Human Development to c. 600 BCE

According to AMSCO!!

First Humans

-First appeared 200k-100k BCE East Africa in small hunter-gatherer, egalitarian but patriarchal groups w/ no permanent homes

-Search for food = new environments, genetics, (stone & fire) tools, cultures (paintings)

-100k-60k years ago = movement beyond EAf

-10k BCE = humans on all continents but Antarctica

Agricultural Revolution

-8K BCE Ice Age = Global Warming = Plant & Animal Domestication (began in Middle East) = Agricultural Surplus led to:

-Growing population & permanent cities

-Non-agricultural jobs: gov & tax records led to writing

-Tech: wheel, irrigation, stone to metal tools

-Stricter social classes & patriarchy & more competition for wealth

First Civilizations were often found

near river valleys with fresh water & fertile soil

The Great Arid Zone

West Africa-East Asia’s deserts, semi-deserts, & mountainous terrains

Eurasian Steppe Zone

-East Europe-Mongolia’s extensive grasslands

• Provided Pastoral Nomads’ food for livestock

• Est. irrigation-based agricultural towns/centers for Silk Road trade

City-State

Independent state with a city and its peripheries

Mesopotamia

-Developed in modern Iraq (Tigres & Euphrates Rivers)

-Polytheistic & patriarchal cultures usually based in city-states w/ ziggurats (religious temples)

-Sumer: city-state that created the first written language (Cuneiform)

Egypt

-Developed in Nile River Valley

-Centralized under 1 pharaoh & were less patriarchal, pyramids demonstrated pharaoh’s power

-hieroglyphs & mathematics

Indus

-Indian Subcontinent: central to Monsoon zone & separated from GAZ & EAS w/ Himalayas & Indus & Ganges rivers

• Very arid or rainy

• Little known but Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa traded w/ Mesopotamia, indoor plumbing, & planned urban layout

China

-Dominated by Huang He/Yellow River (North) & Yangtzi River (South), centralized, patriarchal, & ancestral ties

• East: Alluvial Plains from the rivers, most of food grown & cities est.

• North: Interactions w/ pastoral nomads

• South: Hilly & rainy, ideal for rice

• West: Mts. blocked interaction w/ Central Asia until Silk Road (100 BCE)

Southwest Interior

-B/w Great Basin-Rocky Mts.-Mexico’s harsh (semi-)deserts

• Anasazi, Hohokam, Mongollon cultures

Mississippi River Basin

-Historically had forests & rich agricultural soils where rivers facilitated exchange

• Mound-building cultures, corns, beans, squash, extensive hunting

Andean Mountains

-Entire Pacific Coast of South America

• Sea Lvl: Many marine but little plant resources

• Mid Lvl: Dense pop & corn, llamas, & alpacas

• High Lvl: potatoes

South & Middle America

-Olmec (Mesoamerica) & Chavin (Andes) were non-river valley civilizations

-extensive trade

Religion

-Started as animistic (deities = site) & polytheistic

-Became more abstract (deities moved w/ ppl) & monotheistic

Hinduism

-3500 yrs ago, Aryans moved from North Himalayas to Pakistan & India (poly to mono)

-The Vedas: soul reincarnates until liberated, strict caste system w/ no social mobility

Zoroastrianism

-Developed in Persia (mono)

-Focused on human free will & the eternal battle b/w the forces of good & evil

Judaism

-4k yrs ago by Abraham in Jerusalem (mono)

-Old Testament: Devotion to Yahweh = Yahweh’s chosen ppl