Lecture 2

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University Of Arizona *

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160

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Anthropology

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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Big History, the Deep Past, and Most of Human Existence

Big History • Posits that we can study history all the way back to the Big Bang (15 billion years). • Traditionally, many historians have only considered the written record of humanity to be history, so Big History is significantly broader in its scope. • Connections with natural sciences- context in which history occurs, whether or not one wants to call it history. • History based on written sources is limited to certain cultures, certain social classes, as well as not going back too far (relatively). • But is it within historians’ field of competence?

Back to Earth- Where the Humans Are. Pre-Human History • Natural History: Some Highlights (Human-centric) • 3.8 Billion Years Ago: Life Emerges • 1.2 Billion Years Ago: Multi-cellular organisms • 500 Million Years Ago: Fishes • 400 Million: Complex Plants • 300 Million Ago Reptiles • 150 Million Years Ago: Mammals • 23 Million Years Ago: Apes (hominids) • 6 Million Years Ago: Hominins

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Out of Africa: Where the Humans Started • Humans ( Homo sapiens ) emerge about 200,000 years ago in Africa • Between 120,000 and 50,000 years ago, some Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa and colonized parts of Eurasia. • Paleolithic- “Old stone” age. • Hunter/gatherers. Possible greater equality. • Art – Cave paintings, petroglyphs. • Music- ancient flute from 35,000 years ago • Neolithic- “New stone” age. • Around the same time as the agricultural revolutions ~10,000-12,000 years ago.

Further Migrations of Humankind

Early Human Genetic Diversity • Division between Homo sapiens and other Homonin species and/or subspecies that existed at the same time. • H. erectus until c. 110,000 YBP • H. floresiensis until c. 50,000 YBP • H. (sapiens?) neanderthalensis until c. 40,000 YBP • Denisovans possible as recently as c. 15,000 YBP • At least some of these interbred. Cultural influences as well. • Modern ideas about race within humans are socially constructed and not considered genetically significant.

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Early Human Development: Environmental Factors • Pleistocene: Last prolonged ice age • Holocene: The time since then (about 12,000 years) • Late Pleistocene Extinctions: • climate change and over-hunting caused mass extinctions with long-term consequences. Human populations had more limited food supplies in Australia and the Americas. • the extinction of very large mammals and other biota seems to coincide with the migrations of modern humans • Other human impacts on the environment: • Landscape burning: Paleolithic people altered vegetation commonly in East Africa and Australia to promote certain plants and animals on burnt ground.

Environmental Changes and Their Human Effects • Slow global warming allows vegetation to grow in the regions of northern Siberia, Europe, and North America. • Sea levels rise. • The human population grows more quickly during the final stages of the Paleolithic. • People are gradually pushed inland, and they abandon former coastlands. • Humans spread into formerly ice-covered mountain zones and deserts.

The Younger Dryas • The Younger Dryas was the last cold/dry spell in the Northern Hemisphere. • Spanning more than 1,000 years, the Younger Dryas makes the North Atlantic 18 to 21 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 12 degrees Celsius) colder in Europe. It makes the tropics dryer. • It is catastrophic for people, animals, and plants getting used to warmer conditions.

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The Holocene • The Holocene was an 11,700-year period of stable climate. • The probability of extremely cold winters was reduced after the Younger Dryas. • The stability of the Holocene made it easier for people to settle and become sedentary.