2.1: About This Module

Module Introduction

Topics Covered:

• What is Culture?
• What is Civilization?
• Prehistoric Civilization (Paleolithic and Neolithic)
  • The Agricultural Revolution
  • "Venus" Figurines
  • Stonehenge
  • Cave Art

This module will introduces the cultural expressions of the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras. The term lithic refers to the Stone Age, while the prefixes paleo and neo mean "old" and "new," respectively. Thereforem, the Paleolithic era is the "Old Stone Age" and the Neolithic era is the "New Stone Age."

In this section, we'll interpret cultural artifacts such as the "Venus" of Willendorf and Stonehenge to determine what these artifacts might tell us about the lives and thoughts of prehistoric men and women. After completing this chapter, you'll be able to list events from the Prehistoric era in historical order as well as assess the extent to which religious belief may have motivated many of the artistic and architectural innovations of this period.

Historians divide time into two periods. The period before Year One is identified as BCE (Before the Common Era) or BC (Before Christ). The period after Year One is identified as CE (Common Era) or AD (Anno Domini, which is Latin for "The Year of Our Lord"). While the Christianized delineations of history sufficed in previous decades, scholars now prefer the more generic BCE and CE as they take into account that not everyone identifies as Christian and different religions have different starting points in history. Jewish tradition, for example, has seen the beginning of Creation as their first year. Muslims, on the other hand, identify Muhammad's flight from Mecca as their first year (622 CE in the common "Gregorian" calendar used throughout the western world). Thus BCE and CE allow historians to speak about events in the past through a secular rather than religious lens.

Even so, the designations work the same. In the period of BCE/BC, time counts down backwards. Once you reach year one, however, time begins to march forward in the CE/AD period. Thus, the Roman emperor Augustus comes to power in the year 27 BCE. He dies, however, in 14 CE. So, in essence, he ruled for 41 years (27 years before Year One and 14 years after it). It's also worth noting that, even though this system was based on a calculation of the birth year of Jesus, most modern scholars now place his birth earlier than the turn of the first millennium, sometime around the year 4 BCE.

Learning Outcomes Related to this Module

1. Demonstrate proficiency in critical thinking
2. Recognize the relationships between cultural expressions and their contexts
3. Understand cultural expressions
4. Interpret and evaluate cultural artifacts and/or their contexts for significance

Objectives

Upon completion of this module, the student will be able to:

• Sort events in historical order from the Prehistoric era.
• Identify characteristics that distinguish the Paleolithic era from the Neolithic era.
• Identify possible motivations for the creation of cave art during the Paleolithic era.
• Identify possible explanations as to why prehistoric communities created "Venus" statuettes.
• Identify the reasons why the Neolithic era was revolutionary in human history.
• Identify possible explanations for the construction of megalithic sites, such as Stonehenge, and explain how they may have functioned.
• Identify features that mark the end of the prehistoric era in human history.

Assigned Readings

• Course Syllabus
• Learning Unit: Prehistory

Assignments | Learning Activities

• Carefully review the Syllabus
• Complete all assigned readings
• Review Learning Unit
• Complete Quiz 1
• Participate in Discussion 1

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• Authored by: Florida State College at Jacksonville. License: CC BY: Attribution