Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations

Where do we come from? How did our ancestors settle this planet? How did the great historic civilizations of the world develop? How does a past so shadowy that it has to be painstakingly reconstructed from fragmentary, largely unwritten records nonetheless make us who and what we are? This broad survey course begins with the origins of the earliest evolving humans more than 2.5 million years ago and explores how the ensuing populations formed settlements and cultures, developed agriculture and herding, interacted, and populated the globe.