AP World History Unit 1 Study Guide

What is the first recognizable cultural activity of human beings?

Stone tool making

Most early human activity centered on...?

Gathering food

What is the relationship between tool making and meat eating in the Stone Age?

The increase in meat eating is linked to increased tool making

The development, transmission, and transformation of cultural practices and events are the subject of...?

History

Since the foraging lifestyle was not particularly unpleasant or hard, foragers had a great deal of time left for...?

Socializing, tool making, and creating art

What is NOT true about the transition to plant cultivation and animal domestication 10,000 years ago?

It was rapid and complete

The most efficient method of clearing land for agriculture was by using...?

Fire

Women played a major role in the transition to crop cultivation because....?

They were the primary gatherers of wild plant foods

The earliest transition to agriculture was...?

In the Middle East

Scholars feel that early domestication of animals did not provide...?

Transportation

The American continents contained very few domesticated animals because...?

There were few species suitable for domestication

The gradual adoption of agriculture transformed the world most by causing...?

Global population increase

How does the chapter suggest that farmers were able to displace foragers from fertile lands...?

The gradual peaceful infiltration on fertile lands

The religions of farming communities tended to focus on....?

An Earth Mother or female deity

Recent discoveries of large stones and burial chambers may indicate...?

Ancestor rituals

The growth of settled agricultural communities resulted in....?

Trade and craft specialization

The Neolithic town Catal Huyuk prospered from...?

Long-distance trade in obsidian, pottery, and cloth

Metal working in the late Neolithic period was used for...?

Decoration or in ceremonies

What is NOT generally considered to be an attribute of civilization?

The absence of social class divisions

Early societies developed civilizations in the floodplains of great rivers because the rivers and floodplains provided...?

Fertile silt and water for agriculture

Creation myths often provide a society with a...?

Satisfactory explanation of its environment

Mesopotamia was sometimes seen as a dangerous place to live by its inhabitants because of...?

Flooding

Agriculture in Mesopotamia depended on...?

Artificial canals and irrigation

The earliest historically documented people of Mesopotamia were the...?

Sumerians

What is NOT included in the Semitic family of languages?

Elamite

The term city-state refers to...?

An urban center and the agricultural hinterlands it controlled

In Mesopotamian cities, the temples...?

Housed the cult of the deity or deities

In the third millennium B.C.E., the political system that became dominant in Sumer was...?

A kingship with the support of priesthood and military

The first king to unite many Sumerian city-states under the control of one king was...?

Sargon

The Babylonian leader, Hammurabi, is best known for his...?

Law code

What motivated the Mesopotamian conquests for far-reaching territories?

The need for vital resources

Surprisingly, merchant activity in Mesopotamia took place without...?

Coins

Historians can infer that Mesopotamian society was made up of...?

Three classes

Women in Mesopotamian society had a lower status than in a hunter-gatherer society because of...?

The shift of the major role in food provision from women to men

What about women in Mesopotamia was NOT true?

They could initiate divorce

Mesopotamian gods were anthropomorphic, meaning that they...?

Were human-like in form and conduct

Mesopotamian priests...?

Inherited their positions from their fathers

The abundance or amulets suggests...?

The belief in the value of magic

The Mesopotamian writing system is called...?

Cuneiform

The Mesopotamians developed skill in bronze metallurgy. What was NOT considered an advantage to bronze over other metals?

It is inexpensive

Although Mesopotamia was "resource poor," it did have abundant...?

Clay

The culture that developed in Egypt was unique largely because of...?

Egypt's natural isolation and essential self-sufficiency

The annual flood of the Nile can best be characterized as...?

Fairly regular

What was NOT included among Egypt's natural resources?

Salt

A pivotal event in early Egyptian history was...?

The unification of all of Egypt under King Menes

According to Egyptian belief, the function assigned by the gods to the Egyptian kings was to maintain ma'at, or the...?

Divinely authorized order of the universe

The Mesopotamian law code is famous. What might account for the fact that Egypt did not create a similar code of law?

As a god on earth, the king was the source of all law

Egyptian administrative and governmental records were...?

Written on papyrus, an early form of paper

Compared to Mesopotamia, the Egyptian population...?

Was more rural and agricultural

Egypt's external interests were primarily concentrated on...?

Maintaining access to valuable raw materials

Slavery in ancient Egypt was...?

Limited, and of little economic significance

Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley civilizations were all...?

Based upon fertile floodplains and river valleys

Metal objects unearthed in the Indus Valley...?

Have been primarily jewelry and other decorative items

What was NOT one of the components of the "system failures" that brought down the Indus Valley cities?

