Migration and Art
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: Why did early humans move to new place and create art during this period?
Today, you will find humans everywhere from Greenland to Antarctica, but this wasn’t always true. Our species—Homo sapiens—started out in small communities in Africa. About 80,000 years ago, our ancestors began migrating to other regions. As these early humans migrated, they also created art thousands of years before writing began. What can we learn from the evidence these early humans left behind?
- Understand and evaluate why humans migrated and created art in this period.
- Learn how to evaluate authorities with differing perspectives by using claim-testing strategies.
- Use image analysis skills to evaluate the past using non-textual evidence.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What were the similarities and differences between different human species approximately 300,000 to 200,000 years ago?
- Why did human communities begin to migrate outside of Africa? Were the causes short-term or long-term?
- How did humans change as they moved, and what caused these changes?
- Why might human communities during the Paleolithic era have kept their populations intentionally small?
- What is collective learning, and what role did it play in human evolution?
Evaluate
- In what ways does the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa support, extend, or challenge our networks frame?
Written in Stone: Petroglyphs
Ancestral Puebloans left behind hundreds of thousands of petroglyphs. These rock carvings communicate ceremonial, practical, and astronomical knowledge.
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- What are petroglyphs and how are they made?
- What does Dr. Martinez mean when he says, “these are our libraries”?
- What are some common types of petroglyphs and what does Dr. Martinez say is their meaning?
- Why were astronomical knowledge and markers important to Pueblo society? What were some images used for astronomy?
After you watch
- Dr. Martinez makes the claim that petroglyphs are a kind of writing and are part of a larger oral tradition through which Pueblo people pass on their learning through generations. Can you think of any other types of historical evidence you’ve encountered in this course that come from non-written sources?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What are the limitations to understanding how and when humans first developed the ability to create art?
- What is the “Paleolithic Cognitive Revolution?”
- Why do you think archaeologists divide the Paleolithic into periods like the Upper and Middle Paleolithic?
- Why does the author argue we should consider pushing back the timeline of the cognitive revolution to include the Middle Paleolithic era?
- Why is it so difficult for historians to put an exact date on when the cognitive revolution began, and decide whether it should apply to other human species?
Evaluate
- In what ways did the creation and spread of artwork in the Paleolithic period impact human communities?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Why is chronology essential to the study of history?
- How is chronology different from history?
- How did humans record history before they invented writing? How does writing give us a more complete picture of history and why doesn’t it give us a fully complete history?
- What early twentieth-century discovery helped historians to get a better idea of history and chronology?
- What are some other scientific discoveries that give us data about time?
Evaluate
- How do all the inventions you learned about in this article help historians write more accurate histories? What might be some of the limitations that remain in our quest for fully accurate histories?
- How does this article help you understand the limitations of historical sources? How do you think historians have attempted to overcome these limitations?