Technological and Environmental Transformations, to c. 600 B.C.E
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| 4667382112 | animism | This type of religious belief holds that everything--including animals and objects like rocks-- has an "anima" which is Latin for "soul" or "spirit." Animists believe that these spirits in the natural world along with various gods influence human events. Before 10,000 B.C.E., religious beliefs were likely animistic. Animistic religions are polytheistic and have been practiced almost every part of the world. | 0 | |
| 4667382113 | hunting-foraging societies | These societies were usually composed of small kinship groups that were nomadic and often self-sufficient. Typically, males hunted wild animals while females foraged for wild plants, such as nuts, vegetables, and fruits. Hunter-foragers moved from place to place to follow the migrations of wild game and locate better places to forage. Usually, they lived in temporary dwellings and had few possesions, making movement easier. However, hunter-foragers did develop tools that helped them adapt to different environments. People generally lived this way before 10,000 B.C.E. | 1 | |
| 4667382114 | nomadic pastoralism | This type of agriculture refers to groups that herded domesticated animals, such as cattle, sheep, or goats, between grazing areas. Nomadic pastoralists often accumulated few possesions, making movement easier. As a result of their mobility, they were involved in trade and the spread of ideas and technology between settled agrarian populations. | 2 | |
| 4667382115 | Neolithic Revolution | This revolution took place around 8000 B.C.E., when human beings in some places discovered agriculture and began to settle in permanent communities. The switch from hunting-foraging to agriculture created a more reliable source of food, which in turn fostered population growth and more complex economic and social systems. The Neolithic Revolution is also called the "Agricultural revolution" and "Agrarian revolution." | 3 | |
| 4667382116 | domestication | This practice involves modifying animals and plants for human uses. Domesticated animals are tamed, trained, and bred so they become accustomed to living in captivity and helping human beings in some capacity such as serving as sources of food or goods (for example, pelts). Domesticated animals, such as dogs, may also perform work for human beings. Domesticated plants are cultivated and grown as crops, such as wheat. Domestication helped fuel the Neolithic Revolution. | 4 | |
| 4667382117 | Neolithic technoligical innovations | These innovations include pottery, plows, woven textiles, wheels, and metallurgy (using metals such as iron, bronze, and copper to create tools). Technological innovations during the Neolithic era helped foster improvements in agriculture, trade, and transportation. The term "Neolithic" means "New Stone Age" and generaly refers to a period of development that happened after 8000 B.C.E. | 5 | |
| 4667382118 | job specialization (divisions of labor) | This practice means that workers in a community perform different tasks. Job specialization divides the work of a community into specific jobs and assigns these jobs to different individuals. Specialization leads to greater proficiency as well as increases in efficiency and productivity. Job specialization took place as a result of the food surplus and populations increase brought about by the Neolithic Revolution. | 6 | |
| 4667382119 | patriarchal society | This kind of society is governed and dominated by men. Fathers are considered heads of the household, and everyone must submit to their authority. Women are excluded from positions of power and may not be able to own land, although they may have a few rights. Patriarchal societies first emerged as human beings organized themselves into families. In the Neolithic era, many cultures practiced patriarchy. | 7 | |
| 4667382120 | social stratification | This phenomena creates a hierarchy or tiered system in which different groups of individuals have varying amounts of power within a society. Social stratification means that certain individuals (elites) have more power and influence than other individuals, such as commoners and slaves. In Neolithic times, social stratification emerged when food surpluses allowed some members of society to do things other than farm. This led to job specialization and the beginnings of a class system featuring elites, merchants, artisans, farmers and slaves. | 8 | |
| 4667382121 | egalitarian society | This kind of society is organized so that all of its members have equal or similar rights and powers. An egalitarian society may contain little social stratification. By looking at modern-day hunter-forager societies, anthropologists infer that hunter-foragers during the Paleolithic era (before about 8000 B.C.E.) were relatively egalitarian. | 9 | |
| 4667382122 | environmental adaptation | This phenomenon allowed certain peoples to interact with their environments in new ways as the climate shifted at the end of the Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. Some ancient peoples developed nomadic pastoralism, or migratory herding, while other began settled agriculture. These adaptations led to great and more reliable food production, which in turn created food surpluses, new types of specialized jobs, and the growth of hieracrchal social organization. | 10 | |
| 4667382123 | Shang dynasty | The first Chinese river valley civilization flourished on the Yellow, or Huan He, River plain from about 1600 to 1045 B.C.E. Archaeologists have traced the Shang through oracle bones, which are bones or turtle shells inscribed with questions of predictions regarding the future. The Shang developed a pictographic language that became the basis of modern Chinese characters. Development of bronze metallurgy added to their military strength. | 11 | |
