According to chapter 1 of The Essential World History humans emerged about 4 million years ago. Today most people call them cave men but historians call them hominids. They originated in Africa and slowly spread out to other areas. They had stone tools and hunted and gathered food. Since they relied on gathering and hunting for food they were nomadic. Over a period of hundreds of thousands of years hominids adapted and became smarter. They learned to make fire, better tools/weapons, and shelter. They also learned how to grow their own crops. The transition from gathering and hunting food to growing food and taming animals is referred to as the Neolithic Revolution which occurred around 10,000 B.C.E. Since they started growing their own food …show more content…
Before the Neolithic Revolution, men and women were equal and shared all the responsibilities of taking care of the family. Afterwards, however, men were responsible for all the jobs that kept them away from home and women were to do all the work at the home. Since people considered the men’s work more important, men were viewed as the leaders of their household and society. This is something that is still true today. Civilizations became more consciences of their safety so they built walls around their cities. The first cities were in China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and India. As these civilizations became more advanced, social classes emerged, writing was created to keep records, religion was practiced, politics and military was formed, and art and weapons improved. The social classes were divided by the top class (the kings, priests, other political leaders, and soldiers) the middle class, which was the largest, (the farmers, craftspeople, and artisans) and the lowest class (the slaves). Art was predominantly used for religious purposes like statues of the gods. The weapons were no longer made from rocks or bone but metal. The wheel was also invented around that