*History 8 The End of the Stone Age Video Notes

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• • I. Introduction

• • II. The Ghassoulians

• • III. Standing Stones

• • IV. The age of copper
    • • What rock was mined to produce copper?
      • Describe and give the effects of smelting.
      • What effect did this have on trade?

• • What happened to the Ghassoulians? What was their legacy?

People from other countries began to not want to not want to trade with the Ghasoulians which led to an economy collapse, which led to a enivronment collapse, which led to a religion collapse. Which ended the Ghassoulians.   

• • What was distinctive about their graves? Who were the Beaker people?

• • What were they creating that was different? What was the significance of this invention?

• • What was the impact of the Beaker People on Europe?

• • What two metals were combined to make bronze? What effect of bronze on armaments?

Tin and copper are combined through super heating and mixing together to create bronze. Then that mixture is poured into molds to create different bronze shapes and objects.

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Bronze is very strong and affective for armament uses. Not many wars were happening at the time of the Bronze age, so even though the Ghassoulians had bronze tips on arrows, they were rarely used. These bronze armaments came in many different designs. This created different designs that people could specifically ask for.

• • What were the effects of the introduction of the horse? On Social organization?

• • When was the wheel invented? What was its effect?

• • What item flowed from Europe back to the Middle East? What bound daily life?

[1]Amber flowed from Europe to the Middle East.

• • How did spinning begin and what were the implications of the new clothing?

• • How are the contents of passage tombs different from the contents of the mound graves?

Mound graves, unlike passage tombs, were very personalized and included the person's everyday tools and belongings. They were used by the Beaker People and usually contained beakers. The bodies in the mound graves were unaltered. However, the passage graves, were typically very generic and were used by the original European farmers, who knocked down the standing stones. Ceremonies would be held in the passage graves with candles and incense. Helpful source: Video notes in packet with syllabus.

• • What was found in the pools? How does this show a development of religious thought?

The pools were ceremonial places to offer things to the gods and spirits. They were protected by the mother goddess. The people in the community would place tokens of their gratitude to the gods in the pools in hope of keeping the god happy. Examples of what the people might place in the pools are copper pieces, pottery, or anything of value to the person. The pools might be seen with poles with sculls on the tops around the edges. These were the gate way sprits. They monitored the spirits going into the afterlife. This shows that now humans could see nature as an expression of power too. Now the people began to look at the sun and think, "Why does the sun go across the sky?" They credited the sun's movement to a horse who pulled it across the sky every day. This development allowed people to think of nature as a spirit's or god's doing. See End of the Stone Age Video notes behind the syllabus