Episode 1 Introduction to Human Prehistory
Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations
Dr Brian Fagan (2003)
Film Review
Six million years ago primates known as hominids, which showed, began to appear among African apes. Two and half millions years ago, hominids had developed sufficiently to establish themselves as a human species.
The term prehistory covers all history prior to written records and is derived from:
- archeological remains
- oral history
- fragmentary written accounts
- biological and zoological fossil remains
- radioactive dating and other scientific disciplines
The modern human species Homo sapiens first appeared 100,000 years ago in Africa and eventually spread across the globe. The features that distinguish Homo sapiens from more primitive hominids are the capacity for
- rational thought
- future planning
- conceptualizing theoretical ideas
- art
- cultivation of wild grasses
- domestication of animals
In 5,000 BC Native Americans, at the time the most skilled farmers in the world, first adopted agriculture in the New World.
The world’s earliest civilizations arose in the eastern Mediterranean in Egypt and Mesopotamia. This would be followed by the Minoan civilization on Crete and Mycenaean civilization in Greece and the Xia dynasty in China.
The Most Revolutionary Act 