Everything about ancient people is history. Ancient people: their life, way of life and tools. What did hunting give to ancient people?

How long ago it was. Evolution, Darwin's theory. Many still do not believe that man could have descended from a monkey. How could ancient prosimians produce people who, over time, made a bunch of discoveries, invented a bunch of useful things, etc. Well, actually it’s not really important right now. We are here to tell you interesting facts about primitive people that we hope you will enjoy.

1. For a very long time, primitive people could not produce fire themselves. All they could do was to maintain the existing fire, which arose due to natural phenomena. But about 500 million years ago, Homo erectus discovered that if two dry sticks were rubbed against each other for a long time, fire appeared. A little later they learned to create fire using two pieces of flint and dry grass.

2. The first animal domesticated by man was the wolf (ancestor). At first, these animals were used only for hunting, but a little later they also began to perform guard functions.

3. Primitive people, apparently, were very fond of drawing, since ancient drawings were often found in caves, which mainly depicted hunting.

4. Ancient people often hunted mammoths. But despite the fact that the mammoth is a huge and fleshy animal, it was hunted not for its meat, but mainly for its tusks and bones, from which they made various tools.

5. 40,000 years ago, people were already playing on homemade ivory flutes. This is proven by the excavations carried out. This means that we can assume that the flute is one of the oldest musical instruments.

6. How many teeth does a healthy modern person have? Yes, exactly 32. And primitive people had as many as 36. At that time, the food was coarse and tough. And to chew it you had to have big and strong teeth. But with the ability to cook meat over fire, the teeth began to shrink, and some completely disappeared over time. Cooked food became soft and tender, so the huge jaw was no longer needed and over the generations it underwent changes.

7. Primitive people quickly mastered jewelry. They made beads from the teeth of predators, amulets from shells, snake skin, etc.

8. Ancient people had their own tools, which are prototypes of modern tools. For example, there was such a tool as the “Chopper”. It had a pointed end and resembled something between a knife and an ax. But in addition to cutting and chopping, this tool was also used for crushing objects and bones.

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In the 19th century Very few skeletal remains of ancient people were known. The most ancient ones were found in Africa, so it is believed that it was on this continent that the evolution of apes, which lasted many millions of years, led to the emergence of humans. 3.5-1.8 million years ago, creatures called Australopithecus already roamed the steppes of Africa. They had a small brain and massive jaws, but they could already move in an upright position and hold a stick or stone in their hands. Scientists believe that the first stone tools appeared about 2.5 million years ago. These were stones with sharp edges. Such tools could be used to cut a branch, skin a dead animal, split a bone, or dig a root out of the ground. A “skillful man” moved on his feet, and his hands were adapted not only to hold a stick or stone, but also to make tools. These ancient people did not yet know how to speak; like monkeys, they gave signals to each other with cries, gestures, and grimaces. In addition to plant foods, they ate the meat of animals, which they probably hunted. Their groups were small and consisted of several males, females with cubs and adolescents. About 1 million years ago, a new species appeared - “Homo erectus”. This creature still resembled its animal ancestors. It was covered with fur, had a low forehead and strongly protruding brow ridges. But the size of his brain was already quite large, approaching the size of the brain of a modern person. “The Straightened Man” learned to make various tools from stone - large regular-shaped axes, scrapers, and chisels. With such tools it was possible to chop, cut, plan, dig, kill animals, skin them, and butcher carcasses. The development of labor skills, the ability to think, and plan their activities allowed these people to adapt to life in different climatic conditions. They lived in the cold regions of Northern China and Europe, in the tropics of Java, and the steppes of Africa. During the existence of “upright man,” the Ice Age began. Due to the formation of glaciers, the level of the World Ocean dropped, and land “bridges” arose between land areas previously separated by water, along which people were able to penetrate, for example, to the island of Java, where the first bones of Pithecanthropus were found. The sites were located along the banks of rivers and lakes, in places where large herds of animals lived. Pithecanthropus sometimes lived in caves, but not in the depths, where it was dangerous, but at the exit. Brave hunters, whose prey were large and strong animals, drove herds of deer, bulls, and elephants onto cliffs, into ravines or gorges, where they killed them with spears and stones. The spoils were divided among everyone. Primitive people began to use fire, which warmed them, protected them from animals and helped them hunt. They began to cook food over the fire, which had previously been eaten raw. Hunting large animals, protection from dangers, relocation to new territories - all this required the combined efforts of many people. Their teams had to be quite numerous and united. The complication of lifestyle led to the fact that older people began to teach younger ones, and teenagers stayed with their parents and relatives longer than before. These people already knew how to speak. And yet, both their physical development and the development of culture proceeded very slowly: Pithecanthropus, like the tools they created, existed almost unchanged for about 1 million years.

