The Paleolithic Era and the Neolithic Revolution

On which continent did humans first appear?

• Europe

• North America

• Asia

• Africa

What did the hunters and gatherers have to develop before they could effectively work together? 

• tools 
• language 
• fire
• domestication of animals

“…The daily tasks of the women are to milk the cattle in the morning and evening, and to fetch water as required. By using their donkeys it is possible for them to bring back enough water to last two or three days. When the settlement moves, on average about once every five weeks, each woman is responsible for moving her hut and rebuilding it. All the necessary movables, including hides, wooden containers and important struts in the framework of the hut, can normally be carried by two donkeys. Older women rely on their daughters, their younger co-wives, and their sons’ wives for help in all these tasks….”

– Source: Paul Spencer, The Samburu, University of California Press, 1965 from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam

Based on this passage, the Samburu people would be classified as....

• commercial farmers

• urban dwellers

• nomads

• serfs

At the end of the last ice age, as glaciers retreated in northern Europe, what caused people to move north into the areas uncovered by the ice sheets?

• They were escaping from floods in the south.

• They were fleeing from invaders living in the east.

• They were searching for better farmland and resources.

• They were following animal herds to hunt.

Which was true of food-gathering societies in prehistoric times?

• The population tended to be small.

• Society was highly industrialized.

• There was mass production of food and goods.

• The concept of private property was important.

During which period did the domestication of animals and growing of crops first occur?

• The Paleolithic Era

• Iron Age

• The Neolithic Revolution

• Scientific Revolution

What is the best title for this diagram?

• Elements of Belief Systems

• Changes during the Neolithic Revolution

• Characteristics of the Roman Empire

• Benefits of the Counter Reformation

How did the introduction of agriculture affect early peoples?

• Societies became nomadic.

• Food production declined.

• Civilizations developed.

• Birthrates decreased rapidly.

The Neolithic Revolution is seen as a turning point in human history mainly because ______.

• farming led to settled communities

• people started to use animal skins for clothing

• cave paintings recorded the activities of nomadic groups

• people first used stone tools

". . . Paleolithic men could not control their food supply. So long as they relied on foraging, hunting, fishing, and trapping, they were dependent on the natural food supply in a given area to keep from starving. But while Paleolithic men continued their food-gathering pattern of existence in Europe, Africa, and Australia, groups of people in the Near East began to cultivate edible plants and to breed animals. Often described as the “first economic revolution” in the history of man, this momentous change from a food-gathering to a food-producing economy initiated the Neolithic Age. Paleolithic man was a hunter; Neolithic man became a farmer and herdsman. . . ."

Based on the passage above, identify one advantage of living the way “Neolithic man” lived: 

• more leisure time

• more travel

• more reliable food sources

• greater knowledge of wild plants