She is a setting for the long dawn of human history dating back to four millions years ago. In 1959, the skeleton of a hominid was discovered nearly two millions years old ion Olduvai george, Tanzania, Africa. Four years later an even older ape-man so was formerly called was found at Fort Ternan in Kenya. From this, it seems possible that man’s original home may be from Africa (An extract from Ancient times by m.crowder, R.j.cootes and E.snellgroove).

From many beliefs and perspectives, there are many of the opinion that human history started from Africa and their search for food, shelter and clothing’s and perhaps knowledge had expanded their coast leading to the rising of the different races ,continents like Asia,Europe,America etc that we have today. As many stories which has been fabricated can not removed the source but buttress the point of this earlier point. The ape-like man that began his origin in West Africa first started living on trees then in groups wandering in search of food. At some times perhaps he may come down from trees and by so doing became more and more adapted to staying on land till his feet were firm, stable, his hind legs became more powerful to support him and he was honored with the title THE WALKING MAN.         

Overtime he began to adapt to climatic conditions which influenced his speech and in little time, man was given his respect among all other mammals as the TALKING ANIMAL. The more he began to live in groups the more he had to reasonable to   make decision, he can slings a stone, chip a flake from rocks etc. Different tools for different purposes were made soon enough he was matured to be called the THINKING MAN. All these inventions lead to a new era of season a new age, the AGRICULTURAL AGE which is the father and basis for all civilization. They can hunt in groups, and overpower a huge animal because of the level of co-operation among them. They learnt to shelter their babies from predators.

All these years, man only had stone weapons to fight, hunt for food, and pick berries and fruits. This is referred to as the STONE AGE. Thousand years later, man knowledge expanded and through this, he was able to notice new shoots from seeds of eaten crops sprung out. Discovering this leaded to the advent agriculture which I earlier stated. Another earlier form of civilization was the practice of rearing of animals like cats, dogs, bulls, and poultry animals etc which are tamed to suit their desires. Soon man horoscope of learning expanded and civilization ascent. This is termed the NEW STONE AGE.                                                                

In the time of the New stone age, food plants which include barley,millet,rice,wheat, maize was first grown by the Neolithic people .Also, they learnt ways of how to brew beers and make wine.Overtime,they discovered ways of using yokes to control his livestocks,milking them and using them o pull and carry his farm produce. Overtime they developed ways of measuring time by watching moon at night.

Man was categorized into two groups those who want to settled down or those who want to keep wandering. That time consistency and choice defines everything. Either you are contented with the level of resources you have given the expanse of land or you keep wandering ion search of better option and even some either stay or leave based on choices. Some prefer farming and hunting life others want to keep rearing livestock’s and since these livestock’s are in high demands, they will do anything to fend for them like search for greener pastures, water availability and     fertile lands. The former groups were regarded as the settlers while the latter the nomads or cowboys in the Europe.                                                                                 

Settled life encouraged women to invent more. They knew how to plait twigs and rushes to make basket, using raffia palms fronds for mats, spinning wools into thread to make  clothes and most of all molding wet clay into crude pots which when dried up can be used to store farm produce. After all these developments, the farming sects began a community where they reproduce and had many children. They discovered the two main seasons i.e. the dry and the wet seasons and were wise enough to determine which was suitable for planting and which was suitable for harvesting the crops…………………………………………………………………………….part two in earnest.

By Mr Ghaz, September 12, 2010

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The Early Breakthroughs: Shelter & Refuge: Part One

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As early people began to move north, they found that at night they needed a place where they could keep warm and be safe from wild animals while they slept. A cave could form a strong natural refuge, and early people certainly did use caves for shelter, as the remains of bones, tools and early graves in hilly regions of France, Spain and Germany show. But, as people slowly spread to many parts of the world where there are no caves, they must have needed to find other ways of sheltering.

Building with Wood

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Early people must also have been able to build simple shelters. These temporary shelters would have been built from materials that people found around them. Perhaps the early hunters simply broke branches off trees and leaned them against a rock to form a low shelter they could crawl into to sleep.

