Exam 2 Hist 1010 Dr. Ralph Kingston

when did history USED to start (according to Archbishop James Ussher)

Nov. 10, 4044 BCE

different ideas of the timescale of history do what?

mark differences / help define the separateness of cultures

Idea of "Deep Time"

Earth's history is so old it is difficult for the human mind to imagine; a concept borrowed from geology - the time scale of geologic events, which is vastly, almost unimaginably, greater than the timescale of human lives

Australian Aboriginal idea of "dreaming" or the "dreamtime"

a mode of approaching the past, where chronology is so unimportant that past, present, and future can coexist - stories of the dreaming are deep time narratives that resist human chronologies

what does the dreamtime tell us about?

the relationship between stories of the past and the culture of peoples of the present; oral transmission as an alternative to writing; past anchored to not just artifacts (like landscape)

"History" as a discipline is a product of Western European learning.....

Historians use cultural power to cause the world to conform to their ideology

Australia has had human occupants for how long?

40,000-60,000 years

Mungo Lady and Mungo Man

both received ritual burials when returned to their people

What did the people of Lake Mungo say about Mungo Lady and Mungo Man?

ML and MM spirits would not rest until they were reinterred, one way or another "in country"; believe they returned to the present then they did for a reason (speaking of the discovery of ML and MM)

Mary Pappin, a Mutthi Mutthi elder, explained that ML came to explain to the rest of the world....

how long the Aboriginal people had been there ( this led to the creation of Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area)

What was the difference in how the Neolithic Revolution took place in Australia in comparison to everything else?

the Aboriginal people used plants, harvested, and stored food in a manner that belies the usual characterization of hunter-gatherers

Who took the Aboriginal peoples land?

Europeans (shocker)

Europeans claimed what in relation to the Aboriginal peoples land and why?

"Terra Nullius" (no man's land); because the Aboriginals weren't farming; no good use of land according to Europeans

What were the Aboriginal people doing with their land?

"Natural Cultivation" of the land; fire-stick farming, which is the burning of vegetation at specific times to produce ash to fertilize and to allow the penetration of light to seedlings; ensures diversity of vegetation and grasslands for animals to feed on

The Clash between Man and the Giant Kangaroo of the Dreamtime... what is it about?

a story from the Western New South Wales (Murrumbidgee River); a story about Aboriginal ingenuity and technological innovation - design weapons (spears, shields, clubs, and boomerangs - using camouflage, and there's a discovery of fire; a story of the need for society - mutual defense, the duties and obligations of Aboriginal men

Aboriginal ancestors coexisted with what?

Megafauna, like the Kangaroo mentioned in the story; Procoptodon Goliath - up to 2m tall and up to 200 kg in weight, went extinct about 15,000 years ago

These stories (like The Clash between....) are products of what?

An oral culture, there is no one set agreed version of these stories

The counterargument to taking stories (like The Clash between.....) seriously is that...

there is no actual deep time - it is all just shallow time (the story changes from moment to moment) but it is important NOT to dismiss something just because its not written down

Oral culture......

successfully memorize massive amounts of information, often by encoding that knowledge in ritual, song, dance, story, and place

Stories are not just entertainment, but also do what?

carry information across generations about natural resources and their locations

The land itself keeps a record of the Aboriginal peoples' past...

importance of the walkabout.....a sequence of secret and sacred rites the walker performs to connect spiritually with his ancestors following the physical marks ("footprints") left on the land

Stories from Aboriginals (like story of Lungkata) basically explain what?

why there are certain marks on the landscape

Dreamtime is not "history" but is...

something else equally of value

the idea of deep time in the Dreaming...

connects past and present but also extends into the future

Holding onto ancestors and stories of the Dreamtime helps us understand...

the idea that the world was before us, but will also outlast us

Farming was introduced in North Africa sometime soon after...

5000 BCE

We know very little about early Neolithic societies in sub-Saharan Africa because?

There is very little textual evidence for sub Saharan societies

What is key to the early history of Africa?

language

Bantu Migrations (3000-4000 BCE)

Bantu are defined by language - they all speak Bantu languages related to one another; migrated across Africa over 1000s of years, planting settlements and societies from Nigeria to Kenya to South Africa; adopted new technologies with relocation

New technologies Bantu adopted as they moved

Iron (earliest iron working in Nok 500-200 CE), food technologies/agriculture

Luba in the Congo (a story of migration - the history of technology goes backwards)

a distinct, separate group arriving in the area - other Luba stories (about the Luba once they settle down) don't emphasize incest; a society with a range of food sources - wild game, fish, cassava, corn, domesticated livestock; they were engaged in trade, selling pottery, carved woods, and ironworking

