PRE-HISTORY

⚫ STONE AGE
-Paleolithic
-Mesolithic
-Neolithic

PALEOLITHIC PERIOD
*sub periods

Lower Paleolithic:
➢ The Oldowan Industry: pebble tools
➢ The Abevillian Industry: Hand Axe
➢ The Acheulean industry: Refined Hand- Axe T
➢ he Clactonian Industry: flake Industry

Middle Paleolithic:
➢ The Mousterian and The Aterian industries

THE NEANDERTHALS
1. Discovered in Germany, found through out Asia, Africa, and Europe 2. Believed 1
million lived on Earth at 1 time 3. Skilled hunters, used traps (pitfalls) to catch larger
prey 4. 1st to bury their dead.

Upper Paleolithic:
➢ Regional stone tool industries (The Perigordian, The Aurignacian, The Solutrean,
and The Magdalenian of Europe

TOOLS AND WEAPONS

-SPEARTHROWER
-BOLA
-NETS FOR FISHING

THE CRO- MAGNONS

➢ Discovered in France, remains found in North Africa, Asia, and Europe
➢ Tool makers, invented the burin to make better weapons for hunting larger game
➢ Spear throwers were invented to expand their food source and make hunting safer
➢ Invented the axe to cut down trees and bamboo to make rafts and boats. Rafts
allowed them to become the 1st humans to reach Australia
➢ 1st to use bones, ivory, and shells for jewelry, and decorate clothing
➢ Made flutes from hollow bones to create music
➢ Cro-Magnons created art: Carved Statues from ivory Molded statues out of clay
Painted pictures on cave walls with mineral paint
➢ Cave Paintings = Religion
➢ The Cro-Magnons believed that by painting the animals picture on the cave wall it
would weaken the animal and make it easier to hunt
➢ Cave Paintings = History They left records for younger generations to follow
➢ Many of the Cro-Magnon bands would work together to hunt, exchange ideas, and
trade
PALEOLITHIC (Obtaining Food)
1. Food supply and Population is directly related
2. Humans had a very short life expectancy
3. Childhood illnesses were deadly
4. Paleolithic humans only stayed in one spot until the food supply was gone.

Obtaining food Women and Children’s roles

➢ Gathered nuts, berries, and eggs
➢ Collected honey
➢ Dug for roots
Men’s roles
➢ Hand fishing
➢ Hunting small animals w/ sticks and rocks
➢ Hunting for larger animals in groups
MAKING TOOLS
1. Sticks and stones were sharpened into useful tools for hunting and other jobs
2. Oldowan Pebble Tools
3. Chips were taken out of large stones to make jagged sharp edges
MAKING FIRE
1. Fire was 1st discovered by humans as a natural element, lighting causes fires
2. Soon the realized that they could make fire by rubbing 2 sticks together to create
sparks
3. Cooking food helped the digestion process allowing humans more time to complete
other tasks
4. Cooking also allowed for better nutrition
Fire was used by early humans many ways:
➢ Stay warm and dry
➢ As a weapon
➢ For hunting
➢ For clearing land Cooking food
SEEKING SHELTER
1. The first humans lived on the open plains of Africa, they took shelter in pits they dug
and dry river beds in bad weather
2. As the prehistoric humans moved out of Africa and into Europe and Asia they began
to use caves as shelter
MAKING CLOTHING
1. As climate changed to cool and wet prehistoric man began to use large animal hides
for clothing
2. They were sewn together to provide protection and warmth

MESOLITHIC PERIOD
GENERAL CHARACTERISTCS
1. Second period in Human history
2. Based on the increased technology of “microlith”
3. The new technology allowed for an increase in leather work and basketry.
4. Tools were combined with other tools and refined for hunting
5. All these new tools were allowed for the domestication of plants and animals.

TOOLS (MICROLITHS)- tiny flints that were glued/fixed to wooden shafts to make
arrows or spears for hunting.

AXE HEAD-The axe heads were fixed into a wooden handle and used like axes today

FLINT CORE- raw material from which other tools could be made.

SCRAPERS- used for cleaning animal skins in the process of making leather

BURINS- used for carving or engraving wood and bone, like a chisel

ASSORTED FLINT BLADES- used as knives

NEOLITHIC PERIOD
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
1. Hunter and Gatherers began to farm
2. Life became more sedentary and permanent villages developed
3. Seed planting and animal domestication
4. Neolithic people became food producers
5. Farming
6. growth in population

TOOLS
➢ (Hammers and Chisels)- Hammers were mostly used with chisels in woodworking,
though the difference between a hammer and a war club is really only in the use.
➢ ADZES- A larger adze also makes an effective tool for digging, removing roots and
generally preparing land for planting.
➢ AXE- make the clearing of land much simpler, allowing the spread of agriculture.
Axes also make effective weapons, and it is thought that many Neolithic axes were
meant to be used on enemies rather than trees.
➢ THREE SIDED BLADE POINTS- can be inserted deeper into a carcass, or run
along a bone, and works better for the fruits and vegetables of a settled agricultural
life

BROZE AGE
-Bronze Age is a time period when bronze replaced stone as the preferred material for
making tools and weapons. This led to improvements in agriculture and brought with it
changes in the way people live.
-Some groups of Bronze Age people developed early writing and other important
advances included irrigation, the wheel and the potter’s wheel.
-Different societies entered the Bronze Age at differing times. Some of the best known
Bronze Age civilizations include those of the ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mycenae, the
Indus Valley and the Shang Dynasty in China.
WHAT IS THE HISTORICAL BRONZE AGE?
-Bronze Age is a period of chronological time that represents the ability of ancient
cultures to be able to manufacture weapons and artifacts made from copper and its
alloy, bronze. It falls between the Stone Age and the Iron Age. The significance of this
location is the Stone Age represented a time where there was no ability to smelt natural
ores and remove their metal content. The Bronze Age represented a time where there
was an ability to smelt copper and tin, and an ability to combine the two to manufacture
bronze. The iron age represented a time when there was an ability to not only smelt
copper and tin, but also iron, from naturally occuring ores in the Earth. The Bronze age
represents a significant achievement in the history of technology in terms of weapons
and artifacts manufacture. The earliest known bronze weapons and artifacts are from
the the third millenia, B.C.E.
HOW WAS BROZE FIRST DISCOVERED?
1. About 2500BC people in the Middle East discovered how to use metal.
2. The first metal they used was Copper.
3. But copper was too soft.
4. Then they realised that if you added tin to copper it made a harder metal called
Bronze

