The First Civilizations

ch 1 and a little of ch 2

Historical evidence

things that are left by people which are studied in order to understand what life was like in the past (artifacts and documents)

Artifacts

a type of historical evidence; physical remnants left by people from the past which were once used; older than documents (weapons, pottery, clothing, jewelry, tools, decor, art, currency, skeletons, bones, food)

documents

a type of historical evidence; writings from the past (books, stone tablets, scrolls, letters, signatures, journals, diaries, etc)

earth’s age

over 4 billions years old

where we get our info from prehistoric period

artifacts (written records start only 5000 years ago)

anthropology and famous people in anthropology

a branch on archeology focused on studying past humans

Mary Leaky and Louis Leaky: went to east africa to study tools

Donald Johnanson: found the oldest hominid (4 ft tall)

Paleolithic Era

“Old Stone Age”

use stone/bone/wooden tools (NO METAL)

in fourth ice age (warmest) and the coldness was moving south

nomadic (following food) and hunter-gather lifestyle

we have fire

dependent on environment for survival (water food shelter)

needed to learn how to ADAPT to environment (snow rain tornado)

survival rate low

nomads

moving all over the place to find food for 1000s of years

hunter gatherers

living off of environment, hunting, gathering food in 20-30 ppl groups

language

takes a long time bc bigger jaws

why? to cooperate w eachother

how do we know? jaw lines

technology in paleolithic era

could hunt/fish over time

• handles of tools

• hooks

• sharper spears

significance of fire

• warmth

• to keep animals away

• cook food

how?

• hit 2 rocks together

shelter and clothes

animal skins made clothes

• scrape skin, sew, …..

use of animals

bones to make tools

coats

eat EVERYTHING in animal

role of men in paleolithic era

hunt in small groups

rations vary greatly from little meat to surplus

EQUAL TO WOMEN

role of women in paleolithic era

gather berries

take care of kids

if men come back with nothing, the women still have food

EQUAL TO MEN

religious beliefs in paleolithic era

burying their dead with tools and food bc spirit moves on

art in paleolithic era

• 30,000 yrs ago

• caves in mostly Spain and France and very deep in the caves

• painted animals on walls and ceilings deep in caves

• why animals? they respect the animals bc its their food source

• why deep in caves? ceremonial

• how? paint out of berries, blood, or ash and painted with a brush (hair w stick)

• why? respect for animals (ANIMISM)

Art visually

massive paintings (16-20 ft)

few humans shown and if shown, a stick figure

many animals shown

depth created

statues in paleolithic era

• tiny so that they can carry her (nomadic)

Venus of Willendorf

shows fertility

they don’t know how pregnancy words so in their eyes pregnancy is magical

Neolithic era

• 10,000 - 3,000 BCE

• new stone age

• still part of prehistory (no documents)

• now slowly going to farming communities

  • farming communities included farming (domesticating plants) and domesticating animals which the men did

  • the women saved the seeds

• stone/bone/wood tools

  • NO METAL

  • our tools are now very sharp

    • drilling, saw, chipping, sharper edge

• at the end of the era, metal (copper and bronze) will start to be used

Neolithic Revolution

first began in Middle East

happened at different times on different continents

when humans slowly started to become less nomadic and start up settled farming communities

significance of farming

domestication

• first animal was dog; also domesticated plants

• was very difficult (overwatering)

Permanent communities

• Jericho and Catal Huyuk are oldest (Turkey)

Surpluses

• learning seasons for meat and vegatables

• they end up with lots of food to survive!

Population Growth

• people became healthier

• more people created more farmers, herders, etc

Technology

• made more and bigger stuff bc they didnt have to move around

• bigger pots, dishes, statues, etc

  • stronger and sharper tools, bigger, calendar of seasons

Division of Labour

• do what you r good at: new jobs

  • jewelers, creators of “X”

• TRADE

where civilations developed

independently in river valleys

why? bc they will flood, bringing out good fertile soil to farm

Cultural Diffusion

barrowing other good elements of one civilization to another

ex. religion, customs, etc

basic features of al civilizations

cities: politically activate centers of all civilizations

government: oversees all major functions of a region, including, taxes, projects, military, and more

jobs: each person specializes in one craft which provides to the economy and creates social status

complex religions: polytheistic beliefs with ritual practice in the temple and sacrifice to keep the gods happy or else they will cause violence

social classes: how everyone is ranked based on status (jobs and more)

• top: priest and ruling family

• middle: merchants scribes and artisans

• bottom: farmers (huge group)

art and architecture: an expression of a civilization’s culture in temples, palaces, etc

public works: large building projects to help a city and its functionality (costly and labor-intensive)

writing: a writing system to record important info (not to words yet, in pictographs)

slaves

unpaid work for people who are in debt and they work only until they are free

fertile cresent

2 parts: Mesopotamia and the land along the Mediterranean sea

became a crossroads from china, egypt, greece, and russia for cultural diffusion and fighting

Mesopotamia

“land between 2 rivers”

located between the Tigris and Euphrates River

Tigris and Euphrates River

flows from the highlands (Asia Minor) through Iraq into Persian gulf

Late spring/summer rivers flooded, depositing rich fertile soil (unpredictable)

• can destroy village and crops

made it possible to develop civilization in middle east

flat, open plains

• no natural barriers from attack and invasion (most prominent features in the history of ancient middle east

Sumerians

3000 BCE

first civilization in history

major cities: Ur Uruk

surrounded by walls (they r defensive)

clay bricks used to make public works (nat resource)

NOW, tools and more tings have been found from other countries (showing that they traded)

Sumeria: government

ruler: hereditary (first son)

responsibilities:

• protect city from fights

• organizing public works

• may even say that they make the moon/sun rise/fall

Sumeria: public works

examples: irrigation, dikes (canals), walls, etc

hard work to benefit the people as a whole

Sumeria: jobs and social classes

specialization: do your job really well (good) where do you get the knowledge from? loose other knowledge (bad)

social classes based on the division of labor (jobs)

top: priest/ruling family

middle: merchants, scribes, artisans

bottom: farmers (majority)

hierarchy

where ppl are ranked into social classes

women in Sumeria

women have some right but not equal to men

why? there are female goddesses meaning that they have priestesses and some girls will learn how to write

patriarchy

male dominated society

Sumeria: religion

polytheistic

gods control everything (climate, earth, etc)

if gods get mad, it gets bad (earthquakes, tornados, famine, etc

Ziggurats: temples where they hold rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, and prayers; every city has one

Sumerians have a pessimistic view on life because of their lifestyle (mud, dust, death, invaders, unexpected floods)

Cuneiform

earliest known writing system

write on clay tablets with a stylus and bake them in sun

evidence of life and culture