Guidance for Government

Education – History

Guidance for Government – Education – History

Every year thousands upon thousands of secondary school leavers are released into the society for which they have, supposedly, been being prepared with a knowledge of human history which doesn’t extend beyond the names of a few kings and queens. They hit the streets with, at best, a parochial, nationalistic, jingoistic world view. Any hope of enthusing them about “the global village” or global consciousness in any form is pre-set to defeat. They are programmed to be xenophobes with a highly limited chronological view of how humans came, in real terms, to be where they are today.

History should not inform them that Henry the 8th had a string of wives whom he executed at will. History should endeavour to outline, in chronological order, the basic stages of the evolution of human civilisation such that even ordinary citizens, be they unemployed or cabinet ministers, may follow and understand. And in the course of this informing, teachers should emphasise that this is the current view; that new information is constantly coming to light and that the view must shift and re-shape accordingly.

History should teach that, so far as we can tell as things stand, Africa was the cradle of our species; that our shared heritage emerges from that continent; that we owe much to that continent in terms of appreciating our originating context. History should teach that who conducted what wars in the last couple of thousand years pales into insignificance when compared with what we currently reckon (until further information is received) are the really important dates, eg. the following (BP = Before Present):

. 13.5 billion years BP – matter, The story of matter is called physics.

. 13 billion years BP – atoms, molecules, The story of atoms, molecules, and their interactions is called chemistry.

. 4.55 billion years BP – earth, The “iron catastrophe” created a molten core which became the dynamo generating the earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere.

. 4.3 billion years BP – first water

. 3.8 billion years BP – organisms, The story of organisms is called biology.

. 3.5 billion years BP – first cells (stromatolytes – Australia) The stromatolytes produced oxygen. O2 was absorbed by iron in the water and became iron oxides. When all iron had absorbed enough O2, the surplus O2 began to feed the atmosphere – raising O2 content from 1% to 21%.

. 600 million years BP – first cell complexity

. 65 million years BP – Cenozoic era – end of dinosaurs, emergence of first primates

. 25 million years BP – first apes First we lived in African rain forest, on both sides of the Congo River in what is now Zaire. Then we were Chimpanzees and Bonobos.

. 10 million

. Congo river south – Over time, the Bonobos became the dominant genetic line south of the river.

. Congo river north – Over time, the Chimpanzees became the dominant genetic line north of the river. They spread north and east until they came to the fringes of the rain forest and looked out upon the grasslands. They could see clumps of forest out there, as trees clustered around wetlands and small mountains.

. 5 million years BP – Out of the rain forest, into the grasslands

. Over time, the Chimpanzees ventured out into the central African grasslands. Perhaps tempted by the distant clumps of trees; perhaps driven by adversarial neighbouring bands of cousins; perhaps lured across by a temporary area of rain forest which then vanished in a particularly hot, dry spell. For whatever reasons, some found themselves isolated from the main rain forest in smaller clumps which perhaps varied in size according to climate change, but would have certainly eventually reached saturation point and compelled some bands to drive out others if only to maintain food stocks.

. It was the furthest driven bands of Chimps that began to stand up. They could see further; they could travel faster, they could reach higher. But, above all, they could deal with higher ground temperatures. Overheating brains at ground level restricted brain evolution. Standing taller enhanced brain cooling and left scope for brain enlargement.

. 3.6 million years BP – Lieolei Footprints adaptive radiation

. 3.5 million years BP – flat face

. 3 million years BP – Lucy (australopithecus) bipedal – 300 cubic cm brain

. 2 million years BP – (homo habilis) Brains large enough for inclusion in genus “homo”, first tools

. 1.7 million years BP – (homo erectus)

. 1 million years BP – homo erectus spreads across Africa, Asia, SE Asia

. 950,000 years BP – first evidence of hominids in Europe

. 500,000 years BP – “sudden increase in size and capacity of brain box” – Frank Borland, “Holy Ice”

. 460,000 years BP – first evidence of controlled fire (China)

. 380,000 years BP – first evidence of constructed shelter (southern France)

. 250,000 years BP – first evidence of early homo sapiens in Africa, Asia, Europe

. 160,000 years BP – Herto man, Afar, Ethiopia

. 120,000 years BP – first “Neanderthals” – Neander Valley, Germany

. 100,000 years BP – emergence of “full” homo sapiens, Africa & Middle East

. 100,000 years BP – first signs of formal human burial, Middle East

. 100,000 years BP – first stone tools – Sahara

. 70,000 years BP – homo sapien “cultures” The story of these cultures is called history.

