Civilization in Paleolithic Era
Topic: To what extent does the hypothesis of bona fide, yet ‘missing’, civilization in the Palaeolithic era make sense to you? Palaeolithic meaning old stone, which is about (2. 6 million years – 300,000 years ago). Having a Lower, Middle and Upper stone age for Palaeolithic. In the Palaeolithic era climate was the pacemaker of change. As the world grew colder, the new climatic conditions restricted the habitat, certain species disappeared. Every time the climate changed the new conditions suited other animals. Each Ice Age last between fifty and a hundred thousand years as so mentioned in “The New Penguin History of the World” written by J.
M Roberts. He mentions “Evidence of the glaciations and their effects is now available from all oceans and continents and they provide the backbone for prehistory chronology. ” I did research and came across a website http://www. sciencedaily. com/releases/2004/04/040421234349. htm. It has evidence that supports the three major glaciation events that occurred in the past. Robert Tucker and Zhanxiong Peng of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University of St. Louis implicated that “There would be no communication between the atmosphere and the ocean.
The deep ocean would quickly become free of oxygen because light would not be able to penetrate the ice to fuel algae. Above the ice, there would be little rain or snow because there would be little evaporation. Many organisms that lived in milder conditions would become extinct. ” Investigation shows that there are at least three levels of glacial deposits. Each ice age destroyed the habitats of creatures that had adapted to the arctic condition. But after each glaciation new species spread. As time went on, one branch lead to apes and the other lead to human beings, this line was named hominids.
Indicated by J. M Roberts, “The first hominid fossil found in Kenya and Ethiopia are dated only 4. 5 million years ago. ” But then a French fossil hunter discovered a fossil in Chadian desert year 2001; nearly complete cranium, pieces of jawbone and teeth. They pinned down the age of this fossil, which they say is between 6. 8 and 7. 2 million years old. (Information found in http://afp. google. com/article/ALeqM5gjCJ41Mm-Li6gU9Rd4n1DXPlm7Gg . ) So as to what is happening, fossil hunters, geologist, archeologist, scientist etc. keep discovering new fossils with different ages and keep pushing back our timelines. So saying the truth we are not sure exactly when the hominids where first taking place in our timeline. Who knows what there is yet to be discovered. Going to a description and comparison of a hominid and primate. Those with a small cranium were consider primates because the brain was not too intelligent. As time went on the brain developed little by little. More common sense, but as that happened the brain grew, therefore having a much bigger cranium, which were then classified as hominids.
Hominids developed reasoning, a sense of communication and had a system of control, which is the beginning of the creation of human beings. Primates communicate with signals, went on natural instincts, and had no system of control. Their method was adaptation to life and the environment around them. Which if I’m not mistaken is what we now call wild animals. We are the top of the food chain. We are the fittest to survival. Why, because we have intelligence, logic and reasoning. We have common sense to avoid casual mistakes that can cause our lives. Professor Paul S.
Burdett from Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg NJ wrote a document named “What Is Human? ”. It describes three main parts of what makes us human and has a comparison to what is not classified to be human. 1. Reasoning is the power to think, and understand. Mind solves problems and the body has a reaction to everything but think before react. As for primates, they’re mind and reactions are not reasonable like ours. 2. Language is our form of communication. Without communication we have nothing. With language we have grammar and syntax an arrangement that focuses on a relationship between words. . System of control, which keeps things organized. Having a social life. Under that category come family, tribes, and clans. Which are all in relation and come with a natural connectivity as in a connection in blood or DNA. Examples; mother, son, grandfather, cousins, aunts, including mother-in-law and so on. Now beyond that comes communities, societies, culture and civilization. Which is an organization of non-related people. People working together to make a living. As for primates, they only go with their instincts and communicate with signals.
And cannot go any much further than that. So my definition for being a human is one who exhibits a sense of humanity, compassion, civilization, and consideration towards mankind. An understanding, organization, and sense of communication. So is it possible that such a civilization could have existed? There was a point in time where the hominids decided to just settle down. Having water, and food near them. So they did not have to travel far. In the process tools were created, fire, a sense a religion, a stable living style, a sense of emotion, farming.
All of these things is what started civilization. And civilization was not established until the Upper Palaeolithic Era. Without everything being done, no civilization would have been created. Till this day discoveries are made. The only way to know if something really existed is by evidence. And by evidence I mean fossils, skeletons, art, grave goods, “ARTIFACTS! ” Artifacts is all we have. The only problem is that from what I have understood is that we have more evidence going towards the Upper Palaeolithic Era. In J. M Roberts book (Book 1, Chapter 2, last paragraph on pg. 1) he stated, “To separate Upper and Lower Palaeolithic is easy; the division represents the physical facts… … the most recent and therefore fossils and artifacts found among them are later found then lower. ” Meaning more evidence is found in the Upper. “Almost all the artifacts that survived in Palaeolithic are made from stone, none are made of metal… … which stone artifacts provide the largest significant body of evidence. ” So from what is seems stones where most likely to be preserved then metal. Neolithic Revolution involved far more than the adoption of a limited set of food producing techniques.
The making of small groups of hunter, gatherers that had hitherto dominated human history into sedentary societies based in built up villages and towns, which radically modified their natural environment by means of specialized food crop cultivation that allowed extensive surplus food production. These developments provided the basis for high population density settlements, specialized and complex labor diversification, trading economies, the development of art, architecture, and culture. All these things are well described in a book called “The Breakout: The Origins Of Civilization” written by Martha Lamberg-Karlovsky.
The Revolution developed independently in different parts of the world, not just in the Fertile Crescent. The Mediterranean climate has a long dry season with a short period of rain, which made it suitable for small plants with large seeds, like wheat and barley. The Oasis Theory, originally proposed by Raphael Pumpelly in 1908, maintains that as the climate got drier due to the Atlantic depressions shifting northward, communities contracted to oases where they were forced into close association with animals, which were then domesticated together with planting of seeds.
Agriculture, known as farming. Which was turning point. No more long travel, everything at hand and the sense of trading. With trading came leader, which meant government. With all that said societies. In this part of time, known art was a way of recording things in their time. There were caves that have been found with carved drawings. Showing life itself, and how everything was before. Art created by stones, mud as paint, and drawings on top of other drawings creating stories that have yet to be discovered.
Every time we think we found the oldest society another older one pops up. Everyday life was not able to be recorded. Communication was not able to be recorded. Records in that era took a lot of time and dedication. So in our sense, was there civilization in the Palaeolithic Era? I think there was. Even though there isn’t much evidence, it actually makes sense. Like in the quote, “If a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? ” Just because we did not witness it, it does not mean it did not exist.