1. Bronze tools and weapons are sharper than stone tools.

2. Gradually the use of bronze spread across Europe.
3. This led archaeologists to say the Stone Age ended and the Bronze Age began.
WHY WAS BRONZE BETTER THAN STONE?
1. It was harder wearing
2. It could be shaped more easily.
3. It had a sharper edge.
THE BRONZE AGE COMES TO IRELAND
1. Copper & bronze appear in Ire around 2000BC.
2. There is plenty of copper. Archaeologists have found copper mines in a number of
places.
3. For example, Mount Gabriel, Co Cork and near Kilarney, Co Kerry
4. Archaeologists have found no Tin mines in Ireland
SO HOW DID THEY MAKE BRONZE?
➢ Archaeologists believed it was imported to Ireland from the tin mines in Cornwall, in
England.
➢ This would mean bronze age people traded.
COPPER & TIN ARE MINERALS FOUND IN ROCKS IN THE FORM OF ORE
SMELTING- Through heating and melting, metals are extracted from its ore.
BEAKER FOLK:
1. About 2000BC a new type of pot appeared in archaeological sites around Europe.
2. These pots are shaped like a drinking glass
3. Archaeologists call them ‘beakers’ and they called the people who made them
‘Beaker Folk’
4. In sites where the Beaker Folk appear, there are usually copper and bronze tools too.
5. Archaeologists think the Beaker Folk brought the Bronze Age to Ireland.
HOUSES
• small round house made of wood and stones surrounded by large fences
• usually circular with a wattle and daub wall or dry stone wall and thatched or turfed
roof over a cone of beams at around 45° and single entrance
• usually east facing, towards the rising sun as the inside of these dwellings or
“roundhouses” is generally quite dark.
• A hearth or fire place would be the centre point
SETTLEMENTS
• Small village or on farms
• Defensive settlement
FOOD
• Wheat and barley
• Malt
• Pea
• Chickpea
• lantil
FAMILY
• Typical nuclear family
• Extended family
WORK
• metalworking, basketry, bone working, woodworking, boat building, leather tanning
and would trade with farmers or other craftsman.
TOOLS AND WEAPONS
• Daggers, Swords and Axes
• Bronze plow
ARTS AND CRAFTS
• Minoan Pottery
• Painted ceramics
• Fresco murals, including landscapes as well as figurative pictures of humans and
animals. Religious relief and freestanding sculpture, mostly carved from stone

➢ FULACHTA FIADH- FIELD KITCHEN. The Irish word "fulacht" denotes a pit used
for cooking. "Fiadh or Fia" which means "of the wild",
➢ BURIAL CUSTOMS- Cist Graves . A cist is a small stone-built coffin-like box or
ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead.
➢ WEDGE TOMB- Glantane East Wedge Tomb,
➢ -County Cork, Ireland
➢ STONE CIRCLE DROMBEG, CO CORK

10 FACTS ABOUT THE BRONZE ERA

1. The Bronze Age is the name given to the period of time between the Stone and Iron
Ages.
2. Between 4000BC and 2000BC different societies around the world entered the
Bronze Age. In Britain, the Bronze Age started around 2100BC and ended around
650BC.
3. Bronze is an alloy or mixture of tin and copper. Bronze alloy is harder than either of
the metals from which it is made. It could be used to make a greater range of tools and
weapons than had previously been possible.
4. Where societies developed early writing they are said to be part of a historic (as
opposed to a prehistoric) time period. The ancient Egyptians could record their own
histories and laws using hieroglyphs.
5. Irrigation and the metal plough transformed the development of agriculture and meant
that, where the climate permitted, it was possible to farm year round. Forest clearance
led to the development of large farms and fields were separated by walls.
6. Growth of trade for bronze and bronze products was aided by improved navigation
skills. Knowledge of astronomy and mathematics also developed during this period.
7. The invention of the wheel meant that animal-drawn vehicles could drive along tracks
and roads.
8. The potter's wheel and textile production meant that better pottery and clothing could
be produced.
9. Metal workers and those who traded in metals were probably the most important and
wealthiest people in Bronze Age society.
10. Some Bronze Age societies developed a ruling class who were supported by
military power. Some Bronze Age kings ruled empires and administered law.

ANCIENT GREECE AND ANCIENT ROME: AN INTRODUCTION

GREECE LOCATION: Aegean Sea, expanded to the west of Spain and Far east India.
POLITICAL: Collection of 1500 territories that acted as sovereign nation called City-
States. Moreover, Ancient Greece was also the 1st Large Scale Democracy which was
developed in the city state of Athens.
MILITARY: Greek empire established colonies overseas and it is well protected from
foreign invaders such as the Persian empire. City- States are united to defend their
homeland (Example: LEONIDAS king of Sparta fought XEREX king of Persia).
Soldiers are labeled as HEROES which inspired the creation of Olympics that
celebrated PHYSICAL COMPETITION.

