From Prehistory to Old Age

This is a timeline of the Prehistory and History. When does History begin?

Check this video that introduces human prehistory.

PALAEOLITHIC AGE

In the caves of Atapuerca (Burgos) we can see the fossils of the first human beings that lived in Europe one million years ago.

In the Palaeolithic Age human beings survived by eating the animals that they hunted or fished and the fruits and vegetables that they gathered. When there wasn´t enough food they migrated to another area, they were nomads.

People lived in tribes, groups of about thirty members. They lived outdoors or in caves or huts they built with sticks and animal skins.

They made tools from stone or animal bones.

NEOLITHIC AGE

In the Neolithic Age human beings cultivated plants and domesticated animals, to take care of them they became sedentary. They lived in villages.

They created polished stone tools more elaborated than Palaeolithic tools. They also learnt to make textiles on simple looms and ceramic containers for cooking and storing food.

If you want to know more...

THE METAL AGES

The Metal Ages began around 6,000 years ago, when the human beings learnt how to make objects from metal. Cooper was the first metal they used, then bronze and finally iron.

The cities choose leaders to organise and people specialise even more than in Neolithic: Warriors defended the city, farmers worked the land merchants bought and sold products. Wheel and plough were invented.

THE FIRST ARTISTS

The first artists appeared in the Palaeolithic Age. They painted animals on the walls and ceilings of the caves. They mixed minerals with animal fat to make different colors. If you click on HERE you´ll see one of the most well known caves in the world: Lascaux (France).

In Cantabria (Spain), we have the non less important cave of

ALTAMIRA

ROMANS IN HISPANIA

In the year 218 B.C. the Romans landed in Emporion, defeated the Carthaginians and started the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. But this conquest took them a long time, it finished in 19 B.C. under the Emperor Augustus.

To organise Hispania they divided the territory into provinces, with a governor to keep the order and collect taxes. Roman law was enforced and Latin became the official language. Christianism was the official religion after the year 380 A.D. Society was the same as in the rest of the empire, with free men that could participate in the government and own property and slaves that didn´t have any rights.

The Romas built cities with two main streets that crosses each other: Cardo and Decumanus. At the intersection of these streets they built the forum, a square with the main buildings of the city. They built temples, markets, theatres, circuses, thermal baths, roads, bridges, and aqueducts. The Romans decorated the walls with paintings and mosaics.