It is known that the distinguishing feature of the ape from the representative of the human race is the mass of the brain, namely 750 g. This is how much is necessary for a child to master speech. Ancient people spoke in a primitive language, but their speech is a qualitative difference between the higher nervous activity of humans and the instinctive behavior of animals. The word, which became a designation for actions, labor operations, objects, and subsequently general concepts, acquired the status of the most important means of communication.

Stages of human development

It is known that there are three of them, namely:

• the oldest representatives of the human race;
• modern generation.

This article is devoted exclusively to the 2nd of the above stages.

History of Ancient Man

About 200 thousand years ago, the people we call Neanderthals appeared. They occupied an intermediate position between representatives of the most ancient family and the first modern man. Ancient people were a very heterogeneous group. A study of a large number of skeletons led to the conclusion that, in the process of the evolution of Neanderthals against the background of structural diversity, 2 lines were determined. The first was focused on powerful physiological development. Visually, the most ancient people were distinguished by a low, strongly sloping forehead, a low back of the head, a poorly developed chin, a continuous supraorbital ridge, and large teeth. They had very powerful muscles, despite the fact that their height was no more than 165 cm. The mass of their brain had already reached 1500 g. Presumably, ancient people used rudimentary articulate speech.

The second line of Neanderthals had more refined features. They had significantly smaller brow ridges, a more developed chin protuberance, and thin jaws. We can say that the second group was significantly inferior in physical development to the first. However, they already showed a significant increase in the volume of the frontal lobes of the brain.

The second group of Neanderthals fought for their existence through the development of intra-group connections in the process of hunting, protection from an aggressive natural environment, enemies, in other words, by combining the forces of individual individuals, and not through the development of muscles, like the first.

As a result of this evolutionary path, the species Homo sapiens appeared, which translates as “Homo sapiens” (40-50 thousand years ago).

It is known that for a short period of time the life of ancient man and the first modern man was closely interconnected. Subsequently, the Neanderthals were finally supplanted by the Cro-Magnons (the first modern people).

Types of ancient people

Due to the vastness and heterogeneity of the group of hominids, it is customary to distinguish the following varieties of Neanderthals:

• ancient (early representatives who lived 130-70 thousand years ago);
• classical (European forms, the period of their existence 70-40 thousand years ago);
• survivalists (lived 45 thousand years ago).

Neanderthals: daily life, activities

Fire played an important role. For many hundreds of thousands of years, man did not know how to make fire himself, which is why people supported the one that was formed due to a lightning strike or a volcanic eruption. Moving from place to place, the fire was carried in special “cages” by the strongest people. If it was not possible to save the fire, then this quite often led to the death of the entire tribe, since they were deprived of a means of heating in the cold, a means of protection from predatory animals.

Subsequently, they began to use it for cooking food, which turned out to be more tasty and nutritious, which ultimately contributed to the development of their brain. Later, people themselves learned to make fire by cutting sparks from stone into dry grass, quickly rotating a wooden stick in their palms, placing one end in a hole in dry wood. It was this event that became one of the most important achievements of man. It coincided in time with the era of great migrations.

The daily life of ancient man boiled down to the fact that the entire primitive tribe hunted. For this purpose, men were engaged in the manufacture of weapons and stone tools: chisels, knives, scrapers, awls. Mostly males hunted and butchered the carcasses of killed animals, that is, all the hard work fell on them.

Female representatives processed skins and collected (fruits, edible tubers, roots, and branches for fire). This led to the emergence of a natural division of labor by gender.

