World History: 1. The Origins of Civilization, Lessons 1–2

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. anthropology
    science of the origins and social relationships of humans
    Anthropology is the study of how human beings behave, how they act together, where they came from, and what makes one group of people different from another.
  2. archaeologist
    an anthropologist who studies prehistoric culture
    Archaeologists study human life in the past by examining the things that people left behind.
  3. prehistory
    the time during human culture before the written word
    To study prehistory, or the time before written records, archaeologists look for the places where people may have lived.
  4. fossil
    the remains of a plant or animal from a past geological age
    Fossils are hardened remains or imprints of living things that existed long ago.
  5. geologist
    a specialist in the history of the Earth recorded in rocks
    In this work, they get valuable information from geologists, scientists who study the physical materials of Earth itself, such as soil and rocks.
  6. artifact
    a man-made object
    Artifacts are anything made and used by humans.
  7. evidence
    knowledge on which to base belief
    The Leakeys called their find Homo habilis ("handy man") because evidence showed that these early human ancestors made and used tools.
  8. conclude
    decide by reasoning
    Discoveries such as Lucy and Ardi have also led most scientists to conclude that humankind began in East Africa about 4.5 million years ago.
  9. hunter
    someone who tracks and kills game
    Early humans were hunter -gatherers, which means that they lived by hunting small animals and gathering plants.
  10. gatherer
    a person who finds and collects something, especially food
    Early humans were hunter- gatherers, which means that they lived by hunting small animals and gathering plants.
  11. culture
    all the knowledge and values shared by a society
    Culture includes the many different elements that make up the way of life of a people.
  12. complex
    complicated in structure
    About 70,000 years ago, however, Homo sapiens developed a powerful new skill—complex language.
  13. migration
    the movement of persons from one locality to another
    From there, Homo sapiens began a long migration to other regions of the world. A migration occurs when people leave their homeland to live somewhere else.
  14. environment
    the area in which something exists or lives
    As modern humans migrated, they settled in a variety of environments, or surroundings.
  15. adapt
    conform oneself to new or different conditions
    With each move, people had to adapt, or change their way of life, to suit their new environment.
  16. network
    an interconnected system of things or people
    Everywhere human society developed, networks of groups or families played a vital role in creating strong communities.
Created on Mon Jun 28 13:41:17 EDT 2021 (updated Fri Jul 02 10:03:49 EDT 2021)

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