The Super Summary of Western History

Contents

Time Line of World History

Introduction

Top 20 Events in History

Chapter 1 150,000 BC to 3,500 BC (approximate)

Prehistory

Ten Human Traits

Neolithic Revolution—Agriculture

Differing Views of History

Books and References

Chapter 2

Ancient History 8000 BC to 476 AD

Geography

Security

Sumer and UR

Abraham

Egypt

Mesopotamia

The Bronze Age Collapse

Harappan Civilizations—Indus Valley

The Aryans and Iron Age Civilizations in India

Greece And Rome

The Greeks

Individual Greater than the State

Of Gods and Governments

The Persians Invade Greece

After the Persians—The Peloponnesian War

Alexander the Great

Rome

The Punic Wars

Cannae

The Army, the Republic, and the Empire

Discussion of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire

The Need for Protection

Invaders from the Center of the World

Greek Philosophy

Sophists

Of Gods and Men

The Role of Food, Disease, and Administration in Ancient Times

Books and Resources

Books and References on Philosophy

Chapter 3

The Dark Ages 455 to 1400

Total Loss Of Roman Culture

Events of the Dark Ages

The Catholic Church

Feudalism

The Guild System

Government During The Dark Ages

The Franks – France

England

The Viking Raids on England and Europe

The Mongols

Europe Battles Toward the Renaissance

Books and Resources

Chapter 4

The Renaissance 1300 to 1500

New Thoughts and New Assumptions

Science and Pseudoscience

The Art of Oil Painting

Books and Resources:

Chapter 5

The Age of Discovery 1463 to 1522

Native Empires in the Americas

Spanish and English Empires in the Americas

Books and Resources

Chapter 6

The East

China

Japan

India

Books and Resources

Chapter 7

Africa

Books and Resources

Chapter 8

The Middle East and the Fall of Byzantium (The Eastern Roman Empire) 500 to 1453

Islam Turned Back at Tours

Byzantium

The Crusades

Books and Resources

Chapter 9

The New World and the Rise of America

Columbus and 1492

Native Americans

The American Revolution 1775 to 1782

Background

Lexington and Concord—the War begins

The Declaration of Independence

Early Defeats and Trenton—the Last Chance

Saratoga

The American Frontier

The Constitution of the United States of America

Problems – Discussing the Constitution

Books and Resources

Chapter 10

Europe from the Renaissance to 1900

Nation States, Religion, War, and The Armada

Europe Undergoes Vast Change

The Road to Tomorrow

Science and the Printing Press

The Arts—Painting

Speed of Change

The French Revolution 1789 to 1799

The Impact of Empires

The Industrial Revolution

Art and the Future of Europe

Rise of New Nations in Central Europe

Chapter 11

America and the Americas

Latin America

United States of America

The War of 1812

American Growth and Problems

Mexican-American War

The American Civil War

Causes

The time line to war:

Casualties

Strategy—the North

Strategy—the South

The War Begins

Antietam and Emancipation

Gettysburg

Grant and Sherman Destroy the South

Grant

Sherman

Reconstruction of the South

Aftermath—the Impacts of the Civil War

Books and Resources:

From the Civil War to 1900

Industrial Expansion

The Spanish American War – 1898

Copying Britain

Books and Resources

Chapter 12

1900: The Dividing Line to the Modern World

Industrialism and the Machine Age

Machines

Politics

America

The Power of Women

Power of the Press

Power of Religion

The Power of Science

Art and Literature

The Power of Change

Chapter 13

The First World War 1914 to 1918

Casualties

Financial Costs

Other Costs

Causes of the Great War

The Schlieffen Plan

Mobilization

Deciding Factors

The War Begins

Stalemate in the West

The Western Front

The Russian Front

The War at Sea

New Technology

The Eastern Front and Revolution

Other Fronts

Turning Point: The United States of America Enters the War 1917

Aftermath

Some Thoughts on the Great War and the Aftermath

Books and Resources on the Great War

Chapter 14

The Interwar Years 1919 to 1939

The Great Depression 1929–1942?

Background

Causes

The Contraction Starts

Hoover and Roosevelt—The Twins of Economic Failure

Economic Theories

European Government’s under Stress: Fascist and Communist

Japan Taken Over By Militarists

The Future Goes Dark

Books and Resources on the Great Depression and the Rise of the Third Reich

Chapter 15

World War II 1939 to 1945

How Many Dead?

Compare 1914 and 1939

Deciding Factors

World War II Begins

The Battle of France

Battle of Britain

Invasion?

