Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity

Lecture 22: Paleolithic Lifeways

there were no conÀ icts between individuals, or divisions by age, lineage,

and gender).

On the other hand, studies of Paleolithic skeletons suggest that most people

died young, usually from physical trauma of some kind. Sahlins may have

overstated the case, and we can be sure that someone reared in a modern

society would struggle to survive in a Paleolithic society. Nevertheless,

Sahlins’s article reminds us that we should not assume without question that

history is a story of progress.

This lecture has sketched some of the most general features of life in the

Paleolithic era as if nothing changed. But we are a dynamic species, so in

fact there was plenty of change. The next lecture asks: What were the main

historical changes in the Paleolithic era? Ŷ

Christian, Maps of Time, chap. 7.

Fagan, People of the Earth, chaps. 4–6.

Ristvet, In the Beginning, chap. 1.

Gamble, Timewalkers.

Mithen, After the Ice.

Sahlins, “The Original AfÀ uent Society.”

1. What are the most striking differences between Paleolithic lifeways and
   those of today?


2. Was Marshall Sahlins right to describe Paleolithic communities as “The
   Original AfÀ uent Society”?

Essential Reading

Supplementary Reading

Questions to Consider