Science and Technology from Prehistory to 600 BCE - AP World History: Modern

Prehistory has no written primary sources. Information about prehistory is only possible from archaeology, whereas history allows us to read what certain members of historical communities wrote about their own lives. This gives us greater perspective on the human story and the evolution of human thought. Metal working, hereditary monarchical political systems, and organized religion, whether monotheistic or otherwise, are important aspects of history, but they are not sufficient to differentiating between history and prehistory.

Separated by thousands of miles and vast oceans, Mesoamerica and Mesopotamia both developed writing systems independent from one another. They were not aware of each other, and certainly didn't cooperate or fight. The evolution of writing was largely a result of agriculture and the need to keep records of surplus.

Cast iron was first developed in China in the fifth century BCE. It did not appear in European society for almost two thousand years. Cast iron offered the advantage of being much cheaper and more efficient to produce than steel, although it was also much more brittle.

Indus River Valley inscriptions are unintelligible but linguists and historians are aware that they represent proto-writing, rather than literacy, because of the little to no variety in word and sentence structure. Indus River Proto-writing was used to represent ownership over land, houses, and other goods, but could not be used to describe anything else.

Many languages, such as Chinese, use logograms rather than phonographic letters.

The Sumerians had literacy yet wrote on clay tablets rather than paper.

Standardized spelling is a product of the printing press and the industrial revolution.

The ancient Chinese Shang dynasty had a full writing system yet all evidence of this is derived from Oracle Bones used in religious rituals.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built in the 2500s B.C.E., whereas Cleopatra was born in 69 B.C.E.

In the 1990s, a hotel and casino company constructed the Luxor Las Vegas, a hotel and casino in the shape of the Egyptian pyramids.

Human history does record some of the architects of the pyramids, such as Imhotep.

Egyptologists are unequivocal in their belief that pyramids were constructed to be tombs.

Humans living along the Nile were the people who built the Pyramid.

In ancient Egypt, maces, unlike spears, swords, or bows, were associated with victory in combat, rather than combat itself, because maces were used primarily at the end of battles to kill prisoners.

Maces were symbols of power, the pharaohs of Egypt were often portrayed carrying the mace, but they also physical objects used to commit real violence.

Maces are not designed to till soil.

Maces were made from different materials, but never from human bone.

Maces were not used as writing implements.

The earliest Egyptian settlements were small villages constructed of woven sticks covered in mud.

Within a few centuries, baked mud bricks were an available building material, but would've been inordinately expensive compared to the cheap woven stick and mud.

Large stone blocks were not used as a building material until centuries later.

Cement wasn't used as a building material that long ago.

Fine marble wasn't used in the first Egyptian settlements.

In Antiquity, most armies and navies used projectile weapons, but they weren't often decisive in winning battles because low velocity meant low lethality.

Some ancient bows could be fired over many hundreds of feet.

Bows and javelins were standard for most armies, they were not considered dishonorable.

Some ancient armies did use cavalry archers, including the Parthians.

Bows have existed since before the advent of writing at around 3000 BCE, javelins much earlier than that.

Iron metallurgy is the name given to the process of heating, adjusting, or purifying iron to make it stronger. Iron metallurgy was an important development in human history as it allowed for more powerful weapons and the development of new types of industry.

Metal was first used in Southeast Asia in the last half of the first millennium BC; later than many other places, most likely, because the geography inhibits trade, merchants, new techniques, and ideas penetrating the dense jungles of the area.

Greece, Rome, the Middle East, Egypt, and India all used metal before Southeast Asian civilizations, probably because although all disparate and thousands of miles away, they are on the same trade routes, whereas Southeast Asia was insulated by dense jungles.

Southeast Asia developed metallurgy after some other civilizations, but thousands of years before the modern era, and the invasion of British and French colonial powers.

The Hyksos invaded Egypt at the end of the Middle Kingdom and were able to easily conquer the Egyptians because the Egyptians had not developed a militaristic culture and had no advanced weaponry. However, the invading Hyksos stayed in Egypt and ruled the nation for a century. This led to the proliferation of military technology into Egyptian society. After the Egyptians overthrew the Hyksos their society had become much more militaristic and the subsequent period of Egyptian history is marked by continuous military conquest and territorial expansion.

The Rosetta Stone was discovered in the early nineteenth century by French troops, serving Napoleon in North Africa. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone was essential to translating Egyptian hieroglyphics for the first time.

Papyrus is a reed that grows by the Nile River. The Egyptians, who first started writing circa 3,150 BCE, learned how to use papyrus to make paper which they would use for writing.

Most historians agree that the earliest forms of writing were invented to facilitate trade and keep stock of inventory. In Sumer writing emerged to note, to provide one example, how many sheep had been shipped to which city and for what price. The earliest writing consisted of pictures and images which represented certain products and quantities.

The Hittites were the first people to produce iron and use it for the construction of more powerful weapons. The Hittites mastery of iron metallurgy allowed them to conquer a vast territory in the Middle East.

Most historians believe that the human ability to speak first developed as an effective way to communicate and organize during hunts. What is certain is that when speech first emerged it was designed to facilitate hunting and announce potential threats to the tribe.

Paleolithic humans invented new forms of technology systematically, as can be seen in the passage with the invention of the wheel. To do something systematically means to have a system, method, or plan. We can see that method in the passage with the descriptions of how the wheel was developed from the cylinder to the wheel-and-axle concept.

The domestication of horses took place almost six thousand years ago. And, until the invention of the steam engine, in the eighteenth century, travelling by horseback was the fastest way for man to travel. The invention of the steam engine allowed for the construction of trains and steam ships which altered the world dramatically.

The earliest accounts of gunpowder and its use comes from accounts of Tang Dynasty China, so that would be the best choice. Europe eventually gained knowledge of gunpowder when it was brought by trade and the Mongol conquests, so the British Empire would be poor choices. Gunpowder was brought to the Americas by Europeans, so the Mayans would not be a good choice. Lastly, the Roman Empire was no longer extant by the time gunpowder was first developed, so they too would be a poor choice.