The Battle of the Atlantic

Industrial Production

The Crucial Years

North Africa

El Alamein

The USSR

Barbarossa

No Retreat

Moving Soviet Factories to the Urals

Japan Enters the War December 7, 1941

Background

Deciding Factors in the Pacific

Pearl Harbor and the Japanese Centrifical Offensive

Pearl Harbor

Japans’ Southern Offensive

Singapore

The Philippines

The Battle of Midway

The South Pacific and Indochina

Guadalcanal

Midpoint in the Second World War Europe: Key Decisions

Axis (mis) Management

Hitler Attacks in the East

War in the Atlantic

North Africa

Sicily and Italy

Planning D-Day

Midpoint in the Second World War - Pacific

Tarawa

Marianas and New Guinea

The Philippines - Return of the USA… oops… MacArthur…

Hammering Toward Victory - The Pacific

Submarine Efforts—Axis and the Allies

Hammering Toward Victory - Europe 1944 - 1945

D-Day and Beyond

Background to D-Day

The Atlantic Wall Breached

The Battle of the Bulge

The Air War Over Europe

The Eastern Front—After Stalingrad

The End in Europe

The End in Asia

Battle of Okinawa

Operation Olympic

Truman Uses the A-Bomb

Books and References

Chapter 16

The Cold War 1945 - 1989

Truman: Neophyte Cold Warrior

Eisenhower: Careful Cold Warrior

Kennedy: Risk-Taking Cold Warrior

Lyndon B. Johnson: Worthless Cold Warrior

Nixon: Winning Cold Warrior

Carter: Incompetent Cold Warrior

Reagan: Ultimate Cold Warrior

Bush: Last Cold Warrior

Clinton: Scandals and Success

George W. Bush: Tribulations and Tragedy

Barrack Hussein Obama: Liberal Chief

Donald Trump: Winning President

Books and Resources

Chapter 17

The Korean War: Forgotten Men and Places

Background to Invasion

The Red Empires Strike!

Inchon

The UN Allies Strike Back

China Enters the War

The Red Empire’s Surprise

The New Air War

UN Forces Move North—Again

Stalemate

Analysis

Chapter 18

The Vietnam War: Stupid Leaders, Stupid Outcome

Background

Eisenhower Stays Out

The Fall of Dien Bien Phu

America Steps In (it)

Johnson Commits US Troops —1964

Tet Offensive

Nixon Gets the United States Out

South Vietnam Falls

After the War

Why? The Analysis of the War and its Aftermath

Books and Resources

Chapter 19

The Postmodern World…or Not? Irrational or Not?

1978 to ?

The Long View of History

What About the West is Unique?

Modern Philosophy — of the West

Propaganda

Beyond the Cold War

Technology

War

US Civil Rights Movement

Bureaucracy in the Modern World

The Future and our Ability to Discern the Future

A Final Thought

Sources

Index

Time Line of World History

Not all events in this time line are covered in the text.

Taking the Long View

After about 1980, it is difficult to say what we are studying is history because it is still within the lifetimes of most people, and in such cases the long view of history is lost. In fact, I would have to say that anything occurring after 1950 is probably not history. It is best that history is written by people who were not alive at the time of the events and not affected by the emotions of the time including emotions passed down from their parents or their friends. My writings herein on Vietnam suffer from the prejudices of my age and my political positions both at the time of the war and now in the aftermath of the war and its perceived impact on the war in Iraq and the War on Terror. Even writing about the Great Depression is somewhat hard because my dad was alive during the Depression and told me a lot about his experiences during that time; thus, my view is colored by those remembrances. However, no one is ever free of prejudices and history has a lot to do with forming those prejudices. Nonetheless, I have written this history to include the first term of the Trump Administration because so much has happened over the past few years. For the record, I voted for Trump. So, readers, beware of what anyone says about events within their lifetime. The long view will sort it all out. For now, be aware that like it or not my prejudices will come through no matter how much I try to suppress them. This is true of everyone, although some may be better at avoiding the pitfalls than others. The key is to be aware that no one is without a point of view, and most people who want to write about anything have very strong points of view. Awareness is the key.

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Introduction

We are going to do an extreme summary of western history. Using this method, we will first lay a foundation so the pieces of history will have a place to fit as we study them. It is like looking at the picture before you build a puzzle; it makes it easier. After reading this summary you should be able to pick up any detailed history book and quickly understand where the era fits into the total stream of history.

A little background on your author will help you understand his point of view. I was born in 1947 in Bakersfield, California, I earned a BA in history from San Fernando Valley State College (California State Northridge now), and then, from 1970 to 1975, I served as a helicopter pilot for the United States Marine Corps. While in the marines, I went to night school and earned my MBA from Pepperdine University. After the Marines, I attended law school, obtained a JD from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1978, and passed the California bar that same year. I was a California attorney for over twenty-five years in both private and public practice. The City Attorney’s Office for the city of Bakersfield hired me in 1984 and I spent twenty years as their water law attorney (among many other things) leaving the city in 2004.

My thesis study for my history degree was Herodotus, probably the greatest historian ever, even though Thucydides was probably just as good. Both Greeks, both fun to read, and both about as impartial as a person can get while still breathing.

In this work I attempt to be impartial, as all historians should; however, I am prejudiced as all of us are, and by knowing that I am a staunch conservative Republican and a Christian will aid you in processing my writings helping you know why I think some things are very important and others not so much.

