Foundation Era Vocabulary: 8000bce – 600bce

Historical vocabulary terms and definitions covering the Foundations period from the Ancient Era.

Artifacts

Objects made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest; tools, bones, stone, etc.

Paleolithic Period

Also called the Old Stone Age; period in human pre-history (a time before writing) distinguished by the original development of stone tools.

Neolithic Revolution

Also known as the Agricultural Revolution; this was a wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period (New Stone Age) from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an increasingly larger population possible.

Monotheism

The belief that there is only one God.

Bronze Age

A historical period that was characterized by using bronze, specifically the making of weapons and artifacts made from copper and tin (bronze), and which also coincides with the beginning of the first civilizations.

Civilization

The stage of human social and cultural development and organization that is considered most advanced, characterized by Advanced Cities, Specialized Workers, Complex Institutions, Record Keeping, and Advanced Technology.

Specialization of Labor

Social differentiation or Division of Labor where different people had different jobs (Ex- Metal workers, pottery workers, farmers, soldiers, religious and political leaders, etc.) which was possible because of food surpluses.

Hunter-gatherer

A member of a nomadic, egalitarian people who live chiefly by hunting and fishing, as well as harvesting wild food in small communities with no political system.

Agriculture

The art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising livestock.

Surplus

An amount of something left over when requirements have been met, an excess of production or supply over demand.

Ancient Era

The time period of Foundations spanning from $8000\text{bce}$ to $600\text{bce}$.

Domestication

The process of taming an animal and keeping it as a pet or on a farm, or the cultivation of a plant for food.

Pastoralism

A form of animal husbandry by nomadic people who moved with their herds to find fresh pastures on which to graze.

Kinship groups

A family, clan, or other group based on blood relationship.

Patriarchal

A system of society or government controlled by men, where the father is the supreme authority in the family, clan, or tribe.

Artisans

A worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involved making things by hand.

Merchants

A person who trades in commodities produced by other people and is involved in business or trade.

Social Stratification

System in which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, such as social class pyramids.

Ethnocentrism

Belief that one’s own culture is superior to all others and is the standard by which all other cultures should be measured.

Matriarchal

A form of social organization in which a woman is the head and hereditary lineage is traced through the mother rather than father.

Metallurgy

The process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large-scale structures.

Cultural Diffusion

The spread of ideas, customs, and technologies from one people or place to another.

Mesopotamia

Meaning the land between two rivers (Tigris & Euphrates) in modern day Iran, it is considered the world’s first civilization; also known as the Fertile Crescent.

Sahara

A vast desert of northern Africa extending east from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea and south from the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea into the Sahel.

Desertification

The process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

Indus River Valley

Ancient civilization on the sub-continent of India or south Asia; complex society with a successful agricultural economy, trade, writing, water and sewage systems, and Hinduism.

Deforestation

The clearing of trees, transforming a forest into cleared land.

Huang He

Earliest Chinese settlement, also known as the Yellow River due to loess; civilization made up of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties.

Loess

A fine, light silt deposit by wind and water that creates the fertile soil of the Yellow River Valley in northern China.

Mesoamerica

The early civilizations that included Mexico and Central America which relied on sedentary agriculture based on the cultivation of maize.

Animism

A religious belief that focuses on the roles of multiple gods and spirits in the natural world.

Oceania & Polynesia

A region of thousands of habitable islands in the Pacific Ocean; Polynesia is a subregion including Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island.

Barter

To exchange goods or services for other good or services without using a monetary system.

Polytheistic

The belief in multiple gods.

Ziggurats

Massive “stepped” pyramids made from mud bricks, used as temples in city-states throughout Mesopotamia.

Hebrews, Israelites, Jews

A small early civilization/group of people whose development of a monotheistic faith provided the foundation of modern Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Jewish Diaspora

When Jews dispersed/spread from Israel, their ancestral homeland, to western Asia and Mediterranean lands.

Vedas/Vedic Age

Books of Knowledge or Wisdom; early collections of prayers and hymns about the Indo-European Aryans who migrated into India around $1500\text{bce}$.

Vernation of Ancestors

Practiced in China, having the upmost respect for ancestors, believing they could bring good or evil fortune to living members; families honored spirits and offered sacrifices.

Scribes

A professional position reserved for men who were trained to be able to read and write using their ancient civilizations writing system.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The most famous literary work from Mesopotamia; it tells the story of one man’s quest for immortality.

Cuneiform

Wedge-shaped writing in the form of symbols carved into clay tablets; used in Mesopotamia.

Hieroglyphics

Ancient Egyptian writing system in which sacred carving were made onto papyrus.

Sanskrit

An ancient language of India; used in Hinduism including the Vedas.

City-state

A self-governing urban center and the agricultural territories it controlled.

Chavin

First major urban civilization in South America located in the Andes Mountains of Peru; precursor to the Incan Empire.

Olmec

The earliest known Mexican civilization who lived in rainforests along the Gulf of Mexico, developed a calendar, and constructed public buildings and temples.

Hammurabi’s Code

The 1ST series of laws created by order of King Hammurabi of Babylon to create social and political order and manage the economy.

Shang Dynasty

The dominant people in the earliest Chinese dynasty for which there are written records; practiced ancestor worship, oracle bones, and rituals with bronze vessels.

Mandate of Heaven

The Chinese ideology stating that Heaven grants power to the ruler and takes it away if the ruler fails to conduct himself justly and in the best interest of subjects.

Zhou Dynasty

The people and dynasty that took over China after the Shang; created the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify their rule.