foundations of civilizations sect 1: understanding our past

Foundations of Foundations of CivilizationsCivilizations

Sect 1:Sect 1: Understanding Our Past Understanding Our Past

Understanding Our PastUnderstanding Our Past

– Time before writing = Prehistory– People lived in groups about 5,000 years ago

• Studying the Historical Past– Historians study and write about the past

• use artifacts, or objects made by people, to help understand what life was like

– Ex. coins, clothing, artwork, tombstones, photos, films…• Historians try to understand what really when on,

what was really said– Want to understand why events happened– Try to be unbiased, difficult– Different interpretations of evidence, differing theories


• Investigating Prehistory– Anthropology – study of prehistoric past,

started about 150 years ago• Some specialize on bones, others on cultures

– Archaeology – study prehistory through artifacts (tools, weapons, pottery, clothing, jewelry)

• Draw conclusions about findings, cannot ever be fully known

• Have to revise theories with discovery of new evidence

Scholars who Study the PastScholars who Study the Past


– In the 1800s and early 1900s, Archaeologists would pick a likely site

• Dig up, mark location of various artifacts• Try to decipher what different locations may have

been used for• Deeper materials are older, can also be roughly

dated with geological evidence• Evidence about animals and plants help decode

the environment• New techniques, like carbon dating, aerial views

also used now


Relative Dating MethodsUseful for artifacts that change over time, organized from earliest to latest

Older artifacts generally found deeper

Use geological evidence nearby to determine approx. age

Absolute Dating MethodsAnalyze the chemicals in bones (lose at specific rates) to see if near things are from same time

The ages of wooden objects calculated based on the artifacts

Carbon-14 dating is used to date once-living items (trees, fish, wood, etc) since it decays at a steady rate


• Discoveries in Africa and Beyond• Prehistoric people did not live in cities and left every little

information about themselves• In the 1950s a few key discoveries in East Africa; foot prints,

bones, tools– Ancient Clues Found in East Africa

• Mary and Louis Leakey searched Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania– Bottom 1.7-2.1 million years old– Found tools along sides, this technology showed the

advancements of their creators• Older tools simple, more basic

– 1959 – found skull of early hominid found– Donald Johanson discovered mostly complete skelaton of “Lucy”

in 1974, ethiopia

LucyLucy

Foundations of CivilizationFoundations of Civilization

– Evidence of Early Hominids• Australopithecines, approx 7 million years ago

– Lucy and evidnce Leakey’s found are this type– All appeared to live in Africa

• Homo habilis, approx 2 million years ago; “handy man”

– Believed 1st to use stone tools– Older tools (2.6 million years ago) also found, unclear

who used• Homo erectus, approx 2 million years ago; upright

walkers– Larger brains, smaller teeth– 1st to use fire, Hand Ax (also used for digging, shattering

bone/stone, etc)– Found in Asia, Europe; 1st to migrate out of Africa?

Foundations of CivilizationFoundations of Civilization– First find of humans around the world

• 250,000-100,000 years ago Homo erectus disappears, Homo sapiens appear

– Some believe ‘out of Africa’ theory– others that Homo sapiens developed simultaneously

around the world

• 2 groups; Neanderthals, and early modern humans– Neanderthals lived in Europe, W. Asia– Humans spread around the world– Neanderthals disappeared between 50,000 and 30,000

years ago

Early HominidsEarly Hominids

Foundations of CivlizationFoundations of Civlization

Sect 2: Sect 2: The New Stone AgeThe New Stone Age

Town LifeTown Life

• Last ice sheet retreats, leaves fertile soil– “Fertile Crescent”– Rainfall, irrigation in valleys– Wild game, plants on hills

• Neolithic – new stone age– Between hunter/gathers and settled

communities

Town LifeTown Life

• Nomads found good spots for food– Plants or animals– Groups grow from 50-60 to several hundred

• No longer kinship groups

• Living in larger groups had benefits– Larger projects– Security– Share stories, recreational activities– Wider choice for mates, more security for

children

Town LifeTown Life

• Natufians – western Fertile Crescent (Syria, Jordan, Israel)– Diet of wild barely and wheat– Used pestle and mortar to make flour