CULTURE:
➢ Arts and Architecture
➢ Three types of Columns (D, I, C)
➢ Greek Philosophy (reason, ethics, natural law)
➢ Greek language and Alphabet
TIMELINE OF DECLINE
➢ Alexander the Great
➢ Greece Divided
➢ Hellenistic Greece
➢ The Rise of Rome
PRIMARY CAUSES
➢ Greece was divided into city-states. Constant warring between the city states
weakened Greece and made it difficult to unite against a common enemy like Rome.
➢ The poorer classes in Greece began to rebel against the aristocracy and the
wealthy.
➢ The city-states of Ancient Greece had different governments and were constantly
changing alliances.
➢ Greek colonies had a similar culture, but were not strong allies to Greece or any of
the Greek city-states.
FUN FACTS ABOUT ANCIENT GREECE
1. The Greeks often ate dinner while lying on their sides.
2. They invented the yo-yo which is considered the 2nd oldest toy in the world after the
doll.
3. About one third of the population of some city-states were slaves.
4. There were more city-states than just Sparta and Athens, Ancient Greece had around
100 city-states.
5. The Romans copied much of the Greek culture including their gods, architecture,
language, and even how they ate!
6. Pheidippides was a Greek hero who ran 150 miles from Marathon to Sparta to get
help against the Persians. After the Greeks won the war, he ran 25 miles from Marathon
to Athens to announce the victory. This is where the marathon running race gets its
name.
7. When law trials were held in the city of Athens, they used large juries of 500 citizens.
That's a lot more than the 12 we use today
ANCIENT GREECE INVENTIONS
⚫ WATER MILL:
USES:
➢ metal shaping
➢ agriculture
➢ milling.
ORIGIN: Perachora wheel (created in the third century BC in Greece, invented by the
contemporary Greek engineer Philo of Byzantium)
⚫ ODOMETER
USES:
➢ measures the distance traveled by a vehicle such as a bicycle or automobile.
➢ Mechanical slowly evolving into electro-mechanical with the rise of technology
ORIGIN:
➢ Vitruvius first described the odometer as being used for measuring distance around
27 BC
➢ Archimedes of Syracuse as its inventor sometime around the First Punic War.
➢ Some historians also attribute its invention to Heron of Alexandria.
➢ SPEEDOMETER VS. ODOMETER
➢ speedometer measures the speed at which you are traveling (how fast)
➢ odometer measures the distance that you have travelled (how far)
⚫ ALARM CLOCK
ORIGIN: The Hellenistic engineer and inventor Ctesibius (285–222 BC).
FUNCTION: Fitted clepsydras or water clock with a dial and pointer to indicate the time.
➢ Added an elaborate alarm system involving pebbles dropping on to a gong
➢ the blowing of a trumpet by forcing bell jars down into water and taking the
compressed air through a beating reed at pre-set times.
⚫ CARTOGRAPHY
ORIGIN: Anaximander was one of the first pioneer cartographers to create a map of the
world.
He included all inhabited areas of the world in his map.
The map appeared in tablet form and featured Ionia in the center. It was bounded on
the east by the Caspian Sea and stretched to the Pillars of Hercules in the west.
Middle Europe borders the map in the north while Ethiopia and the Nile feature at the
southern end.
USES: travel and navigation
⚫ OLYMPICS
PURPOSE:
➢ It was dedicated to the Olympian gods
➢ The game was for young men to show their physical qualities and to enforce the
relationship between the various Greek cities.
➢ Only Greek men were allowed to participate in the Olympics but not women
STAGES
➢ The Isthmian Games: two years at the Isthmus of Corinth
➢ Pythian Games: four years near Delphi
➢ Olympia: southwest of Greece took place every four years
⚫ BASIS OF GEOMETRY
PURPOSE:
➢ The Greeks insisted that geometric facts must be established by deductive
reasoning
ORIGIN:
➢ Thales of Miletus, regarded as the father of geometry, proposed a number of
axioms and rules that were truly based on reasoning (called mathematical truths) in
the sixth century BC
➢ Then Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes whose geometrical axioms and rules are
still taught in schools today.
⚫ EARLIEST PRACTICE OF MEDICINE
ORIGIN:
➢ Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician of the Classical age
➢ He was considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine.
➢ father of Western medicine
➢ Hippocratic oath
➢ disease was a natural process; that the signs and symptoms of a disease were
caused by the natural reactions of the body to the disease process
⚫ CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY
DESCRIPTION:
➢ In Ancient Athens around 508 BC. Athens is regarded as the birthplace of
democracy. This transition from exploitation by the aristocracy to a political system
where all members of society have an equal share of formal political power had a
significant impact on future civilizations
⚫ DISCOVERIES IN MODERN SCIENCE
DESCRIPTION:
➢ The Ancient Greeks made some astounding discoveries in the fields of astronomy,
biology, and physics
➢ Many ancient Greek intellectuals excelled in mathematics, physics, and astronomy.
➢ Aristotle introduced the idea of the earth as a globe and classified animals to as the
father of zoology.
➢ Theophrastus was the first botanist.
➢ The Pythagoreans proposed the heliocentric hypothesis of the earth revolving
around the sun.
➢ Archimedes discovered that submerging a solid object in water would displace the
same amount of liquid as the object’s weight.
⚫ MODERN PHILOSOPHY
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Greek philosophers were also scientists who observed and studied the known world,
the earth, seas, mountains, solar system, planetary motion, and astral phenomena.
➢ Philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were such influential philosophers
that their studies were used to teach subsequent ages of Romans and other
Western cultures.

