HIS 111
Unit 2: Pre-History

Stonehenge; photo courtesy Bryan Grasser.  See some additional photos.

• Read chapter 1 in the textbook. Remember in this unit of the course, we are focusing on pre-history. That means the time before urban civilization developed, i.e. before 3000 BCE. I try and provide mulitple sources of information for each unit in the course: the textbook, my short notes (with suggested additional websites), my short video, other suggested videos. You also have the entire web available to you for more research. The textbook is a good starting point to help you answer the key terms and questions to consider for each unit of the course, and the textbook can be a big help in studying for the timeline on the final exam and the maps on both exams.
• Read my Pre-History Notes.
• Watch Professor Evans' short video on pre-history.
• Check out Professor Campbell's video Was The Invention of Agriculture B.S.?
• Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the unit.
• SUBMIT the Required Pre-History paragraph (25 points).

• Check out some Example Assignments and Sample Test Items so you have a good idea of the kind of assignments in the course.
• Confused about dates? Have a look: What do bp, bc, bce, ad, ce, and cal mean?

• Read Mark Kane's information about prehistoric Stone Circles.
• Sean McLaughlin, former student in the course, created this nice introduction to Early Stone Tools.

• The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1
• History and prehistory | The Origin of Humans and Human Societies | World History | Khan Academy
• NATURE | Dogs That Changed the World And Man Created Dog: A National Geographic Presentation (This may, or may not, be available somewhere on the web.)
• National Geographic: Guns, Germs, and Steel
• Yuval Noah Harari, What Explains the Rise of Humans? (nicely done TED talk)
• The Oldest Enigma of Humanity (about earliest cave paintings)
• Cave Of Forgotten Dreams by Werner Herzog (official trailor) For a review of the film, with video commentary by Herzog, see here.
• Stories From the Stone Age - 1 of 15
• Cosmological Time Scale 1
• It's not really a video, but Civilisations is a kind of interactive timeline of world empires.
• For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the URL and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.

• For up to 25 points of extra credit, write a one-page paper, How did the work of Mary Leakey contribute to our knowledge of early hominids and an understanding of human evolution?
• For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course.  Send your instructor the title of the site, the URL and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.

• Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to (1) demonstrate knowledge of the key phases in the development of pre-historical society.