Prehistory

Jarmo House Model

Jarmo, Iraq

A prehistoric hand axe stained with human blood has provided scientists with valuable information about humans living over 100,000 years ago!
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The settlement of humans in the Near East began with the movement of Homo erectus off the African continent roughly 2 million years ago during the Paleolithic period. Over the course of several thousand years, Homo erectus spread rapidly throughout the Near East and then into Europe and Southeast Asia.

The first three phases of the Paleolithic period (Lower, Middle, and Upper) extend from roughly 2.5 million years BC through 14,000 BC. Each phase is defined by changes in human habitat, stone tool technology, and diet. During most of that time, humans lived in open-air campsites and in small natural caves. They hunted wild animals and fished, gathered wild plants, and wandered over a large geographic area.

During the Epipaleolithic period, between 14,000 BC and 9000 BC, humans lived in circular or semi-circular structures called pit houses. These houses often had hearths and plaster floors and sometimes several pits were linked together to form various rooms.

Plants and animals were domesticated in the Near East roughly between 11,000 and 6500 BC. By 9000 BC, modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) were living in settled communities throughout the Near East.

To the left is a model of a section of a house found at the archaeological site of Jarmo, Iraq.  The settlement of Jarmo dates from the pre-pottery Neolithic period, between 9000 and 7000 BC. It is believed that Jarmo had a population of 150-200 people who lived in 20-30 houses like this one, spread over an area of 3.2 acres.

Between 6000 and 4000 BC, farming communities of increasing size and complexity developed throughout the Tigris-Euphrates valley with a few central towns of perhaps 2000 inhabitants. Click here for classroom and museum lesson plans and activities.

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