To interpret the entire breadth of human existence, vast lengths of time are required. Once we enter prehistoric time, we are dealing with hundred and thousands of years. To make sense of this time scale, we start off with the first, and most ancient, the Paleolithic Age. The term Paleolithic means "old stone" and gives an indication of how things were related to human existence. This era in history begins somewhere between 2 million year

s ago and ends 10,000 years before our time. It marks the beginning of the existence of the ancestors of man, the homo-sapiens sapiens. The Paleolithic people were brought up on hunting, gathering, and fishing. In search of the new food sources and to be able to hunt animals, they moved from place to place, and gathered in small groups. The dwellings of these people were normally in rocky areas. Starting around 40,000 BCE, the Paleolithic people started making simple stone tools for hunting and protection purposes. Not being able to move much due to the glacial age climate, the primitive man utilized the skin of the animals. During this time of survival, the Paleolithic people were able to discover and control fire, in turn passing an important step in their development, which helped them be separate from the animals. The intellectual life of the man was beginning.

The next era brings the Neolithic Age, or "new stone" age. The early emergence of this period dates around 8000 B.C.E. The Neolithic Age saw the most important technological breakthrough of the prehistoric period; development of agriculture. This formed a radical new way of extracting food from the environment. In fact, where hunter-gatherers had only acquired their food by collecting what the environment offered, agriculturists - farmers - managed to control the environment in such ways that they actually made it produce the food they needed. As a result, the outcomes were tremendous and prosperous. First, and most significant, farmers stopped being nomadic. Now, humans that farmed became sedentary. Another major result was that farmers began to produce an incredible amount of food. For the first time, people actually had a significant surplus of food. It was upon this agricultural surplus that civilization first developed.

Ancient Egypt is a land of mysteries. Mystery surrounds its origins, its religion and its monumental architecture: colossal temples, pyramids and the enormous Sphinx. Just as life arose from the waters, the seeds of civilization were first sown along the banks of the Nile River. This mighty river nourished the growth of the pharaonic kingdom. The long, narrow flood plain was a magnet for life, attracting people, animals and plants to its banks. Seen as a gift from the gods, the ann

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nile River, Mohenjo-daro Harappa, Euphrates Rivers, , Neolithic Age, Paleolithic Age, Western Asia, Mesopotamia Sumerians, BCE Paleolithic, Ancient Egypt, ancient egypt, paleolithic people, ancient western asia, surplus food, indigenous peoples, food people, human existence, mohenjo-daro harappa, ancient western, western asia, indus valley civilization, indus river valley, neolithic age,
Approximate Word count = 1556
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)