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Shelters could also be made by weaving branches together to form two screens and then leaning them against each other. A screen of branches curved round in a cone became a hut. A framework of long sticks stuck into the ground or weighed down with stones would hold the hut upright. The sticks could be tied together with creepers or grasses, leaving a small gap for a door. Then, more branches could be woven in, or the hut could be covered with grass, leaving, or skins.

Although these shelters disappeared long ago, there are some clues to help piece together a pictures of early shelters. The site of a settlements dating back at least 125,000 years has been found at Terra Amata in southern France.

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Archaeologists have identified holes in the ground where poles were stuck into the soil to make the framework of huts, and the outlines of stones which must have been used to weigh the poles down. Studies of huts made by modern hunter-gatherers such as the Bushmen in Africa help archaeologists to work out what these ancient huts were like.

Early Architecture

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Early house came in a variety of shapes and size. At Khiroktia in Cyprus, people built round, domed houses like beehives. Houses in Mesopotamia were usually rectangular and built around a courtyard, but there were also ‘tholoi’ or circular houses. These strange buildings had a rectangular roofed section with a circular, domed room at one end. At Catal Huyuk, there were no streets between the houses. People got about by crossing the rooftops. The doors into the houses were in the roof. Each house had one room set aside as a shrine, a storeroom and a living room with built-in benches and platforms for sleeping, sitting and working on.

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Many towns were built with houses crammed together and narrow, winding streets. The town were often surrounded by a wall to keep out invaders. Jericho the world’s oldest town was enclosed by a stone wall three metres thick. Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa in Pakistan were two of the first cities to be laid out on a grid system. The main streets ran in straight lines from north to south. Smaller lanes crossed them from east to west.

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Tents made from animal hides on a wooden or framework probably provides many early shelters. Archaeologists have discovered evidence in Germany which shows how reindeer-hunters made their tents about 15,000 years ago. By this time, the ice was beginning to melt, leaving tundra where reindeer grazed. Reindeer moved faster than mammoths, and hunters had to kill more animal to provide enough meat. The hunters moved on every few days, following the herds north in the spring and south in the autumn.

Shelter around the World

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People have always adapted their houses to the climate they live in and the materials around them. Around the world, many of these traditional methods of building still survive today.

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The Inuit are hunters who live in the frozen Arctic regions of North America and Greenland. In the winter, when it is very cold and there is hardly any sunlight, the traditional Inuit shelter was the igloo, built from large blocks of ice. In summer, they lived in shelters roofed in turf.

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The nomadic peoples of North America followed the migrations of herds of bison across the plains. They used wooden poles and animal skins to make tents. Some made cone-shaped tents. Some made cone- shaped tents, known as tepees. They could be laced up to keep out the bitter winter cold. Others made round huts covered with skins.

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In the Middle East, the weather is much the same all the year round. The days are hot and the nights are cold. Early farmers built houses of mud bricks with flat roofs. The roof was supported by wooden rafters. In some places, houses like these are still common.

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In the tropics, it is hot and humid all the year round. There is heavy rain nearly every everyday and rivers and lakes sometimes flood. Early people in these regions fished. They built houses on stilts to keep the floor above flood level. The frame was wood and the walls and roof were thatched.

The history of human society was based on nomad.  They were hunters and gatherer.  The settlement through agriculture paved the way towards the organized society and led to marriage and formation of Family system.  The marriage was based on rituals and gradually it became tradition. The family system became the virtue of Human Society

But organized society could not wither-away the nomad of the human society.  There remain a community that dejected the organized way of life and chosen to be the nomad.  Similarly it was extended to the micro regime.  There were individual who refused to be in family system and wished to remain wanderers. The chosen community of wanderer is termed as prostitutes.

The nomadic got divided into two streams, i.e. traders and invader.  The trader became a support to the settled community and helped in the growth of the community through various transactions of goods and technology and gradually they became settled, whereas, invaders were threat to the organized and settled community.  To check the invasion, the state-system was created.  The Chief was responsible for the protection and governance of the society. 