ROME
LOCATION: Central Italy's TIBER RIVER. From North of Atlantic to the Persian Gulf.
POLITICAL: Lifespan of Ancient Rome (R, R, I) Characterized by slow and Steady
Expansion
Examples: Latium: Latin Language (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian)
Etruscans: Religion, Alphabet, gladiator combat.
FUN FACTS ABOUT ROMAN ENGINEERING
1. The Romans built over 400,000 km of roads including 29 highways that lead to the
city of Rome.
2. The Latin word for road is via. The plural of via is viae. Roman roads generally had
the name via in them, like the Via Appia or the Via Flaminia.
3. All the aqueducts in the city of Rome together totaled around 500 miles in length.
4. The Romans were among the first civilizations to harness water power.
5. It is estimated that the Romans built over 900 bridges in their empire.
ANCIENT ROME INVENTIONS
⚫ ARCHES
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Romans who first found a way to set an arch on top of two tall pedestals such that it
would span a walkway (and in many cases, even highways).
➢ These arches went on to become pivotal engineering constructions that laid the
foundation for many of the subsequent structural highlights of ancient Rome.
➢ Many bridges were built upon these arches, and so were the aqueducts, sewers,
amphitheaters, and even the great Colosseum.
⚫ GRID-BASED CITIES
DESCRIPTION:
➢ characterized by a rectangle or a square in a nearly perfect orthogonal layout of
streets. The two main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, would cross each
other at a right angle in the center of the grid.
➢ This grid was an ideal structure to organize the different components of a city such
as housing, theaters, and stores into particular blocks.
➢ To avoid the city becoming a monotonous series of blocks, the Romans
incorporated various items such as open theaters, public baths, markets, and other
recreational facilities within the city grid.
⚫ SEWERS AND SANITATION
DESCRIPTION:
➢ The Romans established a number of public baths, latrines, and an interlinked
sewage line binding them all together in a complex and efficient feat of engineering.
➢ Rome and other major cities had an extensive network of sewers and drains that
ran along the sides of the streets.
⚫ ROADS AND HIGHWAYS
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Used for the rise of the Roman state, expanding all across the Roman Republic and
then the Roman Empire.
➢ In a period of about 700 years, they built about 55,000 miles of paved highways
around the Mediterranean basin and across Europe.
➢ It ensured the fast and efficient movement of goods, soldiers, and information
across the entire empire.
➢ Roman roads usually followed a straight route across the countryside, making travel
efficient and fast.
⚫ AQUEDUCTS
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Used to transport water from rivers, springs, and reservoirs.
➢ The first Roman aqueducts were built around 312 BC
➢ It uses the downhill flow of water to supply the city centers.
➢ Once the water reached bigger cities like Rome, large reservoirs would then contain
it.
➢ The public baths, fountains, toilets, and private villas could then all tap into the
network and access the water.
⚫ ROMAN NUMERALS
DESCRIPTION:
➢ At present they are used in movie titles, books, and many other popular and cultural
spheres today shows the long-lasting legacy of this ancient numerical notation.
SURGERY TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
DESCRIPTION:
➢ invented procedures such as the cesarean section.
➢ During the reign of Augustus, a military medical corps was established to assist
injured soldiers in battle.
➢ They also invented tools like bronze scalpels, obstetric hooks, bone drills, and
forceps, and also the rather frighteningly named vaginal speculum.
➢ pioneered the earliest form of antiseptic surgery since they used to dip medical tools
in hot water to disinfect them before surgery.
⚫ JULIAN CALENDAR
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Instituted the 12 months of the year. It is clear from the name that the calendar was
named after Julius Caesar himself, and some Eastern orthodox churches use it to
calculate holidays even today.
NEWSPAPERS
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Used for official announcements and developments.
➢ Rome was the first empire to establish a sophisticated system of circulating written
news
➢ It published the Acta Diurna which translates as “Daily Events.” It is comprised of
political news, trials, military campaigns, executions, major scandals, and other
similar subjects
➢ These handwritten news sheets were published daily and posted by the government
in the Roman Forum from the year 59 BC to somewhere around 222 AD.
➢ The Romans also published the Acta Senatus that recorded the proceedings in the
Roman Senate.
⚫ CONCRETE
DESCRIPTION:
➢ The Romans used to combine their cement with volcanic rock popularly known as
“tuff,” enabling the resulting concrete to endure possible chemical decay.
➢ It is not much of a surprise that many ancient Roman structures such as the
Pantheon, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum having been standing for more
than two millennia.
MAYAN CIVILIZATION
What country did they live in?
➢ The ancient Mayans lived in what is now known as southern Mexico and northern
Central America including Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Yucatán Peninsula and El
Salvador.
What did their buildings look like?
➢ Mayan pyramids were made of stone. The stone was carved to create a stair step
design. On the top of each pyramid was a shrine dedicated to a particular deity.
Rituals thought to influence the Gods were held in these shrines.
What did they eat?
➢ The Mayans grew a wide variety of crops, including corn (maize), Amaranth, manioc,
and sunflower seeds. These crops were grown in permanent raised fields, terraces,
forest gardens, and managed fallows. There was also harvesting of wild crops. The
Mayans ground cacao and mixed it with water to make the first chocolate.
What did they wear?
➢ When the king appeared in public, he wore white robes and a gold crown on top of
his head, decorated with Quetzal (a type of bird) plumes. During wartime, the
Mayans wore masks, while commanders wore robes made of silver and gold. Some
Mayan clothes were made of deer skin. Usually women made the clothes.
What did their writing look like?
➢ The Mayans wrote using a series of glyphs (symbolic pictures), which were painted
on ceramics, walls, or bark-paper codices (books), carved in wood or stone, or
molded in stucco. Each glyph represented a word. Mayans wrote numbers vertically.
What did they believe?
➢ The Mayans believed that time was cyclical, that is, it goes in circles. The Mayan
shaman interpreted these cycles by looking at the number relations of all their
calendars. If the interpretations of the shaman showed bad times ahead, human
sacrifices would be performed to make the gods happy
MAYAN INVENTIONS
⚫ ASTRONOMY
DESCRIPTION:
➢ recorded information on the development of the sun, the moon, Venus, and the
stars
➢ Calculated the days to be 365.2420 days (the true approximation is 365.2422).
⚫ BALL COURTS
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Frequently played during religious celebrations, lasting for up to 20 days.
➢ The courts were situated at the foot of sanctuaries to pay tribute to the gods and
goddesses.
⚫ CHOCOLATE
DESCRIPTION:
➢ The first to discover the many uses of the cacao bean between 250 and 900 AD.
They mixed the cacao bean with pepper and cornmeal to make a fiery chocolate
drink.
⚫ HALLUCINOGEN
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Every occasion was feted in a grand way, and people with special powers known as
shamans conducted rituals for the gods.
➢ The shamans took stimulating drugs to induce trance-like states during these rituals
in order to make contact with the spiritual world.
➢ These substances affected the body in such a way that pain was not felt, and
energy was increased.
⚫ LAW AND ORDER
DESCRIPTION:
➢ laws were standardized across every state and were applicable to all levels of
society. If someone broke the law, they would go to court where punishments were
meted out according to the crime. Victims of theft were personally involved in the
process of justice.
⚫ MATHEMATICS
DESCRIPTION:
➢ used a base 20 or vigesimal numbering system and to some extent base 5.
➢ built the concept of 0 into their numbering system by 36 BC.
⚫ MAYAN ART
DESCRIPTION:
➢ The Maya created artwork from a variety of materials including wood, jade, obsidian,
and earthenware, and decorated stone landmarks, stucco, and walls.
➢ Woodcuts were common but only a few examples still survive. Stone sculptures are
much more common today, the most celebrated among them, from Copan and
Quirigua, are remarkable for their complexity of detail.
⚫ MAYAN CALENDAR
DESCRIPTION:
➢ It was made up of a year and a half with 20 days in each month, and five additional
days which were known as Wayeb and were considered to represent a dangerous
time.
⚫ MAYAN WRITING
DESCRIPTION:
➢ Glyphs are used to describe or represent a word, sound or even a syllable through
pictures or symbols. History suggests that the Maya used around 700 different
glyphs, and astonishingly 80 percent of the language is still understood today.
⚫ RUBBER
DESCRIPTION:
➢ The fundamental staples of the Mayan diet were maize, beans, and squashes.
Crops also included amaranth, bean stew peppers, sweet potatoes, manioc,
tobacco, chaya, cotton, cacao, vanilla, and of course latex.
➢ The Maya took the latex from trees and blended it with the juice from vines to make
elastic.

