The Emergence of Human Civilization essay

Paleolithic age (Old Stone) is the first period of the Stone Age.  The use of the first stone tools marked the beginning of this period. This happened around 2 million years ago and lasted till the beginning of Mesolithic (Middle Stone) age. People who lived during this age are called “hominids”. They hunted and gathered food. The mythology was used in order to explain the structure of the world. The social structure was simple and people were organized around the natural leaders who won this status by force.

Neolithic period followed the Mesolithic one. The term Neolithic is used to described the prehistoric societies of Europe, Asia and Africa. The Neolithic Age has no defined time limits and is rather defined by behavioral and cultural characteristics of the people who lived during this age. It was marked by the development of agriculture, domestication of animals and farming. The Neolithic age became the era of the development of human technology.

The emergence of metal tools put the end to the Neolithic age and started the Iron age.

The earliest civilizations appeared in the period between the forth and third millennia BC in the Asian and African continents. Earliest civilization appeared around the big rivers situated on these continents. These rivers were the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile and the Indus. Three earliest civilizations appeared in the mouths of these rivers. They were the civilization of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Indus accordingly. These three civilizations presented economically developed societies and complex social structures. The number of other communities appeared at the same time during this period. At the same time the Chinese Civilization developed in the valley of the Yellow River (Huang He) and Yangtze River. The representative of early civilizations possessed the ability to build houses, to make pottery and knew how to use metals. They tamed animals and developed the writing systems. In general it showed the tendency of the switch from food collecting to food production.



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