In the Micro Regime, i.e. family system, where husband is a ruler of the family and responsible for the protection and provision, the wife submits her chastely to her husband and husband make sure that she is out of invasion.  Similarly, the men’s community of the organized society becomes protector of the chastely of the women’s community and make sure that it is protected.  That is the reason there is a formation of social system for micro governance and legal system for macro governance.

Prostitutes are the feminine nomad who is constantly a threat to the micro regime, i.e. family system.  When the man gets invaded by the Prostitutes, it destroys the family and hence resulting to the shattered society.  That is the reason prostitution is always treated as social evil.

Criminals are masculine nomad; they are responsible for the invasion of the micro regime. The community of Criminals is always getting facilitated by the prostitutes since they are two sides of the same coin, i.e. nomad.  Hence, nomads are always threat to main stream society.

The rising population of the prostitutes is a sign of lack of state governance, where micro regime, i.e. women are a victim of the micro nomadic tendencies.  The lack of manhood is the sign of the insecurity of women and hence they are victims due to shrinking social system.

Legalizing prostitution means, legalizing nomad.  When one gender is getting the support of Law for the nomadic behavior, another gender, i.e. Criminals will also get the Legal authenticity.  Hence, crimes will have the Legal approval.

Hence, prostitution in a civilized society has always treated as para-community and it is always away from the main-society.  Since nomad is an instinct of the human society / human nature, hence it needs governance by Law/ Reason; otherwise it will destroy the society / family.

This said analysis is based on “Macro-Micro Theory – State-Society Relations”.

Agriculture proved to be one of the largest changes that have taken place in human development. It is hard for us to understand the enormous revolution that this shift in lifestyle brought about. It was in the river valleys of the Fertile Crescent and Egypt that farming began, in approximately 8500 B.C., and then either spread or evolved independently in other parts of the world. One common misconception is that the people who developed farming were more intelligent than those that didn’t. The book Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond, does much to clear up this misconception. The author, Jared Diamond, discusses how when societies begin to produce their own food, they develop larger populations. This is the first step toward the specialization – the emergence of blacksmiths, social hierarchies (which included a king) and standing armies – that translates into a society’s ability to dominate another. Not discussed in the book are other changes that took place in societies due to farming. When humans domesticated crops, they forged a new relationship with nature. After domestication, the people began to separate from nature, whereas they had been side-by-side with the animals and plants until that point. This was symbolized through the sacred marriage of their king with the Mother Goddess, which, though may seem to be a celebration of nature, it requires a view of nature and themselves as two separate entities, able to marry each other. Thus, the domestication of crops and animals caused both physical and abstract changes in Neolithic societies. This essay will discuss aspects of both.

            One of the main concepts in Diamond’s book is that the conversion to agriculture took an unfittingly huge amount of time, and that the geographic environment made farming possible only in certain places at certain times. The advantages of an agricultural society are many and significant, from less work, comfort, longer life, and a steadier source of food. However even in the Fertile Crescent, where the conditions were optimal for farming, it took a sizeable amount of time for the resident humans to make the switch, despite its many benefits. The book asks the question, “Why did even people of the Fertile Crescent wait until 8500 B.C., instead of becoming food producers already around 18,500 or 28,500 B.C.?” (Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, p. 104). One reason could have been an initial negative reaction to the change of nutrition. Some discoveries have shown that the first farmers were weaker and sicker than the hunter-gatherers, because either their bodies weren’t used to grain as food, or because the wild, unrefined grain did not contain as much nutrition as was necessary. The problem might have been a simple difficulty of adjustment, rather than any advantage of hunting and gathering. Also, Diamond explains that the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to an agricultural society was actually gradual and accidental, not a conscious decision. Farming could have been delayed by the reaction that even modern humans constantly have toward things that are new and different: avoid it, stop it, and shut it down. After an extremely long time spent hunting and gathering their food, which determined social hierarchy, influenced their culture and took up all their time, it would be tough to switch entirely over to a new system. The only way that an entirely new system could take over was if game and edible wild plants were especially scarce for a long period of time. The people would be forced to farm their own food or starve. However, farming takes time. The cultures that were entirely hunter-gatherer would not have enough time to develop agriculture and wait for harvest, before they starved. At the time of the scarcity, they would have to have wild fields nearby, or experimental fields recently planted, in order to switch over.

