3. The history of human mankind

 

The moment the Dinosaurs disappeared from this earth was the moment the mammals waited for. They could develop rapidly. The first mammals were however even older than the dinosaurs. The mammals like the Therapsides were already present 250 million years ago. They lived in the shadow of the mighty reptiles. They were nocturnal living animals. In the beginning of the Tertiary period (60 million years ago) the mammals left their hiding places.

 

Figure 7:  The evolution from the Plesiadapsis to the modern man (after Sarnat and Netsky, 1981).

The species like the Plesiadapsis were not bigger than a cat. They evolved in primates. The first human or Homo Habiles emerged during the Pliocene. This species was replaced by Homo erectus who invented fire 750.000 years ago. In the Pleistocene Homo Sapiens came on earth, 35.000 years ago Homo Sapiens sapiens. The modern man has not much changed since then.  According to the latest findings all the humans today can be traced along maternal lines if descent to a woman who lived about 200.000 years ago, probably in Africa. Modern humans arose in one place and spread elsewhere (Sarnat and Netsky, 1981).

 

In the beginning, our species was centered on gathering. The small amount of meat in the diet was probably scavenged rather than hunted (Blumenschine and Cavallo, 1992). Some 100.000 years ago man started hunting. Apparently, the gather-hunter existence was successful, and there was no direct need for innovations. The investment of energy in gathering and hunting has provided man's livelihood for more than 99 percent of history (Kemp 1971). 35.000 years ago man made symbolic tools. (White 1989).

 

10.000 a year ago, there was a radical change. We started to domesticate plants and animals. It enabled us to become more productive and efficient. Agriculture demanded a division of labor. The gatherer-hunter diet was highly variable, using a great number of plants for food; with farming, these sources were vastly reduced. The increase in productivity per unit of land led to considerable increase in human population. On the other hand, the control gained by the domestication of plants and animals brought an increase of dependence. They need a technical and organization apparatus to make this control possible. It also made these societies more vulnerable.

Society started to become hierarchical.  The beginning of the division between rich and poor, enslavement by priests, kings and bosses. This increased social stratification with a division of people in upper and lower classes with greater of lesser access to power, property and prestige.

The human population on Earth two million years ago maybe 10.000. At the beginning of the agricultural revolution, it had five million and at the time of Christ, the population increased to 200 million.

Grazing and fire cleared land for agriculture. Fertilization increased more food. The domestication of animals like goats, sheep, dogs, cows also helped to increase the world population. Cattle and goats converted grass of little use to human, into milk and milk products like cheese. Vast areas that could previously support only a few hunters could now support much larger populations of shepherds. Horses provided power for pulling ploughs and carrying loads. The agricultural revolution made possible the first towns and cities. The first cities arose some 5500 years ago in regions in mid latitude river valleys. First along the Euphrates in Mesopotamia, then the Nile valley in Egypt, to the Indus of India, to the eastern region of the Mediterranean and at last along the Yellow River in China. The cities of Mesoamerica evolved independently. It is not accidental that these civilizations were in these riverdeltas. The land around these rivers was flooded and rich new soil was deposited each year. The farmers were able to control flooding.

 

Figure 8: World earliest cities evolved in river delta's (After Sjoberg, 1965)

People built permanent homes and shelters for their food supplies. Civil institutions such as courts, religious centers and market places were developing. The rise of the cities led to a further division of labor. Some people stayed farmer, but others became experts on masonry, carpentry, wood making, etc.

The dense population in towns also increased diseases and epidemics.

The earliest human societies have been matriarchal. The women were the central figures. They were essential for the small groups of hunter-gatherers for their role in bearing and education of children. In the agricultural society, the man became dominant. Kings and emperors were ruling society.

Human civilizations came and went. Political and economical structures change over the time.

 

The cradle of our European civilization was in the area between the Euphrates and Tigris. The Mesopotamian civilization laid the basis for many systems of our civilization. They invented a practical scripture, the first vehicle with wheels, written law books. The week had seven days named after the sun, moon and the five planets. (If they should have known the other three planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto we should have had a ten days week!). The day had 24 hours, the hour sixty minutes, and the minute sixty seconds. Mathematics played an important role. The decimal as well as the sexagesimal system was used.

 

The first people in the Mesopotamian area had a democratic society. When the little villages grew out to large cities people became more aggressive. The big struggle was to obtain land that could be well irrigated. To defend their cities against attacks they choose the bravest strongest man who could lead them to victory. The big man named "lugal" in Sumerian language meant king. This kingmanship became hereditary, dynastic and despotic. He was the city king and their spiritual leader.

 

" Until 2400 BC, Sumerians had managed the problem of dwindling yields by cultivating new land, thereby ensuring the consistent food supply surpluses needed to support their armies and bureaucracies. But now they had reached the limits of agricultural expansion. And over the next three centuries accumulating salts drove crop yields down more than 40 percent. The crippled production, combined with an ever-growing population, led to shrinking food reserves, which in turn reduced the ranks of soldiers and civil servants. By 1800 BD, Sumerian agriculture had effectively collapsed and this once glorious civilization faded into obscurity" (Gardner, 1997)     

 

Ironically, a Sumerian poet says: "The man has no rival more on earth".

 

This statement is a good moment to end this review on the history of mankind, because our civilization is based on the Sumerian civilization. We will see what our civilization has done and will do to the planet earth in the future!