Unit 2: Ages

Mesolithic Age - 10000 - 4000 BC

Associated with the rise to dominance of microlithic or very small geometric form tools commonly used in composite tools. Major impacts on history include the gradual domestication of plants and animals leading to the first settled communities.

Industrial Age 1750 - 1950 AD

Characterized by first use of complex machinery, and factories. People move from agricultural to industrial societies. Major impacts to history include the creation of large urban centers, population expansion, improved standards of living.

Iron Age - 700 BC - 450 AD

Characterized by iron being used as the main metal for tools and weapons. Major impacts on history include military dominance with the use of iron weapons and iron blade plows increased food production.

Neolithic Age - 4000 - 2300 BC

Characterized by the development of agriculture and an increasing emphasis on year-round settlements. Major impacts on history include developing a dependable year-round food supply which allowed more time for invention and innovation.

Bronze Age - 2300 - 700 BC

Characterized by the development of metallurgy, mainly the combining of copper and tin to make bronze. Major historical impacts include the gradual replacement of stone tools with metal ones which enabled humans to alter their environment at a more rapid pace.

Paleolithic Age - 500000 - 10000 BC

Characterized by the earliest known stone tools. Major impacts on history include better hunting and defense.

Information Age - 1950 - Present

Characterized by the gathering, manipulation, classification, storage, and retrieval of information. Exponential Growth and technological obsolescence

Roman Engineers

Developed aqueducts for moving water, extensive road systems and sanitary systems.

Mesopotamian Engineers

Developed clay tablets to document city plans.

Middle Age Engineers

Developed paper in Arab countries and gun powder/telescopes in China.

Babylonian Engineers

Developed primitive algebra and asphalt road coverings.

Egyptian Engineers

Developed pyramids, building techniques and extensive irrigation systems.

Greek Engineers

Developed the catapult and the cross bow for conquering territory.

Industrial Age Engineers

Henry Ford created the assembly line, James Watts refined the steam engine, Alessandro Volta discovers the principles for a battery. Pieter van Musschenbroek creates the forerunner to the capacitor.

Renaissance/Enlightenment Age - 1400 - 1750 AD

Humanistic revival of classical influence. Major impacts to history include instrumentation that allowed scientists to observe and test natural phenomena.

Renaissance Engineers

Leonardo DaVinci designed weapons, buildings, machinery and is most known for the modern day tank. Galileo was a pivotal figure in the development of physics, specifically astronomy

Middle Age - 450 - 1400 AD

Period of time between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance. Major impacts on history include the rise of money and capitalism and the beginning of urbanization and industrialization.