            After societies began to farm, their entire world-view changed drastically. When nomadic, Paleolithic societies worshipped a Mother Goddess, and imagined themselves as being part of nature, within that goddess. The goddess is depicted on the outside of the famous Lascaux caves in France, where she is shown holding the moon in one hand and her womb in the other. It demonstrates that everything cycles; everything is the same, no matter how big or small, except for the female mother goddess, who controls the cycles. Inside the cave, paintings of humans and animals, side by side, show that they were all part of the wild, brothers and sisters. However, once farming started, folk tales like “The Picky Maid” and “The Buffalo Dance” show that their new view of themselves and the wild was changed: the man was now the fixed point, the controller, the one in charge of these cycles. In “The Picky Maid,” the men were described by their fields, as if their fields were a possession rather than another sister plant. For them to have “possessions” and “domestication” they would have to view themselves as a higher being than the plants and animals, rather than kin. The goddess split into several gods, with each god representing different human aspects or important environmental conditions, including, for the first time, male religious figures. Men suddenly had their own important cycle, the cycle of farming, rather than the women owning a monopoly with their womb and birth. Cycles were important to early humans, because cycles were all around them, dictating seasons, herd patterns, birth, and astrology, major parts of their life as survivors.

            These changes in ritual led to more changes in their social structure, daily structure, and even their major goals and way of living. Males, due to their newfound respect and importance, began to take charge, robbing the women of their religious power, and even hierarchal power. “The Picky Maid” shows the connection with fields and men: it’s the man’s job to plant straight, perfect fields; all the Picky Maid can do is find a husband who can plant well, as apposed to planting herself. As demonstrated in the “Hain House,” the men stopped obeying the women, capturing the longhouse, the “Women’s Hut,” for themselves. They renamed it the “Men’s Hut,” and killed the women, leaving only 2-year-olds, to keep as wives, this time subordinate to the men. When some groups began appointing kings, they were male, because the most important cycle now belonged to the men. They wanted a king that represented and strengthened their crop cycles, because crop cycles were their most important cycle, the cycle that had given them prosperity and happiness. Humans began having more time on their hands; it took fewer hours in the fields to produce enough food for everybody, giving them this extra time. They used these moments to develop technology, and to evolve their art, stories, and music. These improvements added a new dimension to their lives, as well as new comfort. Until farming, their efforts were toward one purpose alone: survival. However, with free time to further other aspects of their life, technology, art, and knowledge began to gain importance. They shifted from only trying to survive, to actually progressing as a race. This simple idea, of farming our own food, seems to be what started us on our path to being the incredibly complicated, gifted species we are today.