The history of our world can be divided into sections, and here are the ones we will use:

Prehistory: Before the written word—150,000 bc to about 4000 bc.

The most important events in human history occur in prehistory: agriculture, writing, social organization, and much more. We think the first writing, cuneiform, happened in Sumer before 3,500, but the actual time in murky. 5000 plus years is a very long time. Gobekli Tepe temple complex constructed 10,000 BC or earlier.

Ancient history: 4000 BC to about 476 AD or the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

The rise of cities and complex administrative organizations. Trade routes opened, roads constructed, and sea lanes developed in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and elsewhere. Trade from Egypt to India over oceans was common. Great Pyramid constructed before ~ 2,580 BC

The Dark Ages: 476 to 1300

The failure and disintegration of Roman Western civilization and societal organization. Tribal organization replaced the unified Empire. Trade collapses, learning lost, ability to read and write lost, disease and plagues occur often, constant warfare between competing warlords.

Renaissance: 1300 to 1500

Rediscovering ancient wisdom and moving beyond, with the help of science and the printing press. Discovery of realist perspective in painting, creation of realistic artwork.

Age of Discovery to World War I (1500 to 1914)

Europe finds out that the world is a large place, and then devours it while building a golden age of progress. The mindset of Europe as it expanded across the world was progress based on science. New inventions and wonderous discoveries poured from the creative minds of the Europeans. Never has so much technological progress been made over such a short time.

World War I (1914 to 1918)

WWI starts the Western world toward its own annihilation, then the Great Depression adds to the destructive momentum. WWI starts for no good reason, continued for no good reason, and ended with a treaty that all but guaranteed another war in Europe within 20 years. Economic ruin and incredible national debt sprang from the war. The Victorian world was destroyed.

Interwar Years and World War II (1918 to 1945)

The years after the Great War (WWI) brought economic disaster to the world and contributed to the rise of brutal dictators in Russia, Italy, Spain, and Japan. Hitler’s crazy demands on the European powers leads to WWII, the worst and most destructive war in human history. Then the West and East entered the cold war, which fought over a shattered Europe and the world.

Cold War (1945 to 1989)

As the world rebuilds a twilight war rages with nuclear war threatening all, and after that war fades the future darkens again with new threats of religious wars without end. After WWII the West and the East entered a Cold War where huge economic and military expenditures burdened the world. China became Communist and the US stood nearly alone against the USSR, and the Chinese and their allies. The USSR came undone in 1989, but reorganized and reformed into a dictatorship while China made a meteoric rise in economic power which by 2020 almost dwarfed the US. Muslim terrorist continued their attacks on the world.

Postmodern History (End of the cold war in 1989 and beyond…well, September 2020 anyway)

Technology makes breathtaking advances while western humanity struggles with meaning. Religious wars erupt with new methods of killing. Communist China’s economic and military rise threatens to overturn stability in the East and beyond. Communism becoming a mainstream philosophy in US, splitting the country. Russia remains a strategic threat along with China. Internal division clouds its future as a world leader. Atomic war remains a peril that could destroy the world.

Just for fun, let’s guess at the top twenty events in world history (based on how they influence our present world), in order of importance (religion excluded). Here is my list. Does your list match?

Top 20 Events in History

The Invention of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (8,500 bc). The Neolithic Revolution. This will also include the invention of spoken language, the wheel, metallurgy, social order (government), and the idea of god and an afterlife (maybe), to name a few other minor items that go along with 8500 bc. As far as importance, nothing else comes close.

The Start of the Latest Interglacial Period (15,000 bc). Warm weather brings larger crops.

The invention of writing (5,000 bc).

The invention of the Printing Press (1430).

The Discovery of the Scientific Method (1469, Natural History published).

Tesla & Electricity Generation (1881, first US Electrical power plant).

World War I, and World War II (1914–1945).

World Population explosion (1800 on).

The Fall of the Western (455) and the Eastern Roman Empire (1453).

The Discovery of the New World (1492).

The Industrial Revolution (1804, first locomotive).

The Black Plague (1341 China, 1347 Europe).

Pasteur’s theory of germs (1864). Start of medical advances.

The Invention of Flight (1903). Leads to satellites, moon landing, jet aircraft etc.

The rise of Megacities (1950).

The Invention of the Microprocessor (1971, first types).

The Invention of the telephone (1876). Leads to radio, TV, cell phones, etc.

Plato, Aristotle (429 BC). Philosophy begins.

The Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics (1905). Start of modern science.

The Invention of the Internet (1974).

________________________________________________

The philosophic/religious Wars of Communism (1917 to today).

Some of these items, such as the telephone, represent the start of a tremendous advance covering many areas. Religious events are excluded.