To catch large animals, men hunted together. This required mutual understanding between primitive people. During the hunt, a driving technique was common: the steppe was set on fire, then the Neanderthals drove a herd of deer and horses into a trap - a swamp, an abyss. Next, all they had to do was finish off the animals. There was another technique: they shouted and made noise to drive the animals onto thin ice.

We can say that the life of ancient man was primitive. However, it was the Neanderthals who were the first to bury their dead relatives, laying them on their right side, placing a stone under their head and bending their legs. Food and weapons were left next to the body. Presumably they considered death to be a dream. Burials and parts of sanctuaries, for example, associated with the bear cult, became evidence of the emergence of religion.

Neanderthal tools

They differed slightly from those used by their predecessors. However, over time, the tools of ancient people became more complex. The newly formed complex gave rise to the so-called Mousterian era. As before, tools were made primarily of stone, but their shapes became more diverse, and the turning technique became more complex.

The main weapon preparation is a flake formed as a result of chipping from a core (a piece of flint that has special platforms from which the chipping was carried out). This era was characterized by approximately 60 types of weapons. All of them are variations of 3 main ones: scraper, rubeltsa, pointed tip.

The first is used in the process of butchering an animal carcass, processing wood, and tanning hides. The second is a smaller version of the hand axes of the previously existing Pithecanthropus (they were 15-20 cm in length). Their new modifications had a length of 5-8 cm. The third weapon had a triangular outline and a point at the end. They were used as knives for cutting leather, meat, wood, and also as daggers and dart and spear tips.

In addition to the listed species, Neanderthals also had the following: scrapers, incisors, piercings, notched, and serrated tools.

Bone also served as the basis for their manufacture. Very few fragments of such specimens have survived to this day, and entire tools can be seen even less frequently. Most often these were primitive awls, spatulas, and points.

The tools differed depending on the types of animals that Neanderthals hunted, and, consequently, on the geographical region and climate. Obviously, African tools were different from European ones.

Climate of the area where Neanderthals lived

The Neanderthals were less fortunate with this. They found a strong cold snap and the formation of glaciers. Neanderthals, unlike Pithecanthropus, who lived in an area similar to the African savanna, lived rather in the tundra and forest-steppe.

It is known that the first ancient man, just like his ancestors, mastered caves - shallow grottoes, small sheds. Subsequently, buildings appeared located in open space (the remains of a dwelling made from the bones and teeth of a mammoth were found at a site on the Dniester).

Hunting of ancient people

Neanderthals mainly hunted mammoths. He did not live to this day, but everyone knows what this beast looks like, since rock paintings with its image were found, painted by people of the Late Paleolithic. In addition, archaeologists have found the remains (sometimes even the entire skeleton or carcasses in permafrost soil) of mammoths in Siberia and Alaska.

To catch such a large beast, the Neanderthals had to work hard. They dug pit traps or drove the mammoth into a swamp so that it would get stuck in it, then finish it off.

Also a game animal was the cave bear (it is 1.5 times larger than our brown one). If a large male rose on his hind legs, then he reached 2.5 m in height.

Neanderthals also hunted bison, bison, reindeer, and horses. From them it was possible to obtain not only the meat itself, but also bones, fat, and skin.

Methods of making fire by Neanderthals

There are only five of them, namely:

1. Fire plow. This is a fairly fast method, but requires significant physical effort. The idea is to move a wooden stick along the board with a strong pressure. The result is shavings, wood powder, which, due to the friction of wood against wood, heats up and smolders. At this point, it is combined with highly flammable tinder, then the fire is fanned.

2. Fire drill. The most common way. A fire drill is a wooden stick that is used to drill into another stick (a wooden plank) located on the ground. As a result, smoldering (smoking) powder appears in the hole. Next, it is poured onto the tinder, and then the flame is fanned. Neanderthals first rotated the drill between their palms, and later the drill (with its upper end) was pressed into the tree, covered with a belt and pulled alternately on each end of the belt, rotating it.

3. Fire pump. This is a fairly modern, but rarely used method.

4. Fire saw. It is similar to the first method, but the difference is that the wooden plank is sawed (scraped) across the fibers, and not along them. The result is the same.

