FIRST METALWORKERS: WHAT WAS BRONZE USED FOR? HOW WAS BRONZE FIRST MADE? WHO MADE THE FIRST BRONZE OBJECTS? FIND OUT MORE From around 9000 BC, people in different lands began to work with nuggets of soft metals, such as copper. Later, they discovered how to extract metals, such as tin, from rocks by smelting (heating). Finally, they discovered how to melt metals together to make new materials called alloys, such as bronze. Table 41. SOME OF THE FIRST METALWORKERS 9000 BCHammered copper, Central Asia 5000 BCGold/copper, Europe 4000 BCBronze, Middle East 2300 BCBronze, Europe 1500 BCIron, western Asia 1000 BCIron, Europe WHAT WAS BRONZE USED FOR? Bronze is a mixture of copper and tin. It is much harder than either metal, and can be sharpened to make a cutting edge. It was used to create more powerful and long-lasting weapons, tools, and farm implements. Craftworkers also used it to make intricate castings—objects made by pouring melted bronze into a mold. HOW WAS BRONZE FIRST MADE? Bronze-workers heated copper and tin in a furnace fueled by charcoal. When the two metals melted, they combined to form liquid-hot bronze, which ran down a clay pipe into containers made of clay or sand. When cold, these ingots (solid blocks of metal) were remelted and poured into different-shaped molds. WHO MADE THE FIRST BRONZE OBJECTS? The technique of making bronze objects—by pouring molten (melted) metal into molds—was invented in western Asia in around 3000 BC. It was also discovered separately in China in around 2000 BC. The Chinese bronze-makers developed their skills to create much more elaborate patterns and designs.

MEGALITHIC EUROPE: WHO BUILT MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS? WHAT WERE STONE CIRCLES USED FOR? CHAMBER TOMBS FIND OUT MORE Betweenc.3200 BC and 1500 BC, peoples in northwest Europe began to build monuments from massive stones known as megaliths. Some were arranged in circles or lines, pointing to the sky. Others, called CHAMBER TOMBS, were buried under the earth. WHO BUILT MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS? Megalithic monuments came in many different shapes and sizes. Most were fairly small, and could easily have been assembled by a family over a few seasons. Large monuments, like Stonehenge and Carnac, were probably built by powerful chiefs who could command their subjects to work on the monuments. WHAT WERE STONE CIRCLES USED FOR? Stone circles were probably used for religious ceremonies or for astronomy. Most of them line up with the Sun, Moon, and stars on special days. For example, the rising Sun shines through the center of Stonehenge, England, at midsummer, and lights up a chamber tomb in Newgrange, Ireland, at midwinter. These rows of standing stones in Carnac, France, are arranged in parallel lines that run for about two-thirds of a mile (1 km) and link two stone circles. Carnac also has many separate standing stones, chamber tombs, and barrows (earth mounds). CHAMBER TOMBS Megalithic tombs with several chambers (rooms) were built using massive stone slabs, then covered with an earth mound called a barrow. Each one could be used as a burial place for hundreds of years. WHO WAS BURIED IN THE CHAMBER TOMBS? Archaeologists are not certain for whom the chamber tombs were made, because they were robbed long ago. From their design, it seems likely that they were used to bury rich, powerful leaders, who controlled vast areas of farmland and the people living in the region.