    South of Egypt rose a wealthy and mighty African empire, with a bustling trade center brimming with precious goods, camels and merchants from surrounding Africa and Southern Asia. Kush was a major African trading kingdom, founded in modern-day northern Sudan in 3000 BC.,  which conquered Ancient Egypt and Nubia, flourished as a new and diverse culture, yet remained predominantly Egyptian in culture.
    Kush was perfectly situated for close cultural contact with both Nubia and Egypt. Founded in the third flood plain of the Nile, the nation grew and expanded to include the land between the second and fifth cataracts of the Nile. This location played a key role in the development of this prosperous nation.     
    This mighty kingdom was originally founded by Nubian rulers for the purpose of extending their somewhat Egyptian culture. However, they lost the control of the colony to Egypt, who ruled it for 1,500 years afterward. A new Kushite way of life emerged when Kush seceded from Egypt and experienced a period of independent prosperity between 1500 and 1700 BC. when Egypt was dominated by Asian nomads.
    The new nation of Kush soon reached its highest point of splendour during the two centuries that Egypt was dominated by the Hyksos- warlike Asian nomads. Africa and the rest of the ancient world watched as the Kushites flourished as intelligent, dark skinned farmers, merchants, miners, and builders. However, the period of independent development ended abruptly, when the Hyksos were driven from Egypt by the powerful New Kingdom kings, and Kush was again conquered and forced under Egyptian rule.
    Merchants found the capital city, Kerma, to be an important trading center for goods from southern Africa proceeding northward. Kush developed strong trading ties with both Nubia and Egypt, trading commodities such as ivory, ebony, gold, animal hides, and incense for grains.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Egyptian merchants highly valued certain items from this nation. The first of these was  gold, deposits of which were in great abundance in Kush. Another is carnelian, a prized stone which was used in the manufacture of arrowheads and jewellery. Slaves were one of the top traded “goods”, as they served as needed soldiers and servants of the pharaoh. This trade with Egypt continued until the eventual diminish of the Kushite empire in the 300’s AD.
    Kush regained its independence when the New Kingdom of Egypt crumbled in 1000 BC. By conquering all of Nubia, the nation once again rose as a major kingdom. This conquest yielded the prodigal gold mines of Upper Nubia. The Kushite people gained and utilised foreign knowledge of farming and construction, which greatly developed their culture. Kush blossomed into a center of learning and cultural diffusion   
    Kushite culture and society, although considerably influenced by other cultures, remained chiefly Egyptian. All Kushite art and architecture reflected an Egyptian model. For example,  Kushite artists drew humans in the traditional Egyptian way of twisting the different portions of the body so that some parts face forward and others sideways. The Kushites also built pyramids as burial chambers but these were much smaller and steeper than the Egyptian models.
    The Kushite people primarily led an Egyptian lifestyle. The government, which was also Egyptian in model, ruled well and gained wealth for the nation. The Kushites, who thought themselves the proper inheritors of the pharaoh titles, assumed them all. Kings were elected from the royal family and descent depended on the mother’s family line. This system eventually generated a string of female monarchs. This variance was seen in no other major civilisation, only the Kushite culture.
    Religion was another aspect of life in which the Kushites modelled the ancient Egyptians as they accepted Egyptian ways of worship. They worshipped Egyptian gods such as Amon, Isis, Ra, Horus and Atum. Amon, the supreme god of the Egyptians, was exalted by the Kushites and temples were built in his honour. They also derived a few new regional gods from other existing African civilisations.
    Kushite rulers were good leaders an generals. They were strong, influential and ambitious, very much like the Egyptian pharaohs. One of the greatest kings and generals of Kush was the famous King Piye who led a mighty invasion of Thebes in 730 BC. The campaign was very successful as the Kushites infiltrated the Egyptian security and were ironically now in control of the very kingdom that had ruled it for so many centuries of the past.
    The Kushite dynasty was called the Ethiopian or 25th dynasty of Egypt. The Kushites brought no distinctive change to Egyptian culture because they were so much like the conquered people. The Kushite pharaohs had their names inscribed on temples just as the Egyptians had. The Kushites were driven out of Egypt in 670 BC. when the Assyrians invaded. They withdrew to Nubia, and never again returned to Egypt.
    Kush, like all other civilisations, had its periods of prosperity, expansion, and decline. When the first few powerful kings died and their more emasculate sons and daughters came to the throne, they gradually lost control of the nation, as a result of poor governance. Kush suffered during this period and accordingly, it leaned toward an abrupt crumble.
    The fate of Kush was determined when brutal nomads invaded the country. Under the weak leaders they were not driven out by any authority, as attackers raided villages and stole entire flocks of animals quite freely. The empire continued to decline steadily due to this catastrophe because of this factor. Eventually, during in the AD. 300’s, the kingdom had totally collapsed.
    Kush, the strong, dominant, ancient trading nation of northern Sudan, which conquered others more advanced than itself, traded more abundantly than most, was more culturally diverse than all, and was more advanced than its neighbors, has had its glorious era. This great kingdom was modelled after the ancient Egyptian society to a great extent, and existed as the home of many highly skilled artisans and labourers. This powerful nation, whose might and splendour dwindled to an unfortunate end, truly left its lasting impression on the continent of Africa. The influence and fragments of Kushite culture can still be seen today in the artifacts located in large, Sudanese museums.