5. Carving fire. This can be done by hitting one stone against another. As a result, sparks are formed that fall on the tinder, subsequently igniting it.

Finds from the Skhul and Jebel Qafzeh caves

The first is located near Haifa, the second is in the south of Israel. They are both located in the Middle East. These caves are famous for the fact that human remains (skeletal remains) were found in them, which were closer to modern people than to the ancients. Unfortunately, they belonged to only two individuals. The age of the finds is 90-100 thousand years. In this regard, we can say that modern humans coexisted with Neanderthals for many millennia.

Conclusion

The world of ancient people is very interesting and has not yet been fully studied. Perhaps, over time, new secrets will be revealed to us that will allow us to look at it from a different point of view.

Plan

1. Historical eras.
2. Introduction to history and archaeology.

4. The primitive world.
5. Conclusion.

1. Historical eras.

The history of mankind can be divided into several large eras:

• - primitive history;
• - ancient world history;
• - history of the Middle Ages;
• - history of modern times;
• - history of modern times.

2. Introduction to history and archeology

The most ancient era of human history is called primitive.

How did people learn about primitive people? Scientists carry out excavations, extracting from the ground things of ancient people, their bones. Scientists who carry out excavations are called archaeologists.

Archeology - the science of antiquity. It studies the history of society through the remains of people's lives and activities. Scientists believe that the most ancient people, “traces” of which were found in Africa and Asia, lived more than a million years ago. Based on the remains of the skeletons of ancient people, it was possible to establish what they looked like.

The first known ancestors of humans and apes lived more than two million years ago and were called Dryopithecus.

3. The difference between primitive man and modern man.

Ancient man was very different from you and me - modern people - and looked like a large monkey. However, people did not walk on four legs, as almost all animals walk, but on two legs, but at the same time they leaned forward greatly. The man’s hands, hanging down to his knees, were free, and he could do simple work with them: grab, hit, dig the ground. People's foreheads were low and sloping. Their brains were larger than those of apes, but significantly smaller than those of modern humans. He could not speak, made only a few abrupt sounds, with which people expressed fear and anger, called for help and warned each other about danger, and ate only what he found.

These were arboreal animals, reminiscent in their structure of apes. Some of them led only an arboreal lifestyle. They could have given rise to a line of animals that later became the ancestors of humans.

4. The primitive world.

The most ancient era human history is called primitive. Primitive (tribal) community. Characterized by collective labor and consumption.

Primitive people They lived in groups because it was impossible to cope with the difficulties of life alone. They did not need to worry about warm clothes. They lived where it was always warm. Primitive people built dwellings to protect themselves from the scorching rays of the sun, bad weather, and predators.

The first tools of human labor were hands, nails and teeth, as well as stones, debris and branches from trees. The first people had to hunt, collect various plants, and also learn to make the first simple tools from sticks, bones and animal horns, and then from stone.

Main occupation of ancient people There were hunting and fishing (occupations for men), which required great strength and dexterity. Ancient man was unlikely to be able to count to more than five, but he could sit motionless for hours in ambush during a hunt or build a cunning trap for a huge mammoth. Gathering (an activity for women) - the ability to understand different plants and collect edible mushrooms, as well as the exchange of prey with other tribes.

Ancient man together with other animals, he fled from the fire in fear. But then a daredevil was found who began to use the fire left by natural phenomena as a result of thunderstorms, volcanic eruptions, and forest fires. Man did not yet know how to make fire himself. And therefore the big problem was maintaining the fire. The loss of fire was tantamount to the death of the entire family. Later, man learned to make fire, and fire saved him during a period of cooling on Earth. He began to use fire to cook food. He could fry a piece of meat on it, bake root vegetables on coals and remove them in time so that they do not burn. Fire gave man something that does not exist in nature.

Within each tribe, certain customs and rules of behavior developed. Living in caves, they painted on the walls. People and animals were sculpted from clay or carved out of stone, and dishes were decorated. They probably wanted to depict the world in which they lived.