. 70,000 years BP – the Cognitive Revolution As defined by Yuval Noah Harari in “Sapiens”. Emergence of fictive language. Beginning of History.

. 70,000 years BP – first “art”, evidence of abstract thought, Blombos Cave, Southern Cape, Africa

. 55,000 years BP – first campsites in Australia

. 45,000 years BP – first rock/cave art, Australia

. 40,000 years BP – first “composite tools” (eg. combined wood & stone), Africa

. 35,000 years BP – Neanderthals gone….

. 35,000 years BP – first rock/cave art in Europe, France

. 24,000 years BP – first rock/cave art in northern Africa

. 23,000 years BP – first clay figures, Europe

. 18,000 years BP – coldest point of last ice age

. 17,000 years BP – first evidence of cereal gathering, Middle East

. 16,000 years BP – first evidence of colonisation of North America

. 13,000 years BP – extinction of homo floresiensis. Homo sapiens the only surviving species.

. 12,000 years BP – the Agricultural Revolution. As defined by Yuval Noah Harari in “Sapiens”. Domestication of plants and animals. Permanent settlements.

. 12,000 years BP – first evidence of humans in South America

. 11,000 years BP – first domesticated dogs, Middle East

. 10,500 years BP – first pottery vessels, Japan

. 9,000 years BP – first farming, Middle East

. 8,000 years BP – first large farming settlements. Jericho, first centre of more than 1000.

. 7,500 years BP – first fishing communities, southern Sahara

. 6,500 years BP – first known metallurgy, Middle East

. 6,000 years BP – the “great divide” – 6 major sites: India Egypt Mesopatamia, Peru, ??, ??

. maths writing pottery metallurgy calendrics monumental architecture (pyramids)

. 6,000 years BP – first domesticated cattle, Sahara

. 5,000 years BP – first kingdoms

. Script, money, polytheistic religions.

. 5,000 years BP – the “mother city” – Karal, Peru. The first city with the first central government ever to be created. 5000 years ago they had no need for warfare. They simply traded. Karal enjoyed a peace that lasted almost a millennium, an achievement unmatched in the modern world.

. 5,000 years BP – colonisation of Caribbean Islands (from Yucatan)

. 4,250 years BP – first empire, the Akkadian empire of Sargon

. 4,000 years BP – first EurAsian cities, Mesopotamia

. 4,000 years BP – introduction of the plough, Europe and Middle East

. 3,300 years BP – first writing, Mesopotamia

. 2,500 years BP – invention of coinage. The Persian empire – a universal political order “for the benefit of all humans.” Buddhism in India – a universal truth “to liberate all humans from suffering.”

. 2000 years BP – Han empire in China. Roman empire. Christianity.

. 1400 years BP – Islam.

. 500 years BP – the Scientific Revolution. As defined by Yuval Noah Harari in “Sapiens”. Humankind admits ignorance and begins to acquire knowledge and power. Europeans begin to conquer the Americas and the oceans. The entire planet becomes a single historical arena. The rise of capitalism.

. 200 years BP – the Industrial Revolution. Extended family and community are replaced by nuclear family, the state, and “the market”, Massive extinction of plants and animals.

. The Present – Humans transcend the boundaries of planet Earth. Nuclear weapons threaten mass destruction. More massive extinction and man-made detritus in the ecosystem. Organisms are increasingly shaped by “intelligent design” rather than natural selection.

. The Future – Discuss

Subject to changing perceptions based on new learning and discoveries, these are the real milestones from the perspective of humankind as a whole. These give a better indication of where we are today in relation to our actual origins. History covering the last 2000 years should be couched in the same terms. “National” history is too short term, too manipulative, and of very little use apart from driving up recruitment into the armed forces and generating popular consent for wars.

History should demonstrate that we are all cousins; that we emerged from the same darkness into a relatively miraculous light; that the furtherance of humankind resides in acknowledging these origins and in trying to extend the light.