Kikuyu in Kenya

a story of settlement - agriculture; intermarriage with indigenous peoples; each family has its own leader (a "big man") - no centralized political system; women play important economic roles, especially in farming; originally inheritance was matrilineal (though this has changed); monotheistic (worship at specific sites - the Mugumo (wild fig tree))

Different Bantu peoples developed different social structures related to what?

the environments they settle in, the sorts of foods they grew/animals they heard, the economies they developed

Polynesian Migrations

peoples originally from the Asian continent populating the South Pacific roughly between 1500 BCE and 1000 CE

How did the Polynesians navigate?

used the stars, the moon, the sun, winds, and waves

The Polynesians migrated agriculture/food technologies from island to island sometimes leading to...

the extinction of indigenous species

Different islands (Polynesian migrations) developed what?

different social structures

There is much debate over exactly when Polynesian settlers came to Hawaii, but....

linguistic and DNA evidence suggests they came form the Southern Marquesas

Polynesian migrants introduced

taro, bananas, coconuts, breadfruit, pigs, dogs, chickens, sugarcane, and primitive aquaculture (farming fish)

Hawaiian chiefs were governed by the right of a divine power called

mana

Most Hawaiian people were commoners, but any expert in a profession (like boat building or healers) gained status of a

kahuna, or a priest

Hawaii (the land)

no one permanently owned land; on the death of a chief, land as redistributed to other local chiefs (not usually to commoners)

Hawaiian resources were carefully managed...

the chiefs set laws governing who could go where (kappa = keep out) - restricted fishing, planting, and harvesting - ensuring conversation and shared access to fresh water (this ended in the 19th century when rivers were diverted to feed plantation agriculture)

What and where women could eat was

heavily restricted

Maori Settlements in Aotearoa (aka New Zealand)

- migrants transported the sweet potato, yam, and gourd to the islands; settlements concentrate on the North island; cultivation required more attention and labor than other islands

The Maori developed...

tribal lands with defined boundaries, and a fierce warrior culture

Legend of the Emigration of Turi (The Progenitor of the Whanganui Tribes)

Part 1) The story of Turi's young nephew/cousin getting killed for disrupting a ritual and Turi's revenge on Uenuku;

Part 2) The story of Kupe, Hoturapa, Hotorapa's wife, the cuttlefish (in other stories a whelk or an octopus), and the discovery of New Zealand; Part 3) Story of Aotea canoe. Back to Turi, who Kupe tells of NZ. He, his brother-in-law Tuau, and their crew, set out for New Zealand, carrying seed, sweet potatoes, dried stones of the berries of the Karaka tree, live edible rats, tame green parrots, water hens.... They said; they disagree with one another; they lose a canoe.... finally reach NZ and Turi's guys go inland giving "names to all the places as they came along."

Iwi

(literally means bone); a Maori word for a set of people bound together by descent from a common ancestor or ancestors

Why are so many things given names in the Maori origin story (from class)?

names carry religious power, giving names is a means of establishing property, and names create a sense of realism in the story, allowing listeners to locate the story in relation to places they know

Migrations

created cultural identities that spanned over large areas; environment mattered: societies changed as they moved and adapted to new conditions

Origin myths

less useful in terms of providing solid information about where groups came from and how they got there (linguistic and material evidence is more useful); useful for understanding how societies understand the impact of migration on their cultures

Symbolic interpretation

using real things to represent ideas

Functionalist interpretation

origin myths underpin/ legitimize specific aspects of social organization at the time the stories were told (land ownership, power structures, etc)

The Americas

development of agriculture ex: maize (corn), cassava

Olmec civilization (1200-400 BCE)

cultivated maize, irrigation systems, domesticated dogs; specialized craftsmen (jade artifacts); big towns at San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes - ceremonial centers; city vs countryside? we don't know what ended the Olmecs

Mesoamerican societies were different...

geographical/climatic diversity (micro-regions)

Geographical/climate micro-regions encouraged....

the development of trade

States and societies co-exist relatively peacefully over a long period.. In Mesoamerica...

Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Maya (all existed around the same time); did not try to conquer the other because trade was more important

Teotihuacan

a city, population of around 200,000 - they traded obsidian; discovery of mass graves of human sacrifices - including soldiers, young women, and noble; they were militaristic; evidence of Teotihuacan presence in Mayan cities and Mayan presence in Teotihuacan; (relatively) peaceful coexistence

Mayan civilation

poor soil and tropical climate - lots of downpours and droughts; developed reservoirs and canal systems, raised fields and ditches and had crop rotation (to replace nitrogen)

The Mayan Civilization was a success...

it extended over a broad region; included various different languages with considerable regional variation

Commerce and trade weren't just an exchange of stuff...

it also involved a transmission of culture

feathered serpent worshipped in Teotihuacan appeared in...