CHINESE CIVILIZATION

The Yellow River region

-The civilization of ancient China first developed in the Yellow River region of northern
China, in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE.
-A large part of this area is covered by loess soil. This very fine earth has blown in from
the highlands of central Asia over thousands of years, and makes one of the most fertile
soils in the world.
-In ancient times, the main crop in northern China was millet, a highly nutritious food still
grown in many parts of the world as a major crop.

LOESS SOIL MILLET

The Yangtze Valley region
-To the south, the great Yangtze valley, with its warm, wet climate, was the first area in
the world where rice was grown, sometime before 5000 BCE.
-From this region rice cultivation spread far and wide across southern China and into
south-east Asia.
-Rice is one of the most nutritious plants known to humans – three or four times as
nutritious as wheat. This means that, other things being equal, a much larger number of
people can be supported from the same area of land with a rice crop than with a wheat
crop.
The Cradle of Chinese Civilization
-The Yellow River region is regarded as the Cradle of Chinese Civilization.
-earliest Chinese dynasties were based.
-the Yellow River region which formed the heart of the Chinese world, and it was from
here that Chinese civilization spread out into adjacent areas, including the Yangtze
region.
-By the end of the Han dynasty, the final chapter of ancient Chinese history, all of
modern China except the outlying regions of Tibet, Xinjiang, most of the northeast (what
was Manchuria) and parts of Yunnan in the south-west had been more or less
incorporated into the world of Chinese civilization.
CHINESE INVENTIONS
PAPER MAKING
-The invention of paper greatly affects human history. Paper already existed in China
since 105 A.C
-The first paper was made from rags, and later plant materials were used such as bark,
hemp, and bamboo.
-Civil Service officials needed lots of paper to do their work, and so paper gradually
became mass produced in government factories
MOVABLE TYPE PRINTING
-Woodblock printing was already a widely used technique
in the Tang Dynasty.
-This kind of printing tech was expensive and time-consuming.
Until the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a man named
Bi Sheng (990–1051) invented movable type printing,
making it quicker and easier.
-He first carved individual characters on pieces of clay and then harden them with fire.
-These movable type pieces were later glued to an iron plate to print a page and then
broken up and redistributed for another page.
-This kind of printing tech rapidly spread across Europe, leading up to the Renaissance,
and later all around the world.
GUNPOWDER
-Gunpowder was invented by Chinese Taoist alchemists
about 1000 A.D. when they tried to find a potion
to gain human immortality by mixing elemental sulfur,
charcoal, and saltpeter.
COMPASS
-A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions.
-The compass was invented by Chinese between the 2nd century BC and 1st century
AD.
-It was first used in Feng Shui, the layout of buildings. By 1000 AD,
navigational compasses were commonly used on Chinese ships,
enabling them to navigate.
ALCOHOL
-The inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula were widely believed to be the
first brewers.
-In 2013, a 9000-year-old pottery found in Henan province
revealed the presence of alcohol, 1000 years before Arabian.
-Alcohol is known as Jiu in Chinese and is often used as a
spiritual offerings to Heaven and the Earth or ancestors in ancient China.
-Study shows that beer with an alcoholic content of 4% to 5% was widely
consumed in ancient China and was even mentioned on oracle bone
inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC–1046 BC).
MECHANICAL CLOCK
-The world’s first mechanical clock -Water-driven Spherical Birds – was
invented by Yi Xing, a Buddhist monk in 725 A.D.
-It was operated by dripping water which powered a wheel that made
one revolution in 24 hours.
TEA PRODUCTION
-According to old Chinese legend, tea was first discovered by Shennong,
Chinese Father of Agriculture, around 2,737 BC.
-In the Tang Dynasty (618－907) tea became a popular drink enjoyed
by all social classes.
SILK
-Silk, one of the oldest fibers, originated in China as early
as 6,000 years ago.
-The earliest evidence of silk was discovered at Yangshao
culture site in Xiaxian County, Shanxi Province, China where a
silk cocoon was found cut in half, dating back to between 4000 and 3000 BC.
UMBRELLA
-The inventions of umbrella can be traced back as early as
3500 years ago in China.
-Legend has it, Lu Ban, a Chinese carpenter and inventor
created the first umbrella.
-Inspired by children using lotus leaves as rain shelter,
he created umbrella by making a flexible framework covered by a cloth.
ACUPUNCTURE
-The oldest Chinese medicine book “Neijing”, also known as
“The Classic of Internal Medicine of the Yellow Emperor”,
shows that acupuncture was widely used as a therapy in China
much before the time it was written.
-Various kinds of acupuncture needles were discovered in the
tomb of Prince Liu Sheng who died around 200 B.C.

ANCIENT INDIA
-The Indus Valley Civilization was an ancient civilization located in what is Pakistan and
northwest India today, on the fertile flood plain of the Indus River and its vicinity.
-Evidence of religious practices in this area date back approximately to 5500 BCE.
Farming settlements began around 4000 BCE and around 3000 BCE there appeared
the first signs of urbanization.
-By 2600 BCE, dozens of towns and cities had been established, and between 2500
and 2000 BCE the Indus Valley Civilization was at its peak.
Why is it also called Harappan Civilization?
-The Indus Valley civilization is also known as the Harappan civilization because the
first site of the archaeological remains of the Indus Valley civilization was found at the
modern site of Harappa, West Punjab, Pakistan.

