Virginia SOLs

WHI.2: The student will apply social science skills to understand the period from the Paleolithic Era to the agricultural revolution by

a) explaining the impact of geographic environment on hunter-gatherer societies;

b) describing characteristics of hunter-gatherer societies, including their use of tools and fire;

c) analyzing how technological and social developments gave rise to sedentary communities;

d) analyzing how archaeological discoveries are changing current understanding of early societies.

Essential Understandings

Life in early hunter-gatherer societies was shaped by the physical environment.

Homo sapiens emerged in East Africa between 100,000 and 400,000 years ago.

Early human societies, through the development of culture, began the process of overcoming the limits set by the physical environment.

Archaeologists continue to find and interpret evidence of early humans and their lives.

Essential Knowledge

Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas.

Early humans were hunters and gatherers whose survival depended on the availability of wild plants and animals.

Hunter-gatherer societies during the Paleolithic Era (Old Stone Age)

• were nomadic, migrating in search of food, water, and shelter

• invented the first tools, including simple weapons

• learned how to make and use fire

• lived in clans

• developed oral language

• created “cave art.”

The beginning of agriculture, including permanent settlements, was a major step in the advancement of human social organization.

Societies during the Neolithic Era (New Stone Age)

• developed agriculture (domesticated plants)

• domesticated animals

• used advanced tools

• made pottery

• developed weaving skills.

Archaeologists study past cultures by locating and analyzing human remains, settlements, fossils, and artifacts.

Archaeologists apply scientific tests, such as carbon dating, to analyze fossils and artifacts.

Stonehenge is an example of an archaeological site in England. It was begun during the Neolithic Age and completed during the Bronze Age.

Aleppo and Jericho are examples of early cities in the Fertile Crescent that are studied by archaeologists.

Çatalhöyük is an example of a Neolithic settlement currently under excavation in Anatolia.