Ancient History

Students, today we will begin learning about ancient history

This is to say, today we'll start learning about the earliest humans up until the first great civilizations.

Before we begin learning about prehistoric humans, what historians call hominids,

(hominids is just a fancy way to call humans that lived before written history)

I want you to think about how exciting it will be to learn about ancient history

by thinking about what the word "ancient" really means.

That said, what is ancient to you?

Here's food for thought, at the beginning of the 19th century, that’s roughly 200 years ago, life was quite different than it is today.

Think about this--200 years ago people like Abraham Lincoln lived in the woods. There was little schooling and the United States was wild in the sense that it was almost uninhabited.

The forests all over the country were almost unbroken and were home to wild birds and wild beasts--bears, deer, wild-cats, raccoons, wild turkeys, wild pigeons, wild ducks and similar creatures were everywhere.

200 years ago, the population of the United States was so small that in some places it was normal for only two families to live within a mile from each other. In some “crowded” states, 7 people would live within a mile of each other.

It will thus be seen that about 200 years ago, it was common for people to live in the wildest of wild woods, where the animals from the chipmunk to the bear were much more common than people.

200 years ago, Life was quite different than it is today.

There were few roads of any kind in the United States, and certainly none that could be called good. There were no trains, bicycles, no automobiles.

200 years ago, life was quite different than it is today.

The only pen was the goose-quill, and the ink was home-made. Paper was scarce, expensive, and while of good material, poorly made.

Newspapers were unknown in some parts of the United States, and books were like angels’ visits, few and far between--in other words, there were hardly any books around.

200 years ago, life was quite different than it is today.

There were no sewing or knitting machines. In the woods, thorns were used for pins. There were no matches. Light came chiefly from the open fireplace, though there were candles for those who knew how to make them and had the time to make them.

Illumination by means of candles, oils, gas, or electricity came later. The phone had not yet been invented.

200 years ago, life was quite different than it is today.

In some parts of the United States, antiseptics were unknown, and major surgery was practically certain death to the patient. Relief from pain? Sorry, there was no over the counter medicine.

As to food, 200 years ago, that was quite different as well.

Wild game was abundant, but there were no importations--no oranges, lemons, bananas. No canned goods. Crusts of rye bread were browned, ground, and boiled; this was coffee. Herbs of the woods were dried and steeped; this was tea.

Tree bark soaked in cold water sufficed for lemonade. Milk, when there was some, was kept carefully covered to keep out snakes and other creatures that like milk.

It requires a great deal of imagination to understand what the world was like 200 years ago, but we're studying ancient civilizations...

...so imagine what it was like 3 million years ago?

3 million!

That's 15,000 times older than what we've been imagining!

How different do you think the planet looked?

How different do you think people looked 3 million years ago?

How different do you think people's lives were compared to ours?

Lastly, and perhaps more fascinatingly, how similar do you think our lives are compared to someone who was alive 3 million years ago?

As previously mentioned, today we'll begin learning about ancient history.

Specifically, we are gonna start off learning about prehistoric humans--hominids

Again, hominids are what historians call humans that were alive before written history.

Groups of Hominids

• Lucy
• Handy Hominids
• Upright Hominids
• Neanderthals
• Modern Humans