INDUS INVENTIONS
ANCIENT DENTISTRY
-According to historians, the Indus Valley Civilization has revealed
evidence of dentistry being practiced as far back as 7000 BC.
One dig site in Mehrgarh even showed evidence of healers curing
tooth disorders with bow drills.
-Dentistry was also practiced in Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome but
odontology and dental appliances arose only by Etruscans.
AYURVEDA
-Ayurveda is commonly referred as 'science of life' because
the Sanskrit meaning of Ayu is life and Veda is science or
knowledge. Ayurveda is also a person-centered medicine (PCM),
which deals with healthy lifestyle, health promotion and sustenance,
disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
-Ayurveda came from the Indian subcontinent, having been tracked
as far back as 5000 BC. Therapies generally include complex
herbal compounds, minerals and metal substances.

SANITATION

Great Bath, Mohenjo-daro. Dholavira Sophisticated Water Reserving A water well

in Lothal.
-prominent in hydraulic engineering, and had many water supply and sanitation devices
that were the first of their kind.
-The urban areas of the Indus Valley civilization included public and private baths.
-Sewage was disposed through underground drains built with precisely laid bricks, and
a sophisticated water management system with numerous reservoirs was established.
-In the drainage systems, drains from houses were connected to wider public drains.
-Many of the buildings at Mohenjo-daro had two or more stories. Water from the roof
and upper storey bathrooms was carried through enclosed terracotta pipes or open
chutes that emptied out onto the street drains.
RULERS
-In 1500 BC there were ivory rulers used by the Indus
Valley Civilization.
-Some findings in Lothal proved that there was a ruler
which was calibrated to 1.6 millimeters, and it was 4400 years old.
-Mohenjo-Daro ruler has accuracy within 0.13 millimeters.
The first folding ruler was invented by Anton Ullrich,
and the first flexible ruler was made in 1902.
WEIGHING SCALE
-The first weighing scales were actually balances, using two plates
attached to an overhead beam, itself fixed on a central pole.
-The measurement was taken by putting the object measured on one
plate and weight-setting stones on the other, until equilibrium was reached.
-The earliest existence of weighing scales also dates back to between
2400 BC-1800 BC in the Indus valley civilization, where balances
were used to compare measure and compare goods in trade.
PLASTIC SURGERY
-Historians believe plastic surgery was being carried out in
India as early as near 2000 BC.
-Eventually, it was ancient Indian physician Sushruta who was
credited with being the father of plastic surgery around 600 BC,
whose books and teachings eventually made their way to Europe
centuries later.
CRUCIBLE STEEL
-Metallurgy in India has a long and varied history. Bronze and
copper were known during the period of the Indus Valley Civilization.
-The recovery of metal articles (including a bronze dancing girl)
and the discovery of crucible with slag attached are clear indicators
of the knowledge of casting (pouring molten-hot metal into moulds
of the desired shape and size) and forging (hammering hot metal
into required shapes).
-Historians now know that by at least 200 BC (a conservative
estimate) South India was producing high quality steel, using a
method Europeans would later call the crucible technique.
-Wrought iron, charcoal, and glass were mixed together and heated
until the iron melted and absorbed the carbon, forming high grade steel.

CATARACT SURGERY
-Indian physicians were known to practice a different kind of
cataract surgery that known to the Greeks in about 200 BC.
-It was performed with a tool called the Jabamukhi Salaka, a
curved needle used to loosen the lens and push the cataract out
of the field of vision.
-Greek scientists of the time travelled to India to see these surgeries,
and the technique was even introduced into China from our country.
SPINNING WHEEL
-This mechanized method of spinning yarn was invented
in India, between 500 and 1000 AD, eventually replacing
hand spinning across the world. The Charkha, as it came
to be called, eventually went on to become the symbol of
India’s independence movement.

ARAB CIVILIZATION
LOCATION
-The Arabian culture developed in Arabia, a peninsula situated between the Red Sea
and the Persian Gulf, in southwestern Asia. Due to its arid climate, Arabia is a desert
where agriculture is only possible in some coastal locations and inner oases.
-The Arabian Peninsula was isolated from the great historical centers until the 7th
century. It was merely a place where caravans would pass through from the East
bringing spices, silks, and other goods.
-The Arab world of the seventh to the thirteenth centuries was a great cosmopolitan
civilization.
-It was an enormous unifying enterprise, one which joined the peoples of Spain and
North Africa in the west with the peoples of the ancient lands of Egypt, Syria and
Mesopotamia in the east.
-It was the rapid expansion of Islam that initially brought this empire together.
-Alliances were made, trade routes were opened, lands and peoples were welded into a
new force. Islam provided the dynamism, but it was the Arabic language, which
provided the bond that held it together.
-Islam spread to lands more distant than North Africa and the Fertile Crescent, but it
was in this area that a common Arab culture emerged.
ARAB INVENTIONS
SURGERY
-Around the year 1,000, the celebrated doctor Al Zahrawi published
a 1,500-page illustrated encyclopedia of surgery that was used in Europe
as a medical reference for the next 500 years.
-Among his many inventions, Zahrawi discovered the use of dissolving cat
gut to stitch wounds -- beforehand a second surgery had to be performed to
remove sutures.
-He also reportedly performed the first caesarean operation and created the
first pair of forceps.
COFFEE
-Coffee was first brewed in Yemen around the 9th century.
-In its earliest days, coffee helped Sufis stay up during late
nights of devotion.
-Later brought to Cairo by a group of students, the coffee buzz soon
caught on around the empire.
-By the 13th century it reached Turkey, but not until the 16th century
did the beans start boiling in Europe, brought to Italy by a Venetian trader.
FLYING MACHINE
-Abbas ibn Firnas was the first person to make a real attempt
to construct a flying machine and fly.
-In the 9th century he designed a winged apparatus, roughly
resembling a bird costume. In his most famous trial near Cordoba
in Spain, Firnas flew upward for a few moments, before falling to
the ground and partially breaking his back.
-His designs would undoubtedly have been an inspiration for famed
Italian artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci's hundreds of years later.
UNIVERSITY
-In 859 a young princess named Fatima al-Firhi founded the
first degree-granting university in Fez, Morocco.
-Her sister Miriam founded an adjacent mosque and together
the complex became the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University.
-Still operating almost 1,200 years later, Hassani says he hopes
the center will remind people that learning is at the core of the
Islamic tradition and that the story of the al-Firhi sisters will inspire
young Muslim women around the world today.
ALGEBRA
-The word algebra comes from the title of a Persian
mathematician's famous 9th century treatise
"Kitab al-Jabr Wa l-Mugabala" which
translates roughly as "The Book of Reasoning and Balancing."
-Built on the roots of Greek and Hindu systems, the new algebraic
order was a unifying system for rational numbers, irrational numbers
and geometrical magnitudes.
-The same mathematician, Al-Khwarizmi, was also the first
to introduce the concept of raising a number to a power.
OPTICS
-Around the year 1000 Ibn al-Haitham proved that humans
see objects by light reflecting off of them and entering the eye,
dismissing Euclid and Ptolemy's theories that light was emitted
from the eye itself.
-This great Muslim physicist also discovered the camera obscura
phenomenon, which explains how the eye sees images upright due
to the connection between the optic nerve and the brain.
MUSIC
-These artists, al-Kindi in particular, used musical notation:
the system of writing down music.
-They also named the notes of a musical scale with syllables instead
of letters, called solmization.
-These syllables make up the basic scale in music today and we are all
familiar with doh, ray, me, far, so, la, tee. The Arabic alphabet for these
notes is Dal, Ra, Mim, Fa, Sad, Lam, Sin. The phonetic similarity between
today’s scale and the Arabic alphabet used in the 9th century is astonishing.
Muslims were also developing musical instruments.
TOOTHBRUSH
-The Prophet Mohammed popularized the use of the first toothbrush in
around 600. Using a twig from the Meswak tree, he cleaned his teeth and
freshened his breath. Substances similar to Meswak are used in modern toothpaste.
CAMERA
-Ibn al-Haitham revolutionized optics, taking the subject from
one being discussed philosophically to an actual science based
on experiments.
-He rejected the Greek idea that an invisible light emitting from
the eye caused sight, and instead rightly stated that vision was
caused by light reflecting off an object and entering the eye.
-By using a dark room with a pinhole on one side and a white sheet
on the other, he provided the evidence for his theory.
-Light came through the hole and projected an inverted image of the
objects outside the room on the sheet opposite.
-He called this the “qamara”. It was the world’s first camera obscura.
HOSPITALS
-The first such medical center was the Ahmad ibn
Tulun Hospital, founded in 872 in Cairo.
-Tulun hospital provided free care for anyone who needed
it -- a policy based on the Muslim tradition of caring for all
who are sick. From Cairo, such hospitals spread around the
Muslim world.