That invaders from the north and east drove out inhabitants

According to the chapter, why was China's development unique?

It was geographically separated from the rest of East Asia

The crops of China vary by region...?

Wheat and millet in the north and rice in the south

The Chinese acquired silk by...?

Raising silk worms and pioneering silk cloth production

What did the practice of Feng Shui accomplish?

It orients buildings in harmony with heavens

During the Shang period, ancestor worship became important because...?

Ancestors had special influence with gods

What type of possessions were signs of status and nobility and had important ritual uses?

Bronze

The "Mandate of Heaven" meant that the ruler retained the right to rule as long as...?

He remained wise and principled guardian of his people

The period at the end of the Zhou period and just before Chinese unification is called...?

The Warring States Period

The Chinese political system which relied primarily on strict laws and punishments in order to compel the people to behave is called...?

Legalism

What is NOT one of the ways that Confucian philosophy attempts to create social harmony?

By emphasizing individual freedom

Two indigenous Chinese philosophies that emerged from the Warring States Period are...?

Confucianism and Daoism

The fundamental idea of Daoism can be summarized as...?

Accepting the world as you find it, avoiding useless struggles, and adhering to the "path" of nature

The concept of yin and yang represented the complementary nature of...?

Male and female roles in the natural order

Civilization emerged in Nubia because of...?

Its location and natural wealth

How did Nubia become the "corridor" for long distance trade before 3000 B.C.E.?

It connected sub-Saharan Africa with North Africa

Egypt became aggressive towards Nubia during the Middle and New Kingdom periods because...?

It sought to control Nubian gold mines

What is NOT evidence of Egyptian cultural influence on Nubia?

Actually, due to the overwhelming force of Nubian culture, Egyptians had no influence whatsoever on them

Why was the Nubian offer to aid Palestine a mistake?

The Assyrians invaded Egypt as retaliation, driving the Nubians southwards

Why did the center of power shift to Meroe in the fourth century B.C.E.?

It was a better location for agriculture and trade

In the Nubian kingdom's matrilineal system, the monarch who usually inherited the throne was the...?

Son of the dead king's sister

The duration and isolation of Early American cultures...?

Distinguished them from the world's other major cultural regions

What plants were domesticated and formed the staple of the Mesoamerican diet?

Corn, beans, and squash

The cultural core of early Olmec civilization was located at...?

San Lorenzo and La Venta

Why did the Olmec lay out their cities in alignment with paths of stars?

It reflects a strong belief in the significance of astronomical events

Why was Chavin de Huantar's location pivotal in its success?

It was located at the intersection of trade routes between the mountain valleys and the coastal lowlands

The Mesopotamians developed skill in bronze metallurgy. What advantage is there to bronze?

It can be melted and molded

The Egyptian creation myth presents the universe as orderly and generous. This is due to...?

The yearly flooding of the Nile

The culture that developed in Egypt was unique largely because of...?

Egypt's geographic isolation and natural environment

The Chinese family was considered to include...?

All generations, living and dead

Which of the following occurred as a result of the development of agriculture in societies that previously relied on hunting and gathering?

Populations' density increased

What was a major effect of the Neolithic Revolution?

The establishment of sedentary villages

The Indus Valley system of writing...?

Has not yet been deciphered

Farming was probably a more difficult way of life than foraging because...?

The diet was less diverse

What is meant by culture?

Learned patterns of expression and action

Crucial to Egypt's agriculture was...?

Its proximity to the Nile River

Which of the following were common phenomena in early Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and the Indus River Valley?

I. A complex writing system

II. Extensive irrigation

III. Long distance trade

IV. Centralization of civilization around navigable rivers

I, II, III, and IV

Creation myths generally are intended to provide a society with a...?

Satisfactory explanation of its environment

What is NOT true about the Shang Dynasty?

It used the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify its rule

What river is located by Harappa, Mehrgarh, Mohenjo-Daro, and Lothal?

The Indus River

The Neolithic Revolution began around 8,000 B.C.E. with the...?

Advent of sedentary agriculture and domestication of animals

Agricultural surpluses seem to have led most directly to...?

Specialized services and socially differentiated hierarchies

Compared to river valley cultures in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Chinese civilization...?

Probably developed after civilization in the Nile Valley and Southeast Asia

The Egyptian civilization was similar to the Sumerian civilization in...?

Its system of social stratification

The earliest civilizations in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres were similar in...?

Their practice of polytheism

The Indus Valley civilization...?

Relied heavily on communal planning

The early civilization with the least developed technology was...?

Mesoamerica