Chronohistory of Europe - Essay Example

Essay, Archaeology 27 March The Chronohistory of Europe Europe is the world’s second smallest continent that borders Asia on the East and the Caucus Mountains and the Black Sea to the South East. The continent lies in part between two of the largest water masses, the Atlantic, and the Pacific Oceans (Paterson 244). Europe has a complex cultural history that encompasses the various traditions available on the continent today. The aim of this paper is to discuss the chronohistory of Europe in an attempt to unearth various information about the existence of human over the cultural history of the continent. The discussion will focus on the period between the first inhabitation of human species in Europe about 600,000 years ago and 200 BC. The Old Stone Age The earliest existence of human is believed to have manifested itself in the form of a tool-using mammal about 600 000 years ago. This was during the Pleistocene or the Glacial Epoch when the earliest proto-human forms are believed to have developed from their ancestral primates stock. This period was referred to as the Old Stone Age (or Paleolithic). There has been very limited proof for this although modern evidence has found that the earliest trace of recognizable tools (which are the main characteristics of human’s existence) can be traced to the Lower Pleistocene Age. It is during this period that momentous changes in climate across various parts of the world took place. There were formations of ice sheets, river valleys as well as the coastlines seen today. These environmental factors seem to have had a profound influence towards the culture formation of the early man (Silberman and Alexander 544). The earliest man during this Paleolithic era was a food gatherer and largely depended on hunting wild animals, collecting wild fruits and fishing. As earlier mentioned, the artifactual records of this era are quite inconclusive, only relying on various imperishable such as traces of stones, bones and other objects made of flint that have withstood the ravages of time. This included tools such as pebble tools, hand axe or bifacial tools, blade tools, and flake tools among others. This has made it a complex process of identifying exactly what could have been the traditions and cultures of this era. In Europe, the existence of human during the Paleolithic era has been traced in various countries such as France, Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Austria among other. Many Paleolithic discoveries in Europe have been made in France with archaeological sites such as the Saint Acheul and Solutre showing the Pleistocene deposits such as the distinctive large hand axes that characterize the period. The terraces that resulted from the alternating cycles of the deposited streams are allied to the changes in sea levels and a general climatic shift during this era. Bones of elephants and rhinoceros from the Paleolithic have been found as well. In other European countries such as Spain, caves, and rock shelters have been found in the North coast of the country in areas such as Mount Buciero, Cantarabia and the Covalanas Cave. The Pleistocene geologic epoch is categorized to be the coextension of the Stone Age, believed to be the overall earliest period of human development. The Stone Age was approximated to begin about 2 million years ago with the Pleistocene epoch ending about 100,000 years ago. During this time, the most outstanding feature that took place was the evolution of human species from the hitherto ape-like creature to the true Homo sapiens. The development of Homo sapiens took many years and thus the Paleolithic period was divided into three successive divisions namely the lower, middle and upper Paleolithic. During these three divisions, the human species evolved from Homo erectus (lower), Neanderthal man (middle) and Homo sapiens such as the Cro-Magnon man and Grimaldi man. The lower Paleolithic period was tracked between 100,000 and 500,000 years ago and is characterized by tools such as the flake tools used to chip stones and hand axes probably used by the food gatherers and the early hunters. The middle Paleolithic period ran between 40,000 and 100,000 years ago and is characterized by an existence of caves and use of fire. The remains of the Neanderthal man have been traced in various parts of Europe such as in Combe-Cappelle and Combe-Grenal both in France. The upper Paleolithic period was characterized by more developed human species referred to as Homo sapiens such as the Cro-Magnon man and Grimaldi man. The era saw development of various human cultures such as the Perigordian, Aurignacian, Solutrean and the Magdalenian cultures among others. It was also a period that saw various developments such as the beginning of communal hunting, pit houses, evidence of belief systems, cave painting and other sophisticated art works and personal ornaments among others. In Europe, the Aurignacian culture has been traced to have been in existence with cave paintings such as seen in the Coliboaia Cave in Romania. The Chauvet Cave in France was also found to have paintings and traces of smoke stains that were characteristic of the Upper Paleolithic life. Traces of the Solutrean culture have also been found in various parts of Europe with items such as very fine spears and the evidence of the practice of hunting the wild horse being traced in various places such as Denmark and France. The Magdalenian culture was the culmination of the Paleolithic era and has been traced in the Les Combarelles Cave that has over 600 images engraved on its walls. Middle Stone Age This is described as the human development period between the end of the Paleolithic era and the commencement of the Neolithic period. This period, also referred to as the Mesolithic period, runs between the period ranging from 10,000 years ago and before the evolvement of the Neolithic period. In Europe, the Mesolithic period lasted until about 3000 B.C. although the same period is believed have lasted between 6000 B.C. and 9000 B.C. in areas such as the Middle East (Fagan 697). Typically, the Mesolithic period is characterized by cultures such as fishing, hunting, and other food gathering techniques. This has largely been attributed to the changes in ecological conditions especially after the retreat of the glacier and the subsequent growth of forests in Europe. The hunting and fishing practices thrived during this age after an increase in fish and mollusks in the rivers and lake shores. There were various stone