5. Conclusion.

Primitive history lasted hundreds, thousands of years. During this time, people populated all continents except Antarctica. They appeared on the territory of our country about half a million years ago.

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Naturally, each time space has its own mysteries and unsolved secrets. Primitive people arouse a lot of interest and curiosity among both scientific researchers and ordinary earthly representatives of humanity.

• Where did primitive people live?
• What did the primitives eat?
• What clothes did they wear?
• Tools of labor of primitive people.
• What did the primitives paint with?
• Lifespan.
• What responsibilities did men and women have?

Where did primitive people live?

The question of how primitive people sheltered from bad weather and dangerous animals of that era is very interesting. Despite their seemingly low mental development, primitive people were well aware that they needed to organize their own nest. This says a lot and that already at that time humanity had a developed instinct of self-preservation, and the desire for comfort had its place.

Huts made from animal bones and skins. If you were lucky and managed to win the hunt for a mammoth, then from the remains of the beast, after butchering, people of the past era built huts for themselves. They installed powerful and durable animal bones deep into the ground so that they would hold and not fall out in unfavorable weather conditions. After building the foundation, they pulled fairly heavy and strong animal skins over these bones, as if on a foundation, and then secured them with various sticks and ropes to make their house unshakable.


Caves and gorges. Some were lucky enough to settle in natural gifts, for example, in a mountain gorge or in caves formed by nature itself. In such structures it was sometimes much safer than in makeshift huts. About twenty people lived in huts and caves, as primitive people lived in tribes.

What did primitive people eat?

Primitive people were alien to such foods that we are accustomed to eating today. They knew that they had to obtain and prepare food on their own, so they always did everything possible to obtain prey. In moments of luck, they managed to feast on mammoth meat. As a rule, men went after such prey, with all the hunting tools possible for their time. It often happened that many members of the tribe died during the hunt; after all, the mammoth is not a weak animal, which is also capable of defending itself. But if it was possible to kill the prey, then a tasty and nutritious diet was provided for a long period of time. Primitive people cooked meat over a fire, which they also procured themselves, because in those days there were no matches, let alone lighters.


A trip to a mammoth is dangerous and not always crowned with success, so not every time men took risks and took such an unpredictable step. The main diet of primitive people was a raw food diet. They obtained various fruits, vegetables, roots and herbs, with which they ate their fill.

Clothes of primitive people

Primitive people often wore what their mother gave birth to. Although, clothes were also found in their everyday life. They put it on not for aesthetic reasons, but for the purpose of safety of causal places. Most often, men wore such clothes so as not to damage their genital organs during hunting. Women protected the same causative places for offspring. They made clothes from animal skins, leaves, hay, and intricate roots they found.

Tools of labor of primitive people

Both for going to the mammoth and for building a hearth, primitive people, like modern people, needed tools. They independently built and figured out what shape, weight and purpose each of them should be. Of course, they also came up with what to make them from themselves. To implement the idea, sticks, stones, ropes, pieces of iron and many other details were used. Almost all the tools of labor of primitive people came to the modern world almost unchanged, only the materials from which they were made changed. Hence the conclusion is that their level of intelligence was high.

What did primitive people draw with?

Scientific researchers, investigating the secrets of the life of primitive people, often find unusual and skillful drawings in their huts. What did the primitives draw with? They came up with a lot of improvised means that could be used to depict something on the wall. These were sticks with which they knocked out patterns on the wall, and hard rocks, and iron fragments. Even the most distinguished scientists are delighted and surprised by the fact that the primitives drew. These unknown people had such a highly developed level of intelligence and such a high desire to leave a memory of themselves that they created drawings that were preserved for many millennia.

Lifespan of primitive man

Not a single scientist was able to accurately voice the exact life expectancy of primitive people. However, there is scientific evidence that virtually no primitive man did not live more than forty years. Although, their life was so eventful, full of freedom and creative ideas, that perhaps forty years was enough to fully realize everything they had planned.


Their lives were dangerous, unpredictable, full of extremes, and at the same time, they had a high probability of eating spoiled, poisonous or unfit for consumption food. In addition, hunting, implementing any ideas with one’s own hands, all this could lead to death.