It didn’t happen easy, neither fast. For the first million years since the genus Homo appeared till about 10.000 years ago, there is the Palaeolithic era or the Old Stone age. That is the first of the three-age system, which divides the prehistorical era of the humankind into three main periods, Stone, Bronze and Iron age, originated by the Roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius in the 1st cen. B.c. and formalised by C.J. Thomsen in Copenhagen in 1836. Later it underwent some further subdivisions and although it remains the basis of prehistoric chronology for Europe, the Mediterranean world and the near East, it is of little use for the establishment for chronological frameworks in Sub-Saharan Africa, much of Asia and the Americas. The early humans and other species closely related to them inhabited caves. They left no historical records other than a few cave paintings and some scattered artefacts. These caves very rarely served as permanent settlements. Most probably they were providing seasonal shelter or served as temporary camp sites for nomadic groups, while they were moving from place to place following the herd animals to hunt for food.
15000-13000 B.c. Cave Painting from Lascaux (dancingelephantgallery.blogspot.com)
The social organisation of the earliest Palaeolithic societies remains largely unknown to scientists. Homo Habilis and Homo Erectus are likely to have had more complex social structures than chimpanzee societies. Homo Erectus may have been the first to invent central camp sites and incorporate them into their hunting strategies. However, the earliest solid evidence to the existence of home bases or shelters among humans only dates back to 500.000 years ago. The Neanderthals are one particular species known to have had a predilection for cave living. The harsh climate forced them to be adaptive and creative survivors. The early humans also used caves sporadically, while they were living as hunter - gatherers.
Until the early farming tribes, people lived without states and organised governments. They were usually nomadic forming bands, that they were ranging from 12 to 100 members. Sometimes bands joined together into larger groups for activities such as acquiring mates and celebrations. Evidence supports, that they took part in long distance trade for rare commodities and each member of the group was skilled at all tasks essential to survival. Anthropologists had assumed, that women were responsible for gathering wild plants and firewood and men for hunting and scavenging dead animals. The sexual division of labour seems relatively more flexible. Men may also have been participating in gathering plants and firewood, while women may have been procuring small game animals. Recent researchers support, that the division of labour was invented rather recently in human prehistorical time to allow people to acquire food and other resources more efficiently. Archaeological evidence from art and funerary rituals indicates, that a number of individual women enjoyed high status in their communities, and it is likely, that both sexes were participating in decision making.
The Palaeolithic era is characterised by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used other materials such as antler, bone, leather, wood, ivory and fibre.
Bone tools made of various animal tissues, that include bone, tooth, antler and ivory. (link.springer.com)
Early examples of artistic expression such as the Venus figurines may have been produced by Homo Erectus. They date from between 40000 B.c. - 10000 B.c. and they are quite small, typically from 2.5 cm - 10.2 cm. The most common material used to carve these statuettes is mammoth tusk, but antlers, bone and stone were also used. They depict voluptuous female nudes, faceless with poorly defined arms and legs, while some other features such as their breasts, hips and stomachs are exaggerated. As they are associated with fertile and pregnant women, it is possible, that they served as fertility symbols and may have been worn as amulets to protect women during pregnancy and childbirth depicting a mother goddess or a deity related to childbearing.
(ancient-origins.net)
However the earliest undisputed evidence of art during that period comes about 100.000 to 70.000 years ago from the Blombos cave in South Africa, where the findings include sophisticated bone and stone tools, fish bones, a cluster of deliberately perforated and red-stained shell beads, which are being interpreted as personal ornaments or jewellery, and an abundance of ochre used in body painting and perhaps in rituals. Harpoons were invented circa 90.000 years ago, which brought fish into the humans’ diet and around 70.000 years ago microliths or small stone tools were invented, which were essential to the creation of bows and spear throwers. According to ceramic objects discovered in Czech Republic, pottery originated about 30.000 years ago, but it did not come into prominence until later. Clay can be fashioned into a desire shape and baked in high temperatures, which removes all the water from the clay and fixes its form increasing its strength. Usable clay was widely available, which explains why pottery was independently invented in many parts of the world at different times. Shallow and deep bowls with rim were the most popular types.
