Orígenes de la civilización occidental: antropología cultural y prehistoria humana

Humans who lived 12,000 years ago didn't have it easy. Food was scarce, and everything was a threat. So how did they manage to start farming, building cities, and inventing languages? This course explores what everyday life was like for humans in pre-history, and trace how their decisions led to the society we live in today!

Each week we will discuss a different topic, starting with the first generation of humans who began to move away from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle into the cultivation of crops and the domestication of animals. We will explore the world's first cities (tiny compared to modern standards!) and take a closer look at the Three-Age model of Stone, Iron, and Bronze. Lesson topics are as follows, and are broadly chronological:

1. Paleolithic Era: Human Life Before Agriculture
2. The Neolithic Revolution (AKA Farming is Harder Than it Looks!)
3. Civilization's First Cities: From Çatalhöyük to Babylon
4. Making Metals: The Use of Bronze in Mesopotamia
5. Mesopotamian Cultures: The First Urban Settlements
6. Saxons & Vikings in Bronze Age Europe
7. The Iron Age: The Use of Modern Metals & the Invention of Writing
8. Course Review & Wrap Up

The class is listed as 45 minutes, but depending on class size and level of discussion, may take up a full hour.