EARLY FARMING: HOW DID FARMING CHANGE PEOPLE’S LIVES? WHICH PLANTS DID THE FIRST FARMERS GROW? HOW DID PEOPLE BECOME BETTER FARMERS? DOMESTICATION FERTILE CRESCENT FIND OUT MORE Farming beganc.10,000 BC on land that became known as the FERTILE CRESCENT. Hunter-gatherers, who had traveled to the area in search of food, began to harvest (gather) wild grains they found growing there. They scattered spare grains on the ground to grow more food. Table 40. TIMELINE OF EARLY FARMING 9000 BCWheat/barley, Fertile Crescent 8000 BCPotatoes, South America 7500 BCGoats/sheep, Middle East 7000 BCRye, Europe 6000 BCChickens, South Asia 3500 BCHorse, West Asia 3000 BCCotton, South America 2700 BCCorn, North America HOW DID FARMING CHANGE PEOPLE’S LIVES? Before farming, people lived by hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants. When supplies ran out, these hunter-gatherers moved on. Farming meant that people did not need to travel to find food. Instead, they began to live in settled communities, and grew crops or raised animals on nearby land. They built stronger, more permanent homes and surrounded their settlements with walls to protect themselves. WHICH PLANTS DID THE FIRST FARMERS GROW? In the Fertile Crescent, farmers grew tall, wild grasses, including an early type of barley, and primitive varieties of wheat called emmer and einkorn. These naturally produced large grains (seeds) that were tasty and nourishing. In other parts of the world, between 8000 BC and 3000 BC, farmers discovered how to DOMESTICATEtheir own local plants and animals. HOW DID PEOPLE BECOME BETTER FARMERS? By around 9000 BC, people were storing grains during the winter, then sowing them in specially cleared plots. By 8000 BC, the farmers had discovered which grains gave the best yields and selected these for planting. They produced more food than they needed and were able to feed non-farmers such as craftworkers and traders. The farmers exchanged their food for various kinds of useful or decorative goods. DOMESTICATION Domestication is the process of making wild plants and animals more useful to humans, through selective breeding. Farmers select and plant only the best seeds from their last crop. Wild cattle are selectively bred to make a herd docile (easy to control). WHAT WERE THE FIRST DOMESTICATED ANIMALS? Dogs were the first animals to be domesticated, c. 12,500 BC. They were descended from wild wolf cubs that had learned to live with human families, who fed and petted them. By 10,000 BC, hunters were managing wild herds of gazelle, sheep, and goats, watching over them and killing the weakest for food. Around 7500 BC, farmers were taking the best animals from their herds to breed them for meat and milk. FERTILE CRESCENT Archaeologists use the name Fertile Crescent to describe an area to the east of the Mediterranean Sea, where farming first developed. It was a crescent-shaped strip of land that stretched across the Levant region (now known as Israel, Lebanon, and Syria), and around the edges of the Tarus and Zagros mountains. WHY DID FARMING BEGIN HERE? The Fertile Crescent had regular rainfall, making it ideal for growing grains such as emmer and einkorn, and for raising herds of grass-eating animals such as sheep and goats. In nearby Mesopotamia, where the soil was more fertile, farming was only possible once irrigation methods had developed to supply the land with water. HOME OF THE FIRST FARMERS The Fertile Crescent stretched in a crescent-shaped curve from the northern tip of the Red Sea around to the Persian Gulf. Some of the world’s first settlements, including Jericho, were built in this region. Important trading centers, such as Çatal Hüyük, also developed nearby. WHY WAS ÇATAL HÜYÜK SO PROSPEROUS? Çatal Hüyük was founded in around 7000 BC, and grew to be the largest settlement in the Middle East. Its wealth came from farming and trade. The farmers kept cattle and grew wheat, barley, and peas. Çatal Hüyük made itself especially prosperous by controlling the trade in obsidian (a coarse, glassy rock), which came from a nearby volcano. Craftworkers used this volcanic glass to make high-quality tools. ÇATAL HUYUK HOMES Excavation of the Çatal Hüyük site found mud-brick houses closely packed together, without any streets. Access to each home was by ladders leading up to doorways on a flat roof. Rooms had hearths for heating, benches for sitting and sleeping on, and ovens for baking bread. When family members died, they were buried under the floor.