After the Palaeolithic era and the last glaciation about 10.000 years ago, there was the Mesolithic era or the Middle Stone age in north-west Europe, but it started quite earlier in Eastern Mediterranean, about 20.000 - 15.000 years ago. The end date varies in each geographical region, according to how long it took for agriculture to become established, after the Ice Age was over. In south-east Europe it happened around 8.000 - 7.000 years ago, in central Europe 5.500 and in north Europe 4.000 years ago. The transition to the Mesolithic era is defined by a more advanced level of human dominance.
By approximately 9.000 years ago the climate had stabilised close to what it is today. The retreat of the glaciers, a rise in sea levels, the extinction of large bodied animals and the growth in forests made it easier for the people to move north into previously glaciated areas, to adopt new subsistence methods and to target bigger animals such as deer, elk, goat and ibex. Humans practised to hunt in groups and they began to learn, how to domesticate animals and plants. Animal bones have been reported from almost all the excavated sites of the Mesolithic settlements like cattle, sheep and goat. The flourished agricultural activity witnessed in the next era, the Neolithic, must have had its roots in the Mesolithic period itself. The storage pits discovered in the archaeological sites indicate some incipient form of agriculture. In coastal areas fish and shellfish were heavily consumed. Plant resources like hazelnuts, acorns and nettles became also an important part of Mesolithic diet.
During that period humans took the first steps in land management. Swamps and wetlands were purposely burned, while chipped and ground stone axes were used to cut down trees for fire, construction of living premises and fishing vessels. Boats and canoes were built, as well as the first wooden tracks to cross wetlands. The stone tools reduce in size, hence known as microliths, such as blades, points, trapezes and scrapers. Tools were also assembled of composite materials like bone, wood, antler and stone. They were used to create a variety of harpoons, arrows and fishhooks. Nets and seine were also developed for fishing and trapping small game.
(A)Bifacial points made of quartz & silcrete (B) Perforated shell beads (C) Bone points (D) Engraved ochre fragments (E) Ochre fragment shaped by grinding (F) Segments made of hornfels (G) Segments made of quartz (H) Segments with mastic residues (I) Engraved ostrich eggshells (J) Ochre fragments shaped by grinding (K) Bone point & awls. (researchgate.net uploaded by William E. banks)
The hunter - gatherers moved seasonally following animal migration and plant changes. In many regions larger permanent or semi - permanent communities were located on the coast, while smaller temporary hunting camps were located further inland. The houses, some with paved floors, varied in shape from circular to oval to rectangular and were built of wooden posts around a central hearth.
The artists tended to produce mainly relief sculpture, although they also carved a small number of free-standing ones like anthropomorphic figurines. Due to forest growth across Europe after the Ice Age wood carving was also practised widely, but few exemplars have survived. Mesolithic folk have left behind good evidence of their artistic pursuits. As the climate got warmer cave art started to diminish and rock art in open air took off.
The paintings and engravers depict animals, which are shown standing, moving, running, grazing etc. but primarily focus on humans, usually groups of people engaging in hunting, dancing as well as in everyday activities. The man in rejoicing moods is to be seen in these paintings. Some of the dances may be of ritual significance. The design was non - naturalistic and highly stylised. The musical instruments depicted are blowpipes and horns.
The Dance of Cogul, Catalonia, Spain (commons.wikimedia.org)
The beginning of farming signals the Neolithic Era or the New Stone Age. It was a significant period in the development of human technology, which started 12.000 years ago in some parts of the Middle East and ended between 6.000 - 4.000 years ago. It can be traced in several different regions. The main hub of plant and animal domestication considered to be the Fertile Crescent of Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the lower slopes of the mountains adjacent to them, Taurus and Zagros. Then followed the Yellow and Yangtze river valleys in China, south-east Europe and Mediterranean, Central America and some parts of South America.