• Specialization possible– Man good at making arrow heads trades to a

good hunter, etc– Basic trade economy– Leads to private ownership, homes to store

possessions

Jericho and Çatal HüyükJericho and Çatal Hüyük

• Access to water important for settlements– Jericho on Jordan River, 3 days journey from

Mediterranean• 1st settlers about 10,000 years ago

– Oldest town – pop. 2,500

• Fresh water spring, center for trade– Desert goods – dates, salt – Mediterranean goods – fish and timber– Merchants became wealthy

Jericho and Çatal HüyükJericho and Çatal Hüyük

• Jericho– Made primarily out of mud-brick

• Tall tower gave sense of security• Heavy rains required multiple rebuildings on top of

one another– Today – mound is 70 feet high

• Çatal Hüyük– Largest known Neolithic town, SE Anatolia

(Turkey)• 32 acres, pop. Est 6,000

Jericho and Çatal HüyükJericho and Çatal Hüyük• Çatal Hüyük

– Homes built of mud-brick• Led to layers of homes built on terraces• Used ladders to get between layers

– Trade established around obsidian• Black stone like flint – good for knives and arrowheads

– 1/3 of homes had religious shrines• Featured art of people and animals, especially a mother

goddess– Height from 7000-5600 BC

• Unknown reasons for decline – new sources for obsidian, or new technology (copper tools?)

Invention of FarmingInvention of Farming– Settlements used to be dependent on hunters and

gathers• 9,000 BC – Agricultural Revolution

– Domestication of wild plants and grains– Likely started as small gardens for ease– As soil became exhausted, needed new land

• Slash and Burn to clear trees, increase life of soil– Many cereal grains (wheat and barley) grew well

in the Fertile Crescent• Spreads to other areas (Egypt, Indus Valley, Europe,

etc)

Invention of FarmingInvention of Farming

– 4,000 BC – millet farming appears in China• Rice in 2,400 BC, also soy beans

– SE Asia – root crops (yams and taro) as well as bananas, sugar cane, orange and lemon trees

– Western Sahel region of Africa (btwn desert and grasslands) – pearl millet, sorghum, gours, cassava, watermelon, palm and kola nuts, coffee beans

– Europe catches up around 6,000 BC

Invention of FarmingInvention of Farming

– Americas seem to develop independently• Oldest center in Peru, domestication around 7,000

BC– Lima beans, sweet potatoes, peanuts, tomatoes,

tobacco, cotton, and potato

• Mexico had diverse climate, also about 7000 BC– Pumpkins, squash, avocados, chilli peppers, and cocoa

beans, also cotton, and corn• Corn developed due to cross breeding of wild

grasses

Animal HerdingAnimal Herding• Dogs

– 1st animal domesticated– Joined hunters, shared experiences

• Sheep– Began keeping young until old enough to eat– Provided wool, milk

• Cattle– Extinct aurock – massive and strong– Selective breeding– Worshiped around SE Asia

Animal HerdingAnimal Herding

• Pig– In hills of Fertile Crescent; many avoided

because of foraging in human garbage• Horses

– Finally worked about 2,000 BC, beasts of burden• Camels

– Beasts of burden• Chickens

– Meat, eggs, feathers in India

Animal HerdingAnimal Herding• Elephants

– Beasts of burden in India, not tamed in Africa• Llama and Alpaca

– S. American beasts of burden• Guinea pig

– S. American – raised for meat• Turkeys

– N. American – raised for meat• Australia had no domesticated animals

– Hunters/gathers until European contact (300 yrs ago)

Technology in the New Stone Technology in the New Stone AgeAge

• Herders were nomadic• Farmers settled

– First homes were huts, hearths – mud-brick increases comfort

– Baskets increased, hold water– Pottery – starts in Japan, variety around world

• Metal working– Hammering increases (6,500 BC – SE Asia)– Smelting appears around 4,000 BC– Bronze appears around 3,200 BC (Fertile Crescent)

Megalith BuildersMegalith Builders

• About 6,000 BC – Neolithic farmers cross into Europe– Population lived in small hunter/gathering groups in

forests, slash and burn farmers– 4,500 BC, farmers began building huge stone

monuments; lasts centuries• Some appear to be tombs of chiefs, temples, observatories• Stone quarried a distance away – need lots of labor• Stonehenge most famous – unknown purpose• Largest in Brittany, France (Grand Menhir stone = 385 tons)