K'iche' - Mayan religion as Gukumatz... who featured in Popol Vuh - Mayan story of creation - importance of agriculture (man is made of maize)

Creation according to the Popul Vuh

religion and food production; people are made of corn

Mayans

focused on trade and religion

Mayan merchant gods

God M and God L

Similar pattern of climate, coexistence, and commerce in the Andes (South America)

in relation to the Mayans

Chavin, Nazca, Mochica, Huari, Tiahuanaco

American civilizations (they overlap) (on the west side of South America)

Tiahuanaco irrigation system

relied on an intimate knowledge of the area's climate; dirt dug to form the canals was used to construct raised fields some 30 feet wide; water in the canals heated by the sun during the day, radiated its warmth at night, helping to protect crops against the frost that often occurs because of the area's 12,000 foot high altitude

similar agricultural innovations in the Andean lowland wetlands to what we just saw in....

Mayo Mesoamerica

Andean Civilization

a similar picture to Mesoamerica; complex micro regions with extreme changes in altitude and temperature - variations in agriculture; Chavin 'horizon', evidence of Chavin cultural influence / trade across a dispersed region (modern Peru)

Trade in Eastern North America - mound building cultures

settled, urban, farming societies (maize was a primary crop) existing between 3500 BCE and c. 1500 CE

Hopewell Culture

c 200-500CE - evidence of trade across North America eg. obsidian and bear teeth from the Rocky Mountains, copper from the Great Lakes, mica and quartz crystals from the Appalachian mountains and shark teeth, barracuda jaws and conch shells from the Florida coast

Cahokia (southern Ohio)

to 1300 CE - burials contain pottery, pipes, jewelry and copper objects, indicating long-distance trade - connected to larger "Mississippian" culture

Mississippi mound builders c. 800-1300CE

cultivated maize (corn), beans, squash; raised animals; not a single tribe, but independent interlinked societies; southeastern Mississippi mound builders trading up and down the river (but no evidence of trade with Mesoamerica)

2 Types of Western Trading Networks

permanent agricultural towns, and trade fairs / "rendezvous"; some Native American groups (eg Comanche Cheyenne) operate as 'middlemen' facilitating long distance trade

American civilizations were not part of the 'World' trading system (centered on the Silk Roads)...

but trade was still extensive and key to their development; evidence suggests sometimes trade was a better choice than conquest

Story of the Americas is that (like in other parts of the world)...

human societies are shaped by their environments

Story across the Americas is that...

trading played an important role in shaping cultural beliefs and expectations

India Timeline

Harappa (Indus Valley Civilization), Local Aryan chiefs and rulers (brahman priests - origin of the Vedas), Mauryan Empire (Brahmans get more power in alliance with Chandragupa Maurya)

The Vedas ("sacred knowledge")

collections of hymns, songs, prayers, dialogues

The oldest of the Vedas is the

Rig Veda; composed between 1500 and 900 BCE in Sanskrit; written down c. 600 BCE

Rig Veda records....

an early stage of Vedic religion - hymns addressed to various deities

Who were the hymns in the Rig Veda addressed to (specifically)?

the deities Indra (thunder), Agni (fire), Ushas (the dawn), and Varuna (water/night/underworld)

Vedas tell the story of what?

How nomadic warriors conquered the Indus Valley and its inhabitants, the "Desa" which means enemy; historians believe that the Aryans arrival was much less dramatic and more peaceful

Religion codified what?

social divisions and hierarchies

The Law of Manu (or Manusmriti) prescribed what?

specific gender roles (.... a woman is never fit for independence)

Restrictions on women's freedom was ____ for early settled agricultural societies.

pretty standard

Law of Manu gave women what power?

Women were allowed to own six types of property - including dowry, gifts from her husband, gifts and inheritances from her family

The Rig Veda was also described as a what?

A social hierarchy

Upanishads

commentaries on the Vedas; develop rules and beliefs

The Caste System (Vedic Religion)

4 occupational categories (varnas): Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (nobles/warriors), Vaishyas (commoners - merchants, artisans, farmers), Shudras (workers and servants)

What group was later added to the Caste system?

Chandalas (untouchables)

Dharma (life path)

fixed from birth

Karma

determines caste in next reincarnation

Maurya Empire

creation of Empire by Chandragupta Maurya gave more power to the Vedic priests (brahmans)

The Caste System under the Mauryan Empire..

hardened over time with rules forbidding intermarriage, socialization, and reading (only brahmans, warriors, and merchants were allowed to read the sacred texts.)

Mauryan Empire was a time of..

increased prosperity: internal trade could move more freely without independent local chiefs and kings; new currency, uniform weights and measures

More exposure to other cultures through trade during the Mauryan Empire, and unhappiness with caste among vaishyas (artisans, merchants) led to?

new religious ideas

2 alternatives to the strictures of Vedic religious practice

Jainism, Buddhism