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History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 7, The Ages and Stages of Man:
May 5, 2003:
The ages of man are not to be confused with the geological ages
of earth. What I want to look at now are the ages of the development
of man from his first appearance some 2 billion years ago until
now. This is all contained in the Quaternary geological period
which includes our present time.
It begins with the so called Stone Age and the first appearance of our ancestors Homo Habilis about 2 billion years ago. Homo Habilis was followed by Homo Erectus about 1.6 billion years ago. Somewhat later Homo Sapiens emerged about 400,000 years ago. All of this occurred in the Paleolithic period or what is called the Old Stone Age. Geologically this period is roughly equivalent to the Pleistocene Epoch. As the name implies, this age marks the creation and use of stone tools by early man.
The Stone Age is divided into three periods called respectively the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age, the Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age, and the Neolithic or New Stone Age. These division, somewhat arbitrary, have to do with skill levels in making and using stone tools. Even back then, man was ever the inventor.
Paleolithic men were hunters and gatherers. There is no evidence of agricultural activities. These people tended to a nomadic life style, living in caves when they could. Although the main industry was tool making, they did have art in the form of cave paintings and rock carving. During this time various styles of tool making and art evolved. This is also the time of Neanderthal Man who was not quite Homo Sapiens, but the earlier sub species. After Neanderthal man, the first homo Sapiens called Cro-Magnon Man appeared.
There were some important developments in this Early Stone Age. Possibly the most important was the ability to control fire. This meant the ability to cook food and to stay warm which increased man's range of operation dramatically. It seems these earlier ancestors also learned to build shelter for themselves. We also had the beginnings of primitive religious beliefs indicated by some of their art.
The Middle Stone Age began a little over 10,000 years ago. This was after the last glaciers receded. By this time man was getting very sophisticated. He built small villages and began to domesticate animals. He also began some simple agricultural activities and developed pottery. One very significant development was the bow. This made man the most dangerous creature out there and began the long period of human dominance over the earth.
Beyond the Middle Stone Age it gets a little difficult to date events. Man had become very mobile, and the New Stone age began at different times in different places. The earliest know development was somewhere between 8000 and 6000 BC. To be sure, none of these things were abrupt. We are talking about gradual changes in how things were done. The New Stone Age was marked by settled villages, increased agriculture, and weaving. More animals were domesticated and pottery became more sophisticated.
These final Stone Age cultures then evolved into Bronze Age cultures. The first part of this bronze period is also called the Chalcolithic Age or Copper Stone Age. Copper was the first metal used by man because it could be found in its pure form. When these copper and bronze age periods began depends to a great extent on where they occurred. In China and Mesopotamia the Bronze Age began before 3000 BC. In Britain it came about 1000 years later.
This early bronze was simply an alloy of copper and tin but it was a great deal harder than copper. It was a dandy alloy for casting and engravings of all kind. It allowed man to manufacture much better tools and, of course, weapons. The development of a metal industry enhanced ever facet of these earlier budding civilizations. With an artisan class to supply it, trade and money developed. Could organized warfare be far behind?
The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age. Once again, Europe was a bit behind the others. In the Middle East the first iron artifacts are dated around 2500 BC. In Asia Minor it began about 1000 years later and finally came to Europe about 1000 BC. In China we date the iron Age even later at about 600 BC.
Iron is a much better material for making tools and weapons. It came late probably because iron smelting requires a very hot fire. The melting point is 1535 deg. C. This is not something we make over a camp fire. Perhaps the most significant result of iron metallurgy was large scale human migration and warfare. Large numbers of people could be armed at very low cost. So they were, and the pain and grief began. It continues to the present day.
In England, this Iron Age began evolving into what is called the Industrial Revolution around 1760. From England it spread over Europe and America. This was a very significant change in human culture, producing, as it did, all kinds of labor reducing tools and machinery. To be sure, it also produced a great deal of human misery which ultimately lead to Labor Unions. It seems that human greed and meanness can only be controlled through force. That is something I hope and believe we can change.
This revolution hinged on several almost simultaneous developments.
I believe the main one was the development of steam power made
possible by the development of the steam engine. Other contributors
were the development of steel, electricity, petroleum, and the
internal combustion engine. Many inventions came out of this and
we are familiar with most of them. We can cite the power loom,
the steam locomotive, the automobile, the telephone, and the airplane.
All of this brings us up to modern times in the ages of man.
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