implements referred to as Microliths which were relatively smaller in size and more delicate than the ones seen in the upper Paleolithic period. The age was also characterized by the development of poetry and the use of the bow. In Europe, the development of the Azilian culture can be traced in Pyrenees although this spread to other European countries such as Scotland, Belgium and Switzerland. The Taedenoisian culture followed after although this spread in more areas of Europe. The Maglemosian culture also characteristic of the Mesolithic period has been found in Denmark and other parts such as the Baltic region and the New England. Hafted axes, which are an improvement of hand axes that were found in the Paleolithic era, as well as bone tools have been found in New England and Spain. In the late Mesolithic era, the Ertebolle culture evolved in parts such as Denmark and has been characterized by intense fishing practice by the human species in this era as seen in the large deposits of mollusk shells around their settlements. The Campignian and Ausurian cultures are others which developed during the Mesolithic period although they also had contacts with the Neolithic period. New Stone Age This period is popularly referred to as Neolithic especially in archaeology and anthropology. It is an era that was characterized by immense cultural evolution and other technological developments as seen in the various artifacts traced to this era. Some of the key traces include stone tools, existence of highly coordinated co-existence of humans in settled villages, domestication of both flora and fauna, sophisticated arts and crafts such as weaving and pottery among others. The most distinctive feature of the Neolithic period is the domestication of plants and animals which is not anything the Paleolithic or the Mesolithic period had experienced. This era is also characterized by the rise of urban civilization in areas such as the introduction of the metal tools and writing. In Europe, the earliest form of Neolithic culture can be traced in Turkey and Greece at around 6000 B.C. However, it was not until at about 2000 B.C. that the cultures spread in most parts of Europe (Muckle 143). The Bronze Age occurred by around 3500 B.C. and was characterized by the cultivation of crops such as wheat, barley and millet among others. By the turn of 1500 B.C., other crops such as corn, squash and beans among others were been grown in various parts of Europe such as Greece which was quickly becoming an important civilization hub that emanated from the Middle East. This lead to a rise of the Aztec and Inca civilizations. Trading became a popular practice in 1000 B.C. especially in the Eastern Europe and literacy such as the alphabetic writing was developed. Various cultures such as the Tumulus cultures migrated to Europe, spreading to the Western, Southern and the Central parts of Europe for settlement. This would later become the Germans, Italians, Celts and the Slavs. By around 500 B.C., the Iron Age had infiltrated Europe leading to an exponential growth in population as well as a huge advancement of culture. There was an emergence of classical cities in countries bordering the Mediterranean such as Spain, Southern coasts of France and Italy among others. By the turn of 200 B.C., there were various powerful kingdoms across Europe such as seen in Rome, Italy, and Spain. These saw kingdoms such as Rome capture and dominate the larger part of West Europe and growing to become one of the populous and prosperous empires in the ancient history. Conclusion The paper has discussed an extensive history of the Europe continent in regard to human development and settlement over the course of the ancient history. The discussion began its chronohistory analysis from about 600,000 years ago when Homo erectus first inhabited the continent. The paper then examined the development of the human species through the three main historical ages that are the Old Stone Age, The Middle Stone Age, and the New Stone Age respectively. The paper has identified the changing identities of human over the course of these stages, from one who relied on gathering food, to hunting and fishing and finally one who domesticated animals and grew crops. At the end of the paper, it is the civilization of the European continent that is mentioned especially in relation to the Rome Empire which still remains to characterize the Iron Age of the Europe continent. The evolvement and history of Europe still go on and remains as one of the most complex to date. European Timeline DATE ERA EVENTS 600,000 BC Paleolithic/Old Stone Age Development of earliest human forms from primates, Momentous changes in climate characterized by ice sheets formation, river valleys, and coastlines, Hand axes found and bifacial tools found in Spain and France, Homo erectus. 100,000 BC Paleolithic/Old Stone Age inhabited caves at Mount Buciro and Cantarabia, Neanderthal man. 40,000 BC Paleolithic/Old Stone Age Development of Homo Sapiens (Cro-Magnon man and Grimaldi man), Aurignacian and Solutrean cultures traced in Romania and Denmark. 10,000 BC Mesolithic/Middle Stone Age Fishing and hunting practices develop, Advancements in stone tools, climate improves, development of Azilian, Taedonoisian and Maglemosian cultures as seen in Belgium, Denmark, and Scotland. 6,000 BC Neolithic/New Stone Era Urban civilization in Turkey and Greece, development of settled villages, domestication of flora and fauna, development of sophisticated arts and crafts. 3500 BC Neolithic/Bronze Age New crops introduced such as wheat, millet, and barley 2000 BC Neolithic/New Stone Age Neolithic culture spreads in most parts of Europe 1500 BC Neolithic/New Stone Age Other crops such as squash, beans and corn being grown in Greece, rise of Aztec and Inca civilization. 1000 BC Neolithic/New Stone Age Literacy spread, development of alphabetic writing, introduction of the Tumultus cultures. 500 BC Neolithic/Iron Age Exponential growth of population, emergence of cities. 200 BC Neolithic Emergence of Kingdom such as Rome Empire Works Cited Fagan, Brian M. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. New York, NY [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press, 1996. Internet resource. Muckle, Robert J. Introducing Archaeology. , 2014. Print. Paterson, Susan. The Europe Book: A Journey Through Every Country on the Continent. Footscray, Vic: Lonely Planet, 2010. Print. Silberman, Neil A, and Alexander A. Bauer. The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print. Read More