ConclusionConclusion

• Domestication of plants/animals critical– Allowed control of environment, larger

populations– Unsuccessful in tropics and Arctic extreme

temps– Required hard work

• Climate could cause problems• Development of tools increased storage, yeilds

Foundations of CivilizationFoundations of Civilization

Sect 3:Sect 3: Beginnings of Civilization Beginnings of Civilization

First Cities and Civilizations AriseFirst Cities and Civilizations Arise

• The earliest civilizations—such as Sumer, Egypt, and the Indus and Shang civilizations—developed along large rivers– Transportation, regular water supply– Periodic river flooding made the soil fertile for farming – Farms produced surplus food and people were able to

specialize in other types of work• The exceptions were the first civilizations of the

Americas, where cities were built on swamps or in the mountains

First Cities and Civilizations AriseFirst Cities and Civilizations Arise

– Surpluses allowed growing populations, storing food for the future

• some villages swelled into cities• People were able to specialize in jobs• New form of economy; no longer traditional economy

– Civilizations arose that were complex• organized governments, complex religions, job

specialization, social classes, arts and architecture, public works, and writing

• Arose independently in different river valleys– Nomadic cultures had some of these characteristics,

but they did not build cities and had simpler forms of government

• Included those that developed on the steppes, especially herders

First Civilizations and Cities AriseFirst Civilizations and Cities Arise

Basic Features that Define Basic Features that Define CivilizationCivilization

• Organized Governments– Some councils of elders, others more

complex and powerful– Needed to oversee food production, control

flooding/irrigation, other public works– Used officials to collect taxes, enforce laws,

defense• Grew more complex over time, specialization

within the government– Perhaps priests had most power early, over

time, religious connection used to legitimate government


• Complex Religions– Most ancient people were polytheistic

• Gods of sun, river, other natural forces• Tried to gain favor of the gods with offerings, building

temples, sacrificing animals, crops, etc

• Job Specialization– New crafts required too much time/effort for one

person to master them all• Became skilled artisans, metal working esp important

– Also brick layers, soldiers, merchants, etc

• People became more interdependent


• Social Classes– Some jobs held better esteem than others,

classes emerged, often with priests/nobles at the top, then merchants, artisans, peasants, and slaves

• Arts and Architecture– Expressed the talents and beliefs of the

people– Rules used temples/monuments to remind

people of their power


• Public Works– Strong rulers completed for the betterment of

their people, civilizations, own reputation• Irrigation, roads, bridges, walls• Often costly in labor, lives

• Writing– Began in multiple places, used for economic

or political reasons• Pictographs develop into more complex writing• Scribes were those who were taught to read/write

in later civilizations (mostly men)

Basic Features of CivilizationBasic Features of Civilization


• Comparing Nomadic Life and Civilizations– Many characteristics were simpler forms– Although lacking many of the characteristics

of civilization, many were advances in art and science

Civilizations Change Over TimeCivilizations Change Over Time

– Physical changes and interaction btwn people• Environment Affects People’s Lives

– Depended on rain and fertile soil to farm, resources such as timber and metals

– Sudden, drastic events (earthquake, volcano) would destroy entire civilization

• Over farming hurts fertility, rivers can become too salty leading to famine, could run out of timber

• People had to adapt to changes, trade with others, or relocate

Civilizations Change over TimeCivilizations Change over Time

• Culture Changes Hands and Changes Shape– Ideas and customs were shared through

cultural diffusion from trade, migration, or warfare

• Skills such as writing, religion, shared• Victorious armies might force their way of life or

beliefs upon those they conquer

Civilizations Change over TimeCivilizations Change over Time

• Cities grow into City-States– As governments surrounded to the towns,

villages around the city, City-States developed

– Government would tax the outlying farms, people to support the city and government

• First Empires are Established– Governments took over several cities or city-

states, leading to the 1st empires• Defeat could be painful, also brings peace

Changes as Civilization DevelopsChanges as Civilization Develops

foundations of civilizations sect 1: understanding our past

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