| A | B |
|---|
| prehistory | the time during the development of human culture before the appearance of the written word |
| hominids | early humans and other humanlike creatures |
| anthropologist | scientist who studies the physical characteristics and cultures of humans and their ancestors |
| paleontologist | scientist who studies fossil remains to determine characteristics of various prehistoric periods |
| archaeologist | a scientist who learns about ancient people by studying the things they left behind |
| artifacts | objects created by and used by humans |
| radiocarbon dating | measures amount of radio active carbon to tell the age of a once living thing |
| Australopethicus | the earliest humanlike creature that flourished in eastern and southern Africa 3 to 4 million years ago |
| nomads | people with no permanent home; move from place to place in search of food |
| Homo habilis | A "person with ability." They are the oldest hominids known to manufacture tools; lived in Africa from about 2.5 million - 1.5 million years ago. |
| Homo erectus | A "person who walks upright." They are known for learning how to make fire which allowed them to keep warm, cook food, live in caves, and scare away threatening animals; they were known for making clothing and they lived in Africa from 1.8 million - 30,000 years ago. |
| Homo sapiens | A "person who thinks." All people living today belong to the species Homo sapiens. |
| way of life | way of life (i.e., knowledge a people have, the language they speak, the ways in which they eat and dress, their religious beliefs, and their achievements in art and music) |
| technology | skills and useful knowledge available to them for collecting material and making the objects necessary for survival |
| Neanderthals | The first of the Homo sapiens; very much like their predecessors, but their tool-making ability was more sophisticated. They were also advanced culturally, they cared for the sick and aged, they were the first to practice medicine and the first to bury their dead |
| Cro Magnons | earliest Homo sapiens sapiens in Europe; the many advances they made in their toolmaking technology transformed human life (i.e., stone ax, spear-thrower, and the bow and arrow) |
| Neolthic Revolution | a period in human history marked by the introduction of agriculture and a shift from food gathering to food production |
| taming | the taming of animals for human use, such as work or as food |
| Catal Huyuk | one of the world's first cities, the remains of this large city were found in 1958 in modern Turkey |
| deities | gods and goddesses |
| civilization | a society with cities, a central government, job specialization, and social classes |
| Tigris and Euphrates | Rivers that are a cradle of civilization |
| artisans | skilled workers who make goods by hand |
| cultural diffusion | The spread of ideas, customs, and technologies from one people to another |
| myths | traditional stories explaining how the world was formed, how people came into being, and what they owed their creator |
