Holocene Period

These slides discuss the Holocene period in relation to human history.

1. The Holocene RTPM-DSHS Compiled by Sue Quirante

2. USAGE NOTEs These slides were prepared by Ms. Sue Quirante, a secondary public school teacher in the Philippines. All copyrighted material were lifted by her in the spirit of fair use. As such, this presentation should not be used for any commercial purpose. Last updated October 9, 2016

3. Geologic time scale The GTS is a system of chronological measurement that relates rock layers to time.

4. Oregon Utah

5. Geologic time scale Different spans of time on the GTS are usually delimited by changes in the composition of strata.

6. Geologic time scale The geologic history of the Earth is broken up into hierarchical chunks of time, from largest to smallest.

7. Geologic time scale

8. Geologic time scale Time Period Name EON Phanerozoic ERA Cenozoic PERIOD Quaternary EPOCH Holocene

9. pleisto cene pleistos : most kainos : new

10. ceno zoic ceno : new zoion : animal

11. Holo cene holo : whole kainos : new

12. Pleistocene Epoch s panned 2.6mya to 11, 700 years ago most recent episode of glaciation or global cooling (ice age) evolution and expansion of Homo sapiens

13. 27% of the earth's land surfaces were covered by ice around 20,000 years ago

14. Glacial glacier advance Interglacial glacier retreat -dramatic climate swings -many animals driven to extinction -humanity survived by becoming more intelligent and adaptable

15. Paleolithic Period Old Stone Age begun 1.2mya and ended 10,000 years ago

16. Paleolithic Period stone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons hand axes appeared 700,000 years ago Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania found with remains of H. erectus

17. Paleolithic Period stone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons hand axes appeared 700,000 years ago Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania found with remains of H. erectus

18. Paleolithic Period stone was the most vital material for making tools and weapons hand axes appeared 700,000 years ago Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania found with remains of H. erectus

19. Paleolithic Period Nomads (hunter-gatherers) hunting and fishing wild animals gathering wild plants, berries, nuts, roots and tubers lived in small groups which provided security and enabled hunting of large animals average life span was 20 – 25 years

20. There was a video here but I took it out to reduce file size. It talked about two evolutionary strategies for surviving colder climates: 1) growing robust bodies (“toughening yourself up” or 2) growing larger brains (intelligence allowed humans to develop cultural/technological adaptations such as use of fire and clothing in cold climates. You can view the video here: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndwzAw8fchU

21. How did we survive the Pleistocene? new cultural technology to deal with cold environments and changing food sources

22. How did we survive the Pleistocene? problem: scarcity of plant foods that humans could eat during the winters solution: ancestors became more proficient at hunting animals, especially large ones that provided more calories

23. Paleolithic Art Venus of Willendorf (25,000 BCE) sculpted from limestone found in Willendorf , Austria one of many similar female carvings called Venus Figurines

24. Austria

25. How do we determine the age of artifacts? 1 extraction : digging, the deeper the older 2 typology : if complex, recent 3 Carbon-14 dating : measure of amount of carbon-14 in an object, only works for living objects

26. Paleolithic Art Hall of Bulls (28,000 – 10,000 BCE) found in Lascaux, France

27. Lascaux, france

28. Paleolithic Art Cueva de las Manos (13,000 – 9,500 BCE) Patagonia, southern Argentina

29. Patagonia, argentina

30. Holocene Epoch current geological epoch which started some 11,500 years ago when the glaciers began to retreat, marking the end of the glacial phase of the most recent ice age

31. Holocene interglacial

32. Holocene Epoch sometimes called “ Anthropogene ” or “Age of Man” Note: Modern humans had evolved and dispersed all over the world well before the start of the Holocene

33. Holocene Epoch spread of forests subsequent shrinkage of forests as mankind’s demand for timber and agricultural land grew

34. Holocene Epoch Although we think of the Holocene as a warm time for the planet, we are still in an ice age. This is indicated by the presence of ice caps at the poles - the planet as a whole is just in an interglacial phase .

35. Holocene Epoch An interglacial period is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age.

36. Neolithic Period New Stone Age attained at the beginning of the Holocene Epoch 11,700 years ago until around 1800BCE gradually occurred across Asia and Europe from a starting point in the  Fertile Crescent

37. Neolithic Era New Stone Age cultivation and animal domestication first appeared in southwestern Asia by about 9000 BCE farming and settled villages had been firmly achieved by 7000 BCE in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys

38. Neolithic Period New Stone Age stone tools shaped by polishing and grinding dependence on domesticated plants or animals settlement in permanent villages ( sedentism ) appearance of crafts such as pottery and weaving

39. Neolithic Period What’s the difference between Horticulture & Agriculture? (as used in archaeology and anthropology)

40. horticulture distinguished by the use of hand tools to grow domesticated plants

41. Intensive agriculture use of irrigation, draft animals, terracing, natural fertilizers, selective breeding, mechanization, etc., to grow more food

42. Neolithic Period Why do you think the Neolithic Revolution occurred?

43. references University of California Museum of Paleontology http :// www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/histgeoscale.php BBC http:// www.bbc.co.uk/nature/history_of_the_earth/Holocene Mr. Giotto’s Site http:// www.penfield.edu/webpages/jgiotto/onlinetextbook.cfm?subpage=1525824 Brittanica http:// www.britannica.com/event/Paleolithic-Period Climate Change and Human Evolution http :// anthro.palomar.edu/homo/homo_3.htm