
-Two or three large stones are placed upright on the ground and another one is placed on top of them like a roof.
-It is first example of a column beam construction of today.
-These stones were also laid in a circular pattern with a deep underground chamber for a tomp.


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## bint_cool (6 أبريل 2007)

STONEHENGE in Salisbury, England is the best surviving example of Dolmen structures of the Neolithic Period.

TERRA AMATA

-These are oval shaped huts that which are meant for 10-15 persons.
-Branches of trees were set close together in sand supported by large stones on the outside as a boundary of rings so they do not fall.
-There were two wooden columns on the longer axis to support the roof, a fire pit was in the middle.
-TERRA AMATA found near Nice in the south of France. It is 8-15m in length and 4-6m in width.
-The digging of the earth was done with wooden spears and the finishing of the hut was with flint stone hand axes.
-The fireplace was in the center of the hut so that the people could sit around it in a ring.
-There was also a toilet and a kitchen area in one corner of this hut.







WIGWAM AND TEPEE

-Usually found in the U.S.A., this kind of shelter was used by the Indian people.
-It is a conical shaped hut, the structure is made of dried branches which are gathered and tied up on the top.
-It has a single entry and skins of animals can be hung on it to protect this door.
-It can be plastered with mud or covered with animal skins to protect it further.





WIGWAM





TEPEE​


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## bint_cool (6 أبريل 2007)

IGLOO

-A round dome like structure made of ice blockes, which is the only material available in the Arctic zone.
-The ice insulates the hut from the cold temperature and the plan of the hut is round.














YURT

-This is a portable structure with an enclosing wall of lattice strips on a vertical wall frame that can be expanded or folded like the grill doors of old elevators.
-Wall panels are tied together to form a circular space.
-Willow strips form a roof structure and layers of soft fabric or animal skins cover these walls and roof.


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## حسام عبدالله (10 أبريل 2007)

The subject is very intrested but need more depth disscution
thank you for this contribution


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## bint_cool (12 أبريل 2007)

thanx for your comment...
i'll try to do my best insha'allah


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## bint_cool (12 أبريل 2007)

UNDERGROUND SHELTERS:

-Found in Matmata in Saharan Africa.
-It is a central court which is dug deep into the sand.
-It has underground chambers around it and a sloping tunnel which connects the outside and the inner rooms.


ADOBE HUT:

-Found most commonly in plain areas of hot countries.
-It is a small hut made of mud bricks or mud plaster covering a simple bamboo frame.
-The roof is made in a cone of dried grass and thatch.


COMMUNITY HOUSE:

-They usually cleared a patch of land in the forest by cutting the trees.
-They lived in small individual huts made of timber and mud.
-The timber posts were put in holes in the ground and were braced at the top by roof beams.
-Branches of trees were woven through the posts to make a frame for the mud which filled the spaces in between and created walls.
-The roof was pitched for draining the rain-water or snow and covered with thatch or grass.
-It is a multi-room house where each room has some function like sleeping, storage or kitchen.
-Each room is really a round mud hut and is connected with the other one with a covered passage.
-This house was really for the chief of the tribe, he had many wives and children and so he required a large.​


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## bint_cool (13 أبريل 2007)

HUNTING AND GATHERING

-12,000 years ago, hunters and gatherers adapted to conditions as they find them, using what is already there.
-They hunt game animals.
-They use plant and animal resources for food, fiber, medicine and soap.
-Women usually do most of the gathering, while the men specialize in hunting.
-The group consists of not more than 250 people.


PASTORALISM

-Ten to twelve thousand years ago agriculture emerged out of hunting and gathering.
-A parallel specialization appeared: pastoralism, the herding of domesticated or partially domesticated animals.
-A good trade started between farmers who had grain, metal and hand made objects to exchange, and pastoral nomads, who had hides, wool, meat and milk products.


AGRICULTURE

-Agriculture is not just a way of growing food; it means living and working on the same spot.
-The opportunity to accumulate new techniques and tools and knowledge.
-First crops were of cereal grains, wheat and barley.


DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS

-Animals protein from meat or milk products is one way to create a sustaining diet based on cereals.
-Animals were also domesticated to share some of the burden of working in the fields, for pulling carts and for riding.​


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## bint_cool (13 أبريل 2007)

NEW WAY OF LIFE

What were the opprtunities of the new way of life?

-Building of permanent dwellings.
-Variety of solid dwelling of a more or less permanent sort which make use of local building materials.
-This cluster of houses.
-Some individuals who are skilled at making clothing or working with wood, begin to spend all of their time to specialize in this craft.
-Wealth acquires meaning, because one can accumulate and store useful or desirable objects.
-Knowledge also became a wealth.


EARLY HOUSES

-Early mud-brick dwelling of Mesopotamia suggests how elaborate village dwellings soon became.
-Many rooms, roof space and central courtyard.​


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## bint_cool (13 أبريل 2007)

*some examples*


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## bint_cool (13 أبريل 2007)

وهذا رابط لموقع جامعه واشنطون فيه محاظرات مرتبطه بالموضوع... اللي هو الحظارات القديمه وتاريخها وعمارتها
http://courses.washington.edu/arch150/lectures.htm


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## حسام عبدالله (14 أبريل 2007)

it is a valueable information.
thanks a lot.


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