In this study of history, I conclude that people are both rational and irrational. In matters of science, engineering, and basic economics people seem to be about 70 percent rational; however, in matters of politics, religion, social interaction, philosophy, and law people are at least 70 percent irrational. This dualistic nature of humankind is the source of many problems, and it is seemingly part of our genes. In this case, rational means the actions (or events, or results) can be understood on many levels by most people, can be copied for the betterment of all (or the vast majority), and can be built upon for advancement. Irrational is the opposite in that the actions cannot be understood on any level by most people, and if copied or built upon would bring immense harm.

Throughout this history I have sacrificed exactness for readability. Many statements are slam dunk, such as, in the reign of Augustus, the Pax Romana ushered in two hundred years of peace. Well, in fact, it did not because there was at least one civil war within the Empire and other minor wars on the boarders, but to go into all the detail would destroy the readability of the text and ruin the super summary concept.

I apologize for the quality of the maps herein. Please use the Internet references to see the maps (and photographs) in full color, and in a size that is easy to read. The Internet, especially Wikipedia and Olga’s Gallery (http://www.abcgallery.com), is a wonderful source for viewing historical art in full color.

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Dedications

To: My Wife, Lori, who puts up with all this history stuff, and her grandson Zimri (Z-man) for all the joy he brings into our lives.

To: Dr. Sally A. Schumacher, my high school history teacher who taught me to love history, and Mrs. Grey my grade school teacher who saved my academic life when she had the South High School counselors put me into college prep classes—over their objections.

To: Sam McCall, of Bakersfield Jr. College who taught me to look at the big picture in history, and to the entire staff of Bakersfield Jr. College who were nonpareil in their instruction of this struggling and starving student.

To: Clarice Young, who read over endless amounts of text looking for errors, and was good-natured about it. How do people do that?

To: Gary Lack, Allen Shaw, Gary Fachin, Rita Rowland, Tim Otto, Trudy Slater, Debbie Lund (faithful secretary and proof reader, Christopher Noyes (stepson), the Gifford family who saved me from starving while I was in college, especially Gail, Glen Spickler who looked after me in times of need, the Honorable Richard Oberholzer, Milo Hall, Dennis Sherman, a Bible teaching pastor, Ralph Kahlen and his dad who told me about the Eastern Front in WWII, Pete Povlsen a true friend, and his mother and father and their interest in history, Connie L. Daniel (mother), James R. Daniel (father), James K. Daniel (son), Cristin Daniel (daughter), Charlie Daniel (brother), and other friends too numerous to mention who have supported my fascination with history—or at least put up with it.

Thank You, thank you, one and all.

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Chapter 1

Prehistory

150,000 BC to 3,500 BC (approximate)

Going back to the very beginning of time we discover the Big Bang started the entire universe off about 13 to 15 billion years ago. Currently accepted theories (Einstein’s Theories of Relativity for example) hold that our entire universe started out as a point far smaller than the period at the end of this sentence – in fact, smaller than an atom. Before the Big Bang, space, time, and matter did not exist – at least as we know them. Then, for unknown reasons, the small point began to expand rapidly. An explosion, of sorts took place and the entire universe began to expand from that infinitesimal point. Researchers studying space are discovering leftovers from the big bang; for example, the cosmic radiation present everywhere we look in space. Scientists are finding numerous other proofs of this long past mysterious event; thus, the Big Bang theory enjoys wide scientific support. It is difficult to imagine stuffing all the matter from over 200 billion galaxies into an area much smaller than a pinpoint. Nonetheless, that is where our theories and our mathematics leave us. Thus, the mystery lingers.

While many interesting things go on in the first few billionths of a second after the Big Bang occurred one phenomenon is especially intriguing – inflation. As originally proposed, the Big Bang theory could not explain the universe as it exists now. Explaining the present nature of our universe required something more, for example, why does the universe have a uniform temperature, how could atoms come into existence, and the how did the basic forces controlling matter come about? Mr. Alan Guth, a physicist, came up with an explanation now termed inflation. Mr. Guth theorized that at 10-36 (that means a 10 with 36 zeros after it) of a second after the Big Bang the universe accelerated its speed of expansion, and this speed was incredibly different from the normal speed of the expansion – faster than the speed of light. At 10-34 of a second this acceleration (inflation) stopped. Thus, for something like three times less than a trillionth of a second the universe expanded at a rate more than 100 times greater than normal, then it went back to its normal rate of expansion. Without this inflationary period our universe would not exist. Alternatively, if the inflation took place for a different length of time our universe would not exist. Fundamentally, any change in the time of inflation destroys the ability of matter and atoms to come into existence. Brian Greene has a good explanation of this phenomenon for the non-scientist in The Elegant Universe, Greene, Brian, Vintage Books, 2003, page 355 et seq. Think about how amazing that is.

