First Book Work Homework

Notes from the Book

• Prehistoric
• the period before history was recorded
• before civilization
• "if we reduce the time since the first humanlike species appeared (about 2.5 million years ago) to the period of a twenty-four-hour day, the five-thousand-year era of civilization takes up less than the last three minutes."
• the earliest and longest prehistoric era is the Paleolithic Age
• began with the earliest human types 
• By 8000 BC humans advanced in southwestern Asia and northeastern Africa.
• this starts the Neolithic Age
• during the prehistoric era, humans used the way of hunting and gathering to get their food
• Agricultural Revolution, also Neolithic Age, is the shift from hunting and gathering to farming
• Around 6000 BC the first agricultural villages formed in southwest Asia
• Families also started forming
• Polytheism – the belief in many gods or goddesses
• Because men did the farming, that left women at home to take care of the children
• The foundation of a civilized society included tradition, custom, and authority.
• The first village to become civilized was Sumer
• Dynasty – a line of rulers from the same family
• City-state – an independent state that consists of a city and its surroundings.