FIRST MODERN HUMANS: WHERE DID THE FIRST MODERN HUMANS LIVE? WHO WERE NEANDERTHALS AND WHY DID THEY DISAPPEAR? HOW DID MODERN HUMANS REACH OTHER AREAS? FLINT-KNAPPING ABORIGINALS FIND OUT MORE Homo sapiens sapiens(modern humans) first evolved between 200,000 BC and 100,000 BC. They were like us, physically, and had the same brain power. They developed many skills of survival, and advanced FLINT- KNAPPINGtechniques for making better tools. WHERE DID THE FIRST MODERN HUMANS LIVE? Most archaeologists think thatHomo sapiens sapiensfirst lived in Africa, and that our direct ancestor wasHomo habilis(“handy man”), who evolved about 2.5 million years ago. But some believe our ancestor wasHomo ergaster(“work man”), who developed around 1.9 million years ago and settled in different parts of the world. WHO WERE NEANDERTHALS AND WHY DID THEY DISAPPEAR? Like us, Neanderthals are a subspecies ofHomo sapiens(“wise man”). They lived in Europe and Asia from c. 130,000 BC to c. 28,000 BC. The spread of modern humans may have been the cause of their extinction. Neanderthals had larger brains than modern humans. Their short, stocky build and broad nose helped them to conserve body heat in Europe’s chilly Ice Age climate. They relied more on strength than brain power. The first modern humans were tall, and had slender bones, high-domed foreheads, smooth brows, and small jaws. Their muscles were not as well developed as those of the Neanderthals, and their eyesight was weaker. HOW DID MODERN HUMANS REACH OTHER AREAS? Wandering groups of modern humans moved out of Africa, in search of food, around 125,000 BC. They reached other continents via land bridges—areas of seabed left uncovered as the Earth’s water froze during the last Ice Age (c. 70,000 BC to c. 10,000 BC). By c. 28,000 BC, they had replaced all earlier humans—including their close relatives, the Neanderthals. FLINT-KNAPPING Early and modern humans used a technique called flint-knapping to make stone tools. They chipped flakes off one piece of flint (a hard, glassy stone) by striking it with another piece. This required great patience and skill. ABORIGINALSstill practice flint-knapping today. WHAT KINDS OF TOOLS DID EARLY HUMANS USE? Early humans used five main kinds of flint tools—knives for cutting, scrapers for removing flesh from hides, burins (small, pointed tools) for carving, awls for piercing holes, and points or tips for attaching to spears. They also used flint hand-axes for chopping wood and butchering animal carcasses. In late summer and fall, women and children gathered large quantities of nuts, fruits, and berries, then dried them over fires to preserve them for the winter. Archaeologists have found remains of food preserved 12,000 years ago. ABORIGINALS Aboriginals, also known as indigenous Australians, were the earliest inhabitants of Australia. Until the 20th century, they followed a lifestyle similar to that of earlier humans. Their skills helped archaeologists understand evidence about the distant past. HOW DID ABORIGINALS SURVIVE? In 10,000 BC, sea levels around Australia rose and Aboriginal people were forced to move farther inland, where conditions were harsh. To survive, they used fire to clear bushland so that wild food plants could grow, hunted kangaroos with boomerangs, wove traps for fish, and dug grubs from deep underground.

13 ‘hackers’ of hacker group Anonymous indicted: The United States brought criminal charges against 13 suspected members of the hacking group Anonymous on Thursday for allegedly attacking government, credit card and lobbying websites in a campaign in support of internet file-sharing. A grand jury indictment of the 13 people was filed in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, charging them with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to protected computers as part of Anonymous' "Operation Payback." The loose-knit international group known as Anonymous has been in frequent battle with US authorities, not only over file-sharing but also other ideological causes such as the willingness of financial institutions to process donations for the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. In March 2012, US prosecutors in New York charged six suspected leaders of Anonymous for wreaking havoc on government and corporate websites. The hackers launched "Operation Payback" in retaliation for the 2010 shutdown of Pirate Bay, a Swedish internet service that allowed users to share files such as films and music, according to Thursday's indictment. They used what are known as denial-of-service attacks to overwhelm websites and make them inaccessible, starting with the website of the US film industry lobbying group, the Motion Picture Association of America, the indictment said. "This will be a calm, coordinated display of blood. We will not be merciful," said one set of instructions for the attacks quoted in the indictment. Other websites targeted were those of the Library of Congress, Bank of America Corp, Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc, the Justice Department said. Those charged ranged in age from 21 to 65 and lived in 13 different US states.