Our universe contains mysteries so deep that we earthlings may not solve them. As we have seen, the Big Bang theory states the universe started with a massive expansion of sorts; then, as the universe sailed off creating space, time, matter, and whatnot it cooled off and began to form atoms. From those atoms the universe, and our small blue world, were constructed – we think. What we measure and study here on earth is the framework for exploring the known universe; however, recent discoveries call into question the assumption that the universe works the same in deep space as it does here on earth. Astronomers discovered that the galaxies we observe are not slowing down as they travel away from one another - they are speeding up! As we know from watching explosions here on earth, gravity slows down the flying debris and soon the explosion is over. If gravity acts the same way in deep space the galaxies should be slowing down, but they are not. Astronomers say this acceleration is a function of dark energy, an unexplained force in the universe. In another problem, astronomers found that atoms make up only four percent (4%) of the universe. The rest of the universe is some kind of dark matter. As dark matter and dark energy are concepts without foundations here on earth they are beyond scientific explanation at this point in time. In fact, they are little more than names with astounding theories surrounding them. All theories about Dark matter and energy are doubtful because of the lack of facts supporting them. These mysteries may defy solution if we fail to reach beyond our solar system.

Here we may note the vastness of the universe. One light year is about six trillion miles, and it takes 100,000 light years to cross the Milky Way – our spiral galaxy. The Milky Way may contain as many as 3 trillion stars (suns). From our sun it would take about 26,000 light years to reach the center of our galaxy. Our sun, which is at the end of one of several arms spiraling out from the center of our galaxy, revolves around the center of the Milky Way about once every 220 million years. The size of the universe is tough to determine, but the observable matter is about 93 billion light years across. Even our solar system is large. Neptune, the most distant planet from the sun in our system, is 2.8 billion miles away. No matter how one slices it the universe is a big place.

As the universe formed our solar system fell into place with its planets circling a medium sized yellow sun. Our earth circles in the diminutive life zone at the perfect distance from our sun. The moon, one of the largest and closest orbiting objects anywhere in the solar system, probably formed after a collision between earth and some other earth-sized planet.¹ As the two planets blasted into one another the moon tore away, and by some means the earth managed to acquire more iron from the striking planet thereby creating an especially large iron core. This outsized iron core produces unusually strong magnetic fields which shield the earth from deadly cosmic rays. Without this large iron core, no life would exist on this planet. This scenario is not fact, it is one of several theories trying to explain the uniqueness of our water-covered planet. After everything had formed up and the surface of the earth cooled enough the march to life began… somehow. It is extremely hard to say how. No one knows how life first formed or how it came to be so complex so quickly. The theory of evolution tries to explain the development of life after it began; however, it has no easy application to the question of how life started.

History deals with people and not the physical events described above, but knowing the earth is a rocky planet with water – lots of water – at the exact position in the solar system it needs to be, and with many exceptional features that sustain life, helps us understand the uniqueness of our planet and thus ourselves. Even our universe is exceptional. For life to exist anywhere in the universe several of its most fundamental properties must be present at pinpoint exactness. To illustrate: the relationship between the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force² could not vary by even one part in 10 to the 16th power (10¹⁶), otherwise life would not exist on our planet or anywhere else. Commentators and scientists remark that perhaps the most amazing thing about the universe is that it is understandable. Somehow, mere people – less than a flea speck in the universe – figured out how the universe may work. These patterns ordering our universe are dense and intricate beyond all imagination, nevertheless, on both the subatomic and universal level the patterns are there. Because our species discovered these breathtaking patterns, we know chaos does not rule our universe or our world.

Why our world and the universe are so well ordered on so many levels cannot be explained by naturalism unless a lot of speculation is added. Naturalism does not explain how matter came to have consciousness. A recent naturalistic explanation of the universe by Dr. Greene holds that the initial conditions at the start of the Big Bang determined everything that would come later, including what you had for breakfast. The Great Debate between total naturalism, matter can do everything, to a universe exquisitely ordered by God goes on.

Now, on to people and history.

For our purposes, prehistory starts about 150,000 BC when modern man comes onto the scene, and ends about 3,500 BC when writing makes its appearance in Sumeria – according to current theories. By definition, history must revolve around the written word. Without the written word history, as we will use the term in this study, does not exist. When we say writings, we mean text by someone who lived at or near in time to the events, and who witnessed or participated in the events or at least talked with those who did. In this way we can attempt to reach back into the past and pull up the thoughts, sights, emotions, and actions of those who were there. We cannot understand the ancient mind very well even with these writings, because their lives were so different from ours. Can we really know what is was like to live in a hut covered with animal hides, hunt for our food, drink from mud holes, and live in fear of the noises of the night? Until people start writing down their thoughts we must simply guess at what went on inside their heads.