Domesticating animals during this time seemed to give the people of the Saharan community a sense of food security. It has been suggested by anthropologists that keeping livestock made it possible to maintain and increase populations because domesticated animals provided stored sources of food. Cattle provided meat, milk and blood which helped reduce famine.  Due to the desiccation of the Sahara hunters and gatherers became pastorals and their cattle contributed to the increased dryness of the Sahara. Eventually the increasing desiccation of the desert forced people to find new areas of settlement.

Displaced people who fled from the desert generally moved southward and the movement by pastoralist communities from desert to savanna caused the domestication of sorghum. Saharan pastoralists introduced herding to the savanna’s hunters and gatherers which prompted a population growth. Due to the increase in population, wild food supplies decreased and natives to the land began sowing and harvesting native wild grasses which led to the process of cereal domestication. However it should be noted that the indigenous crops that were grown in sub-Saharan Africa were limited to sorghum and millet. Therefore, technological advances in iron smelting played a crucial role in agricultural development.

The nomadic pastoralist of the Sahara who moved southward to the Sahel tried to make technological improvements to increase the amount of plant foods available. However, it was only after developments in the usage of iron that domestication of sorghum beyond the wild became possible. This was primarily because iron tools were strong enough to turn tough soil so that crops could be harvested well.

Developments in iron technology and the domestication of plants and animals not only helped Africans advance, it also changed their lifestyles. Domestication of plants and animals as well as new technological developments was in large part due to the desiccation of Sub-Saharan Africa between 6500 BC and 500 AD.

Unlike the Mongols, the Scythians came from the western part of the Steppe area and spoke a language very similar to Iranian. Yet their loose trousers, capes and jackets were similar to those worn down the centuries by subsequent tribal groupings. So too were the composite bows they used – although they did have a sharper angle to them, like, so it is said, Cupid’s bow. Made from a central wooden stave covered on one side by sinew and the other by bone, the composite bow was a significantly superior weapon to the self or simple bow used in western Europe, which was made from a single piece of wood. Further, the ability that the Scythians had in shooting their bows while manoeuvring their short, mobile horses, was unmatched in Europe. Swooping down upon the enemy, loosing a cloud of arrows and then running away at speed were tactics that defeated enemies for more than a millennium.

The Scythians attacked the Medes and took their territory, bringing them into contact with the Persians. These too were defeated and the Scythian empire was created in largely Persian territory. They came into contact with the Greeks and even sent a few mercenaries to fight alongside the Athenians. Perhaps our best source of invention about the Scythians – apart from archaeology – is Herodotus, who devoted one whole book of his Histories to a description of the people. He noted how hardy they were and how strong – although on the whole he was of the opinion that they were disreputable barbarians with little to show that was worthy of respect.

Along with other nomads, the Scythians had a semi-symbiotic relationship with the settled people in the land surrounding the Steppes. Pure nomadism is not a sustainable way of life – trade or raiding is essential for nomads to obtain the other items they need to survive. Indeed, many nomads actually have pursued some types of agriculture themselves when necessary. From the perspective of the settled peoples, the nomads appeared to be parasitic terror-mongers of no real humanity or value. History is, by and large, written by the settled peoples and, as a result, the reputation of the nomads has been rather poor.

Just as happened with the semi-legendary Cimmerians before them, the Scythians eventually faded away from history when their military ability was overcome. Living by the bow meant that the nomadic Scythians eventually died by, if not the bow, then the sword.