Of necessity, this course must concentrate on certain broad themes which are listed below. The idea is to consider the general pattern of human evolution in all parts of the world up to the “historic” period, which began at different times in different places. Topics to be considered will include our earliest hominid ancestors in their physical and cultural manifestations, the development of agriculture and settled village life, and the emergence of the first complex societies, with towns, bureaucracies, and rulers.

2. The early hominids and their predecessors. Models of human evolution, phylogenetic debates, earliest cultural manifestations.

3. The emergence of Homo sapiens and human expansion throughout the world.

4. The beginnings of agriculture and settled communities in different parts of the world. The implications of the changed life style.

5. The development of complex societies in the Near East and Europe, Asia, and Africa. The nature of urbanism and the state.

6. The development of complex societies in North, Central, and South America.

7. The Caribbean before Columbus.

8. Review and conclusion