Please be acutely aware of how inaccurate many dates are in prehistory and ancient history.³ Even though the dates seem to be precise numbers (2071 BC for example) most of them are rough educated guesses. Kings lists are good points to pin past events on if you know when at least one of the kings lived, but often we do not. A chronicler may say King Joe lived 50 years, but this may be an estimate by the ancient writer based on hearsay rather than personal knowledge. Carbon and potassium-argon dating claim to have the ability to pull dates into the range of a few hundred years with great accuracy; however, all the methods of chemical or atomic degeneration dating assume the earth is a closed system and nothing has happened that would change the rate of atomic decay or other factors used to establish dates by such measurements. However, as an example, astronomers have discovered that the earth was in the path of the output of at least one supernova that was fairly close, in universal terms, and probably covered the earth with atomic particles that penetrated our magnetic shield. These particles could have altered the atomic decay cycles. That may explain why differing ages are obtained from the same sites using carbon and other kinds of atomic dating systems. These space interventions might also be a way to firm up many dates. It appears that tree rings record these massive outbursts of energy from the heavens, and if we can identify even one of the tree rings with a specific date then the rest of the rings can be counted to achieve an exacting date for an occurrence; however, this is still a maybe. Thus, the ancient dates should always be taken with a bit of skepticism.

From the writings of our forefathers we have proof that one thing never seems to change, at least from the time that writing began, and that one thing is human nature. From the earliest written legends to our latest 3D movies the nature of people remains a constant. What it was like at the very beginning of human existence is speculation, but once writing begins it is apparent that human nature remains unchanged throughout history. The mind of humanity remains remarkably consistent (or is that inconsistent…); accordingly, the fundamental thoughts and emotional processes of our ancient brethren are the same as ours today. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from Mesopotamia written about 1,300 to 1,800 BC, the characters act and react to situations just as humans do today. Other extremely ancient text, the Mahabharata for example, hold to the same pattern. Human nature has not changed since they were written. In the amazing story of humanity central casting maintained character continuity throughout.

Before proceeding to the arrival of Homo sapiens sapiens⁴ in Europe we should mention a couple of proto human types. One existed, more or less unchanged, for over one million years—Homo erectus (upright man). This archaic human type spread throughout the old world including China (Peking man, 600,000 BC), but did not manage the trek to the Americas. Home erectus was a fire user⁵, built dwellings (some of impressive size up to fifty feet in length), carved wood into spears and bowls, used stone hand axes, and lived in groups. The ability to use fire is a big deal.⁶ With fire Home erectus could ward off the cold, keep dangerous animals away, and light the night…at least a little bit. Art, at least sophisticated art, is missing from the evidence of Homo erectus. Modern humans alone seem to have the ability or desire to create detailed and refined art. One amazing fact about this ancestor (latest theory) is he lasted so long. Homo erectus is thought to have been around for over a million years and may have overlapped modern man by 50 thousand years or more. Homo sapiens have been around for about 150,000 years. Compared to the one million plus years for Homo erectus modern man has barely started.

Another interesting proto human was the Neanderthal. Neanderthals had, on average, a brain as large as Homo sapiens but inhabited a body that was shorter in stature and extremely strong. Neanderthal’s bones are considerably thicker and usually shorter than Homo sapiens. Their chests and shoulders were much broader indicating they could carry a lot more muscle. Most researchers assume from such evidence that the Neanderthals were short, probably averaged five feet five inches, extremely powerful, but probably not able to run as fast or throw spears as well as Homo sapiens. Neanderthals were the first to bury their dead.⁷ They inhabited areas in Palestine and probably Europe by about 200,000 BC. After modern humans arrived in Europe about 40,000 BC Neanderthals went extinct, although some claim they intermingled with Homo sapiens making Neanderthals part of the modern human genome. If modern man and Neanderthals interbred this would mean they were the same species and should all be identified as Homo sapiens. Interbreeding is difficult to prove, nevertheless, modern DNA research is showing there are genetic similarities. Both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals are said to have the gene for speech, and a few researchers think that intermingling caused the gene sharing; however, all this is speculation and other investigators can cite evidence pointing to extinction.⁸

Researchers using modern methods to image the human brain have recorded areas that are more active than others when the brain is involved in certain tasks. The doctors conclude the brain’s pre-frontal cortex (front part of the brain) is the center for generating long-term goals and analyzing how to achieve them. This area also manages the ability to learn from the past. It is also one of the most modern areas of the brain; that is, the newest or most recently evolved (Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, Dr. Amen, 1998, Three Rivers Press). If this is so, we can speculate that Homo erectus may have lacked a developed pre-frontal cortex, thus missing Homo sapiens’ ability to set goals far into the future and work toward achieving them.

The first true humans were the Homo sapiens and they developed in Africa (says the latest theory) by around 150,000 BC, then spread to Europe about 50,000 BC. We classify this period as the Old Stone Age or the Paleolithic because of the type of tools used and the houses Homo sapiens lived in. As the human race advanced and the tools and houses became more sophisticated humanity moved into the Middle Stone Age or Mesolithic. The final era of the stone ages is the Neolithic or New Stone Age, again classified by the tools used and houses lived in.⁹

The chart below may help the reader understand the three stone ages.