The glaciers of the northern hemisphere concluded their long slow retreat freeing up a lot of real estate and stabilising the climate. People could now count on crops like emmer, einkorn and barley in the beginning and later pea, chickpea and lentil, that appeared on schedule and seasons, that could be reliable tracked. This stability allowed many tribes to change their previous lifestyle and to construct permanent villages. With refined farming techniques and herds of their own domesticated animals like sheep, goats and dogs at first and cattle and pigs later, they managed to become independent and to rule their own lives.
everyday life (shorthistory.com)
In retrospect it does seem odd, that after millions of years of hunting and gathering humans would suddenly start producing their own food. Not to mention that, evolutionary speaking, it was not necessary, as humankind was surviving pretty okay for a considerable long time, before farming started. Scholars debate, why farming, a labour-intensive way of living, which requires active support of the community, compared to just hunting and gathering was invented in the first place. It could be, that domesticating animals and plants was seen as a more reliable food source or it could be, that the warming weather created a baby boom needed to be fed. Although, according to some theorists, that boom was caused by the transition from foraging to farming. The increase in the fertility rate is estimated at two births per woman over a period of 200 - 300 years. That growth was a direct result of the energy gain of high calorie food, wheat, maize, rice etc. and the decrease in energy expended moving around hunting for food. Not to mention that agricultural life afforded securities, that pastoral life could not, so the farming populations grew faster than the nomadic ones. Nonetheless for whatever reason the dice was cast and the humankind turned towards agriculture.
Humans began settling down into agrarian societies, which left them some spare time to explore some key concepts of progress such as measurement, the rudiments of architecture, writing, art, and to gain some rather radical technological advances. The new arts to emerge in this era were weaving, architecture and stylised pictographs, that led to writing.
Illustration of the Neolithic settlement at Dmini, Greece 4800 B.c. (brewminate.com)
Çatalhöyük 7100 B.c. one of the first proto-urban communities. It brought new dangers, that the hunters and gatherers hadn’t experienced before, as people came together in an unprecedented form of communal living, such as sanitation issues, which could contribute to the spread of infectious diseases. Furthermore, population crowding and associated social stress may have acted as a trigger for inner-city violence. (commons.wikimedia.org by Omar Hoftun)
In the case of architecture, there are buildings created in fixed locations and megalithic constructions. Mud brick houses started to appear coated with plaster. Doorway was made on the roof, which was supported by beams from the inside. The rough ground was covered by platforms, mats and skins, where residents slept. The walls were painted with elaborate scenes of humans and animals. Parallel the emergence of tombs provided unmoving resting places for the dearly departed, where their families could visit and pay their respect.
Stonehenge 3000 - 2000 B.c. Salisbury plain, UK. There are multiple theories about its significance and purpose.
(common.wikimedia.org by garethwiscombe)
The Neolithic era witnessed many refinements to statuary, painting and pottery. The statuary made a big come back. Its theme dwelt primarily on the female fertility or Mother Goddess. Additionally, sculpture was no longer produced strictly by carving. Figurines were fashioned also out of clay and they were baked. Painting left the caves for good and became mostly decorative. As for pottery, it started to replace stone and wood utensils at a rapid pace and became also decorative. Most clothing appears to have been made of leather fastened with bone and antler pins.
The Neolithic people were skilled farmers, who manufactured a range of tools necessary for the tending, harvesting and processing of crops, such as sickle blades and grinding stones, and for the food production. What allowed forest clearance on a large scale was the polished stone axe. The polished stone tools were now made sharper by grinding. Another benefit of farming technique was the possibility of surplus in the production, which could be stored for later use or traded for other necessities. The people were now forced to figure out way of preserving the excess food by designing relatively airtight containers and using substances like salt as preservatives.
Axes, chisels, whetstones and a black stone bracelet from a Neolithic Greek settlement at Olynthus, Macedonia excavated by Mylonas in 1928. Archaeological Museum, Thessaloniki, Greece (commons.wikimedia.org)
The domestication of large animals may have resulted in an increase of social inequality. Possession of livestock caused competition between households. Humans, who controlled large herds, gradually acquired more livestock, which may have led to more obvious economic differences. However, evidence that proves it, is still disputed, as settlements, that have been discovered, reveal striking similarities in the size of homes and burial sites, suggesting a more egalitarian and simple society without evidence of social stratification and of the concept of capital. Whether a non - hierarchical system of organisation existed is debatable and there is no proof, that explicitly suggests Neolithic societies functioned under any dominating class or individual.