MIDDLE AGE/MEDIEVAL PERIOD

WHY IS THE MIDDLE AGE CALLED DARK AGE?
-Because the great civilizations of Rome and Greece had been conquered.
-The term 'Dark Ages' was coined by an Italian scholar named Francesco Petrarch.
Petrarch, who lived from 1304 to 1374, used this label to describe what he perceived as
a lack of quality in the Latin literature of his day.
-Other thinkers came along and expanded this designation to include not only literature,
but also culture in general. The term thus evolved as a designation for the supposed
lack of culture and advancement in Europe during the medieval period.
WHAT ARE THE REASONS WHY LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGE WAS VERY HARD?
-Very few people could read or write.
-Their lack of knowledge often led to superstitious beliefs.
-The people thought that fate ruled their existence; therefore, there was little hope for
the improvement of their condition.
-During the years of the Roman Empire, the poor people were protected by the soldiers
of the emperor. When the empire fell, there were no laws to protect them, so they
turned to the lords to keep the peace and to act on their behalf.
-This willingness to be ruled by the lords led to the beginnings of feudalism.
-Some peasants were free, but most became serfs to a lord. This meant they were
bound to the lord’s land and paid very high rent to the lord.
WHAT IS THE BASIC GOVERNMENT AND SOCIETY IN EUROPE DURING THE
MIDDLE AGES?
-It was based on the feudal system
-Small communities were formed around the local lord and the manor.
-The lord owned the land and everything in it.
-He would keep the peasants safe in return for their service.
-The lord, in return, would provide the king with soldiers or taxes.
SERVICE FOR LAND
-Under the feudal system land was granted to people for service.
-It started at the top with the king granting his land to a baron for soldiers all the way
down to a peasant getting land to grow crops.
THE MANOR
-The center of life in the Middle Ages was the manor.
-The manor was run by the local lord. He lived in a large house or castle where people
would gather for celebrations or for protection if they were attacked. A small village
would form around the castle which would include the local church. Farms would then
spread out from there which would be worked by the peasants.
HEIRARCHY OF RULERS
KING
-The top leader in the land was the king.
-The king could not control all of the land by himself, so he divided it up among the
Barons.
-the Barons pledged their loyalty and soldiers to the king. When a king died, his firstborn
son would inherit the throne. When one family stayed in power for a long time, this was
called a dynasty.
BISHOP
-The Bishop was the top church leader in the kingdom and managed an area called a
diocese.
-The Catholic Church was very powerful in most parts of Medieval Europe and this
made the Bishop powerful as well. Not only that, but the church received a tithe of 10
percent from all the people. This made some Bishops very rich.
BARONS AND NOBLES
-The Barons and high ranking nobles ruled large areas of land called fiefs.
-They reported directly to the king and were very powerful.
-They divided up their land among Lords who ran individual manors. Their job was to
maintain an army that was at the king's service. If they did not have an army, sometimes
they would pay the king a tax instead. This tax was called shield money.
LORDS AND KNIGHTS
-The lords ran the local manors.
-They also were the king's knights and could be called into battle at any moment by their
Baron.
-The lords owned everything on their land including the peasants, crops, and village.
PEASANTS OR SERFS
-They had a hard rough life.
-Some peasants were considered free and could own their own businesses like
carpenters, bakers, and blacksmiths.
-Others were more like slaves. They owned nothing and were pledged to their local lord.
-They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive.
DAILY LIFE
LIFE IN THE COUNTRY
-The majority of people living during the Middle Ages lived in the country and worked as
farmers.
-Usually there was a local lord who lived in a large house called a manor or a castle.
-Local peasants would work the land for the lord. The peasants were called the lord's
"villeins", which was like a servant.
-The peasants worked hard all year long.
-They grew crops such as barley, wheat, and oats.
-They also sometimes had a few animals such as chickens for eggs and cows for milk.
LIFE IN THE CITY
-City life was very different from country life, but it wasn't much easier.
-The cities were crowded and dirty.
-A lot of people worked as craftsmen and were members of a guild.
-Young boys would serve as apprentices for seven years learning a craft.
-Other jobs in the city included servants, merchants, bakers, doctors, and lawyers.
WHAT WERE THEIR HOMES LIKE?
-Most people lived in small one or two room homes.
-These homes were very crowded and usually everyone slept in the same room.
-In the country, the family animals, such as a cow, may also live inside the home.
-The home was usually dark, smoky from the fire, and uncomfortable.
WHAT DID THEY WEAR?
-Most peasants wore plain clothing made from heavy wool to keep them warm during
the winter.
-The wealthy, however, wore much nicer clothes made from fine wool, velvet, and even
silk.
-Men generally wore a tunic, woolen stockings, breeches, and a cloak.
-Women wore a long skirt called a kirtle, an apron, woolen stockings, and a cloak.
-In order to separate the nobles from the peasants, laws were passed called
"sumptuary" laws. These laws stated who could wear what types of clothes and what
