You and I as individuals, and, collectively, as societies, rely on numerous human inventions to facilitate our daily activities. All of the human-made objects in our lives have a lineage that can be traced back thousands of years to the ingenuity and labor of our ancestors meeting their physical needs for food, clothing, shelter, communication, land and water transportation, and physical health. Our ancestors shared these needs from the moment they started inhabiting Earth. 


The Fundamental Needs of Humans is our human history, not the result of kings and battles. It is the history of struggles and triumphs of all people to meet their fundamental needs. These needs, common to us all, express themselves differently across time and place. People coalesced into communities, and some of those, along river valleys, gave rise to civilizations. Environmental and resource differences have influenced differences among these civilizations, and each has unique and fascinating features.

The Fundamental Needs of Humans material tells this history in the following sections: Early Humans, five Cradle Civilizations* that emerged independently, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Each section delves into a specific time period of a civilization in order to accurately depict the unique features of that time and place.**

Take your students on this journey to discover our human history.