In prehistory there is no writing, and this makes investigating the era especially hard. We do have bits of physical evidence left by prehistoric peoples and it tells us a lot. People lived in groups, learned to build houses with hearths and shelves, and often buried their dead in cemeteries. Some graves contained bodies along with jewelry and clothing. Other burials involved cremating the body and placing the ashes into urns, followed by a burial of the urn (the Urnfield culture). Artistry included brightly colored realistic pictures inside caves, impressive carvings, and pottery. Our ancestors constructed very simple to very sophisticated stone tools, consumed a large variety of animals, grains, nuts, fish, and fowl from the areas they inhabited, and they eventually developed trade with other sets of people outside their area. Archeologist have found woven and dyed clothing dating from 26,000 BC, and clay cooking pots from 12,500 BC. These assertions are based on solid physical evidence from archeological sites, accordingly, there is little speculation about the fundamental facts; however, some books and articles on prehistory are based on the surmises of those studying the period, and this guesswork is not fact.

Neolithic Cave Painting 30,000 BC

Let’s discuss an illustration of speculation. Beautiful cave paintings found in France (Lascaux) and Spain date from 30,000 BC. The paintings are far inside the caves in all but inaccessible places. Animals and animal life are the main subjects, and some are painted with what appear to be spears or arrows in the animals. The infrequently depicted people are poorly drawn stick figures. Many experts writing about the paintings classify them as high art or art with a ritual purpose. The best paintings are beautiful, containing well-executed color usage and lifelike qualities for the animals; however, graffiti in our modern large cities is often well executed with skillful color usage.

Some textbooks explain that the paintings were spiritual in purpose, playing a vital part in tribal customs; however, without writing we do not know why these paintings were made, and explanations telling us why are speculation.¹⁰ Beware of those telling you what no one can possibly know (for example: articles telling us why dogs dig holes. Always ask which dog told them).

The history of the human race is short in comparison to its prehistory. If we start with Homo erectus there are well over one million years in prehistory, and about five thousand years for history. In addition, the world’s most important inventions and discoveries take place in prehistory. The invention of agriculture, animal husbandry, the wheel, the discovery of how to make and use fire, how to mine and refine metals, the invention of language, and the invention of writing all take place in prehistory. It was in the prehistoric era that humans began burying their dead, establishing early cities, and developing new ways of living together. Every foundational theme underlying the human race began in prehistory.

Cave Painting 30,000 BC, Valtorta Cave

(Note the use of bows and arrows by the humans)

During the prehistoric era humans may have engaged in mass migrations that eventually led to Homo sapiens covering the globe by about 9,000 BC. Many anthropologists theorize the original modern humans originally migrated out of Africa into the Middle East and then the world.¹¹ Others think the development of humans into their modern state came about regionally; that is, there was one early migration of Homo erectus that mated with regional locals across the globe. According to Richard Leakey, "(we need to) …construct an evolutionary pattern that describes the emergence of modern human anatomy and behavior. In recent years, two very different models have been proposed… The first of them, known as the multiregional-evolution hypothesis, sees the origin of modem humans as a phenomenon encompassing the entire Old World, with Homo sapiens emerging wherever populations of Homo erectus had become established.

What, then, is the alternative? Instead of being the product of an evolutionary trend throughout the Old World, modern humans are seen in the alternative model as having arisen in a single geographical graphical location… (Africa). Bands of modern Homo sapiens would have migrated from this location and expanded into the rest of the Old World, replacing existing premodern populations. ¹²

Great disagreements exist over the timing of the crossing to North America with the old theories claiming a 10,000 BC crossing, but newer theories putting the migration at 16,000 BC or earlier. No one is certain what happened because time covers up a lot of evidence; thus, the activities and movements of the earliest humans are largely unknown. Another set of facts lost to time is how humans developed into three races. As early humans are so few it seems they had to start as one race, separating out thereafter; however, we simply do not know. (see Leakey, The Origins of Humankind, 1994)

There are certain fundamental processes that identify the human race. Everywhere Homo sapiens have wandered we find important fundamental traits – here is a list of 10 important ones:

Ten Human Traits

Art – Homo sapiens constantly create beautiful things. Rock carvings and paintings, statuettes, antler carvings, flutes, bead necklaces, and rope adornments of all kinds. This is not an exhaustive list, but art is a common commodity with modern humans. Not so with proto humans as we find almost no art from their era, and the few samples we do find are not sophisticated.

Buildings – Humans like to construct shelters. Some of the most impressive structures were the mammoth bone houses put together by early hunters. As time went forward the buildings became more elaborate. Some proto-humans managed to construct long houses and huts, but only modern humans construct monuments like the Mayan pyramids in Meso-America or the skyscrapers of Chicago.

Machines – mankind has moved forward using machines. Some machines are very simple like a bow and other extremely complex like a moon rocket, but machines have allowed people to advance from the caves to the stars. The invention and use of ever more impressive machines is the hallmark of human kind. There are six basic machines: the wheel and axial, the lever, inclined plane, wedge, pulley, and screw. From these seemingly easy ideas men reached the moon and sent machines beyond our solar system.