| 4667382124 | food surplus | Pastoralism and agriculture led to greater and more reliable levels of food production and ultimately food surpluses. Surpluses freed some peopel from the task of food production, allowing them to take on specialized jobs such as artisan or warrior. In time, this division of labor contributed to the development of hierarchal social organization. | 12 | |
| 4667382125 | ancient gender roles | In ancient civilizations, men typically farmed or hunted outside the home while women performed domestic duties. As men's work outside the home gained social value, women's power declined. This divide grew as civilizations grew larger and more complex. | 13 | |
| 4667382126 | ancient Mesopotamia civilization | This civilization was located in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where early irrigation help agriculture emerge. Farming and access to resources such as iron led to the growth of civilizations, including the empires of the Babylonians, Sumerians, Hittites, and Akkadians. These civilizations developed complex cultures exemplified by social and political hierarchies centered on densly populated cities. Their achievements include monumental architecture such as pyramid-shaped temples called ziggurats, laws such as Hammurabi's Code, and literature such as the "Epic of Gilgamesh." | 14 | |
| 4667382127 | Hammurabi's Code | This code of laws was written by the Mesopotamian ruler Hammurabi during the early 18th century B.C.E. and is the first recorded system of laws and punishments. Under Hammurabi's Code, a criminal typically received a punishment equal to his or her offense, but could receive a harsher sentence if his or her social standing was low. The code also stated that government has a responsibility to help maintain law and order. | 15 | |
| 4667382128 | ancient water control systems | These systems emerged during the ancient time because most early civilization grew around river valleys. Flood control systems helped prevent disastrous river flooding, while irrigation sustems aided crop cultivation and thus contributed to population growth. The construction of such widespread projects encouraged the development of concentrated population centers, including the first cities. | 16 | |
| 4667382129 | slash and burn agriculture | This technique for clearing land involves slashing the bark of trees and buring the trees to the ground. The ashes help fertilize the land. Many ancient civilization used this method to create fertile farmland. However, because the fertility of this kind of farmland decreases after several years, farmers traditionally move elsewhere and repeat the process. | 17 | |
| 4667382130 | ancient Nile River valley civilization | This civilization flourished along the banks of the NIle River in northeastern Africa and gave rise to the kingdom of Egypt. Led by divine rulers called pharaohs, the Egyptians made great technological and cultural advances in mathematics, medicine, science and writing. Egypt's culturewas highly religious, and preparation for the afterlife was quite extensive. Pharoahs wre entombed in massive pyramids and guided by "The Book of the Dead" on their journey through the afterlife. The Egyptians also developed trade relationship with neighboring societies such as Nubia to the south. | 18 | |
| 4667382131 | hieroglyphics | Also know as hieroglyphs, this pictographic form of writing emerged independently in Egypt around 3100 B.C.E. Hieroglyphics allowed ancient Egyptians to keep records and inscribe historical events on monuments. | 19 | |
| 4667382132 | ancient sub-Saharan Africa civilization | This civilization, located south of Africa's Sahara Desert, flourished as a independent site for the emergence of agriculture. The Bantu slowly migrated throughout sub-Saharan Africa beginning in 2000 B.C.E. By 1000 B.C.E., their language, agricultural methods, technology, and culture has spread throughout much of Africa. | 20 | |
| 4667382133 | ancient Indus River valley civilization | This far reaching civilization emerged along the Indus River between about 3000 B.C.E. and 2500 B.C.E. The independent development of agriculture and irrigation led to the growth of urban areas, including the cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. These centers had large, socially and economically diverse populations, developed advanced technologies including a written language, and conducted trade with Mesopotamia. | 21 | |
| 4667382134 | ancient Yellow River civilization | Named for its light-colored loess soil, which made it appear yellow, the Yellow or Huang He, River plain was the site of China's earliest civilization, the Shang. The plain's fertile farmland sometimes suffered from such great flooding that the river became known as "China's Sorrow." | 22 | |
| 4667382135 | ancient Mesoamerican civilization | This civilization, located in what is Central America today, flourished as an independent site for the emergence of agriculture. By 1500 B.C.E., the Olmecs had settled along river banks near the Gulf of Mexico, and there built the city of San Lorenzo and later the city of La Venta. The Olmecs developed complex religous, political, and social structures that fostered a rich artistic and cultural life. Massive sculptures of colossal heads display the Olmecs' artistic talents. | 23 | |
| 4667382136 | ancient Andean civilization | This civilization arose in South Americ around 2500 B.C.E., and flourished as an independent site for the emergence of agriculture. By 1000 B.C.E., the Chavin religious cult, based in the city of Chavin de Huanter, developed into a complex society-supported by a religious hierarchy. | 24 |
