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AP World History Unit 1 Flashcards

From Hunting and Gathering to Civilizations, 2.5 million-1000 B.C.E.: Origins

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10585335211Hunting and GatheringMeans of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of sedentary agriculture; normally typical of tribal social organization0
10585335212NeolithicThe New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; period in which adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animals accomplished1
10585335213NomadsCattle- and sheep-herding societies normally found on the fringes of civilized societies; commonly referred to as "barbarian" by civilized societies2
10585335214CultureCombination of ideas, objects, and patterns of behavior that result from human social interaction3
10585335215Neolithic/Agricultural/Agrarian revolutionOccurred between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; transition from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture4
10585335216PastoralismA nomadic agricultural lifestyle based on herding domesticated animals; tended to produce independent people capable of challenging sedentary agricultural societies5
10585335217MesopotamiaLiterally "between the rivers"; the civilization that arose in the alluvial plain of the Tigris-Euphrates river valleys6
10585335218SumeriansPeople who migrated into Mesopotamia circa 4000 B.C.E.; created the first civilization within the region; organized area into city-states7
10585335219CuneiformA form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge-shaped stylus and clay tablets8
10585335220City-stateA form of political organization typical of Mesopotamian civilization; consisted of agricultural hinterlands ruled by an urban-based king9
10585335221ZigguratsMassive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple connections10
10585335222Babylonian EmpireUnified all of Mesopotamia circa 1800 B.C.E.; collapsed due to foreign invasion circa 1600 B.C.E.11
10585335223HammurabiThe most important Babylonian ruler; responsible for codification of the law12
10585335224PharaohThe term used to denote the kings of ancient Egypt; considered a god as well as a political and military leader. The term, "great house" refers to the palace of the pharaohs13
10585335225PyramidsMonumental architecture typical of Old Kingdom Egypt; used as burial sites for pharaohs14
10585335226HieroglyphsForm of writing developed in ancient Egypt; more pictorial than Mesopotamian cuneiform15
10585335229Harappa and Mohenjo DaroMajor urban complexes of Harappan civilization; laid out on planned grid pattern16
10585335231Huanghe (Yellow) River BasinSite of the development of sedentary agriculture in China17
10585335234PaleolithicThe period that ended about 3,000 years after the end of the last Ice Age, it lasted until about 10,000 years ago. (Old Stone Age) The period of the Stone Age associated with the evolution of humans. It predates the Neolithic period.18
10585335235Path of migration for humans during Paleolithic eraFrom Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas19
10585335236EglitarianBelieving in the equality of all peoples20
10585335237Pastoralists were often the developers and disseminators of of ____ and ___ that transformed warfare in agrarian civilizationsnew weapons modes of transportation21
10585335238_____ developed in this period continued to have strong influences in later periodsNew religious beliefs22
10585335239Mediterranean SeaSea connecting Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and N. Africa23
10585335240PolytheismBelief in more than one god24
10585335241Nile RiverPrincipal water source of water flowing through North Africa (site of sophisticated cultural development); flooded regularly and enriched the soil in the process25
10585335242historythe study of past events and changes in the development, transmission and transformation of cultural practices26
10585335243stone agethe earliest known period of human culture, marked by the creation and use of stone tools and other nonmetallic substances27
10585335244foragersFood collectors who gather, fish, or hunt28
10585335245city-stateA sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate surrounding area29
10585335246Babylonan ancient city of Mesopotamia known for its wealth, luxury, and vice.30
10585335247HammurabiBabylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia (died 1750 BCE)31
10585335248scribea person who copies or writes out documents; often a record keeper32
10585335249cuneiformA form of writing developed by the Sumerians (Mesopotamia) using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.33
10585335250bronzeA metal that is a mixture of copper and tin34
10585335251paleolithicstone age period when human used stone tools and survived by hunting and foraging35
10585335252Homo sapienshuman species derived from apes with more brain capacity for intelligence36
10585335254cave paintingspaleolithic cave paintings that emphasize hunting--Lascaux France is most famous37
10585335255pastoralismthe process of domestication, raising, and herding of animals38
10585335256specialization of laborpeople in civilizations could be assigned different jobs and statuses in society due to having a surplus of food39
10585335257patriarchythe idea that males have a right to rule and reign over states and families40
10585335258civilizationlarge scale communities that had certain characteristics in common such as: recordkeeping, complex institutions (government, economy, organized religion), cities, specialization of labor, long-distance trade, technology41
10585335259Euphrates and Tigristwo principle Mesopotamian rivers42
10585335260Sumerearliest Mesopotamian city state43
10585335261Babylonsecond oldest Mesopotamian city state, succeeds Sumer, most important king was Hammurabi44
10585335262Hammurabi's Codefirst law code in the world, of Babylonia, dealt with legal contracts and responsibility for wrong doing45
10585335265wheelround object used to move heavy weights and to create vehicles first in Sumer46
10585335266cuneiforma very early form of writing, from Sumer in Mesopotamia, done by pressing a cone-shaped stylus into soft clay47
10585335267Epic of Gilgameshepic Mesopotamian poem that highlights the stresses of civilization48
10585335268Egypta founding civilization along the Nile in Northeastern Africa49
10585335269HieroglyphicsEgyptian writing (pictographs & symbols representing sounds+ideas)50
10585335270Harrappa & Mohenjo DaroTwo early, very large, and complex Indus Valley city states. Little is known about these but their size and complexities imply central planning.51
10585335271Indus RiverRiver in Northern India on which the first Indian civilizations were built; flooded twice a year in a predictable manner52
10585335275Huang He and Yangzi Hetwo rivers in China that supported early civilization53
10585335281Mandate of HeavenA political theory of ancient China in which the emperor is given the power to rule by a divine sources. This tie could be severed by ineffectual rule54
10585335283Mesoamericacultural area in the Americas extending from central America to present-day Peru55
10585335284Olmecthe first major civilization in Mexico56
10585335288irrigation systemsreplacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops57
10585335289Indus River Valley Civilizationan ancient civilization thriving along the Indus River in what is now Pakistan and western India. This civilization is also sometimes referred to as the Harappan or Harappa-Mohenjodaro Civilization of the Indus Valley, in reference to the excavated cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro58

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