Governments – wherever humans go, at least since the advent of writing, we find governance. For good or evil people organize. Groups form and leaders emerge. Then the leaders assume the task of making sure the group prospers. Once government is in place it never goes away, unless by annihilation through disease, disaster, or enemy action—after which it soon returns.

Communication – people not only organize they communicate with one another in various ways. The spoken word for communication purposes (language) probably starts about 250,000 BC. The fact that humans organized into groups leads to speculation that language was required; however, it is nearly impossible to know when language began. What is clear is that the development of language with its ability to transfer exacting ideas between people was a key turning point in human development (Hey, that’s my chicken!). Homo sapiens would have problems moving beyond the caves without language because ideas would remain locked away in the individual’s head. Sharing knowledge and ideas moves us forward.

Social Organizations - before written history people grouped themselves together by kinship, family and tribe, at least as far as anyone can tell from ancient indications of kinship. The earliest humans and proto humans buried their dead, often in cemeteries, and sometimes placing more than one person in a grave. This might indicate kinship. After writing developed, we see that clans, tribes, and kin are the basic organizational units of society. From what we can tell, this has been true for 50,000 years or more.

Warfare – From the start killing other humans was common. Early on the fights were most likely small, but as soon as large civilizations came about large wars became common. The more organized the civilization the larger the wars.

Religion – is a constant with Homo sapiens. Even proto humans buried their dead with what appears to be personal items. As soon as writing begins we read references to gods. Strangely, from many early human societies we find the gods demanding blood sacrifice. In some cases the preferred blood was human. Even in Meso-America, far away in time and distance from Europe and Mesopotamia, blood was necessary to appease the gods. Why this is part of early religion remains a deep mystery.

There is a very old concept in religions that worship the earth, as many ancient religions did, that if one takes from the earth then the earth must be paid. Thus, if I saw a limb off a tree, I have to leave something to the tree for what I have taken, say a coin. How could this lead to blood sacrifice? The more you take, or want, from the earth the greater the payment required. If crops are failing and the city is starving, can the sacrifice of a young person be payment enough for the earth to return the payment in the form of successful crops? That is how a seemingly harmless concept can be morphed into a terrible practice.

Desire for more – this is another constant with Homo sapiens. Somehow, what is possessed is never enough. Humans were always going forward to the next horizon both physically and mentally. Of course, not all fit into this category, but it is a most common human trait. Only people seem to have this kind of desire. Ants and bees build and they search for other locations for their habitation; however, they simply reproduce what has gone before. Humans want to make what has gone before obsolete, just like the computer you bought yesterday.

Time – it seems humans have always recognized the concept of time. Early monuments track the sun and calendars are among the earliest human inventions. The knowledge that time moves, things change, and people die has a profound effect on human thinking.

Neolithic Revolution—Agriculture

8,500 BC

After modern humans established themselves the world over, they were still hunters and gatherers. In Europe during the Neolithic Age, bands of people were settling into at least semi-permanent dwellings, using bones and hides of the woolly mammoth to cover living areas with fire pits and storage. Graveyards start appearing near the ancient villages. In some burials all the bodies are facing in the same direction, beads may cover the deceased, and the corpse may have personal items such as hairbrushes, shoes, bows, spears and the like, buried with it.

In Europe farming was slow to develop, however, in the warmer regions of the world a new farming lifestyle was starting about 8,000 BC on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East, the Nile River in Egypt, and the Indus River on the Indian subcontinent. People began founding permanent living places with cultivated crops grown in the rich soils of these river valleys, and they acquired herd animals for meat, hides and milk. The crops might have been growing wild in these areas and humans developed the idea of planting the seeds of these wild plants so they could control their growth. By planting the seeds at a certain time of year they would all come to ripeness at the same time thereby allowing the people to harvest them all at once, and giving the farmers a good surplus of food. By somehow storing the extra grain (maybe in clay pots) they could survive the winter (non-growing) season. With goats or cattle for milk, meat, and hides the stationary folks could build a nice life without the necessity of following the herds as a hunter-gatherer society must. By abandoning the nomadic life people could build permanent structures to live in, accumulate more goods, have a lot more to eat, develop trade routes, and start industry such as metal working. By constructing irrigation systems, the sedentary types could increase their crop yields and the amount of land under cultivation. Their biggest problems may have involved how to store the surplus so it would not spoil. Much of this is speculation because it all happened in prehistory; accordingly, we cannot know the true sequence of events. What we do know is these permanent communities grew in size to become the first cities.

Around 8,500 BC at the walled city of Jericho, in the Jordan Valley of modern day Israel, domesticated cereals made their appearance. Jericho was a ten acre walled citadel where we find some of the first evidence of settled farming based on domesticated corps.

The most important event in the existence of humanity was the invention of agriculture and animal husbandry, which started about 8,500 BC. I cannot emphasize this enough. Food was and is the underpinning of every human activity. Western society is currently awash in food, and we do not think of it as the foundation for all we see around us. The discovery of agriculture made an abundance of food possible. Before farming, people in hunter-gatherer groups spent their time hunting or