materials they could use.
KING AND QUEEN BARONS BISHOP PEASANTS
LORDS AND KNIGHTS
WHAT DID THEY EAT?
-Peasants during the Middle Ages did not have a lot of variety in their food.
-They mostly ate bread and stew.
-The stew would have beans, dried peas, cabbage, and other vegetables sometimes
flavored with a bit of meat or bones. Other foods like meat, cheese, and eggs were
usually saved for special occasions.
-Since they didn't have a way to keep their meat cold, they would eat it fresh. Leftover
meat was smoked or salted to preserve it. The nobles ate a wider variety of food
including meats and sweet puddings.
DID THEY GO TO SCHOOL?
-Very few people attended school in the Middle Ages.
-Most peasants learned their job and how to survive from their parents.
-Some children learned a craft through apprenticeship and the guild system.
-Wealthy children often learned through tutors. They would go to live in the castle of
another lord where they would work for the lord, learning about how a large manor was
run.
-There were some schools run by the church. Here students would learn to read and
write Latin. The first universities also began during the Middle Ages. University students
would study a wide range of subjects including reading, writing, logic, math, music,
astronomy, and public speaking.
THE BLACK DEATH
DEFINITION OF TERMS
ENDEMIC: a disease that exists permanently in a particular region or population.
Malaria is a constant worry in parts of Africa.
EPIDEMIC: An outbreak of disease that attacks many people at about the same time
and may spread through one or several communities.
PANDEMIC: When an epidemic spreads throughout the world.
WHAT IS A PLAGUE
-The plague is a serious bacterial infection that can be deadly.
-Sometimes referred to as the “black plague,” the disease is caused by a bacterial strain
called Yersinia pestis.
-This bacterium is found in animals throughout the world and is usually transmitted to
humans through fleas.
-The risk of plague is highest in areas that have poor sanitation, overcrowding, and a
large population of rodents.
TYPES OF PLAGUE:
BUBONIC PLAGUE
-The most common form of plague is bubonic plague.
-It’s usually contracted when an infected rodent or flea bites you.
-In very rare cases, you can get the bacteria from material that has come into contact
with an infected person.
SEPTICEMIC PLAGUE
-When the bacteria enter the bloodstream directly and multiply there, it’s known as
septicemic plague.
-When they’re left untreated, both bubonic and pneumonic plague can lead to
septicemic plague.
PNEUMONIC PLAGUE
-When the bacteria spread to or first infect the lungs, it’s known as pneumonic plague
-When someone with pneumonic plague coughs, the bacteria from their lungs are
expelled into the air.
HOW PLAGUE SPREADS
-People usually get plague through the bite of fleas that have previously fed on infected
animals like mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and prairie dogs. It can also be
spread through direct contact with an infected person or animal or by eating an infected
animal.
HOW DID IT START IN EUROPE?
-The Black Death is the name for a terrible disease that spread throughout Europe from
1347 to 1350. There was no cure for the disease and it was highly contagious.
-The plague likely started in Asia and traveled westward along the Silk Road. The
disease was carried by fleas that lived on rats. Historians think that black rats living on
European merchant ships caught the disease, eventually bringing it to Europe

THE SILK ROAD

HOW BAD WAS IT?

-By the time the disease ran its course, it had killed at least one third of the people in
Europe and probably more.
-In Paris, France it's estimated that around 800 people died a day.
-There were so many dead that they couldn't bury them. They had to carry them to
massive pits.
-Unfortunately, the people in the Middle Ages didn't know that the disease was carried
by rats.
-This made larger cities and towns, which were very dirty during the Middle Ages,
especially dangerous as there were lots of rats there.
-Sometimes entire towns or villages were wiped out by the plague.
WHAT DID PEOPLE DO?
-There was panic.
-Many people were sure it was the end of the world.
-People locked their doors and tried to hide in their houses.
-However, this did little good in cities where rats, and therefore fleas, were everywhere.
-They also burned down houses and even entire villages to try and stop the disease.
HOW DOCTORS CURED THE DISEASE?
-Rubbing Onions, herbs or a chopped up snake on the boil.
-Drinking vinegar, eating crushed minerals, arsenic, and mercury
-Fumigating the house with herbs to purify the air.
-Doctors learned how to help the patient recover by bursting the buboes.
-Doctors often tested Urine for color and health. Some even tasted it to test.
FACTS ABOUT THE BLACK DEATH
-Many people thought that the Black Death was punishment from God.
-It is estimated that somewhere between 75 million and 200 million people died of the
plague.
-Some scientists think it was a bacteria called Yersinia pestis that caused the disease.
-The plague was not called the Black Death until many years later. Some think it was
called this because of how the skin turned dark at the late stages of the disease, but it
was more likely called "Black" to reflect the dark and horrible time in history.
-Some people thought that pockets of bad air released by earthquakes caused the
plague. Others went so far as to blame Jewish people for bringing the plague to kill
Christians.
-The epidemic returned to Europe several times, but wasn't as bad as the Black Death
period.
ANCIENT EGYPT
INVENTIONS ANCIENT EGYPT