World History: First Things and The Earliest Human Societies

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards derived verbatim from the lecture notes covering key historical concepts and the earliest human societies.

History

The study of past events, from the Greek word historia meaning 'finding out'.

Prehistory

The period of human experience before writing (earliest writing dates to 3500-3200 BC); history's origin that begins with the creation of the universe.

Archaeology

The study of human history through the excavation of sites and the analysis of physical remains from past cultures and civilizations; in Greek, 'the study of origins'.

Fossil

The remains or impression of a prehistoric plant or animal embedded and preserved in rock.

Artifact

An object made by a human being.

Anthropology

The study of humankind, especially of its customs and societies.

Custom

A traditional and widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is specific to a particular culture, society, place, or time.

Culture

The mutually shared products, customs, beliefs, and knowledge of a human group or society.

Society

A grouping that consists of people who share a common culture, obey the same political authority, and occupy a given territory.

Geography

The study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere and of human activity as it affects and is affected by both.

Periodization

Constructing models of time; giving labels to eras/epochs.

Consequence

Outcome or result.

Progress

Improving the well-being of human-beings with the intended purpose of human flourishing; involving growth, change and development.

Holy moment

A single moment in which you open yourself to God and make yourself available to Him by setting aside personal preferences and self-interest, and for one moment you do whatever you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do.

Hominid

'Human-like' creature.

Bipedalism

The ability to walk upright on two back legs.

Homo Sapien

Thinking man; skillful man (only genus of 'Homo' that survived after 30,000-10,000 BC).

Paleolithic Era

('Old Stone Age'): Period before ~10,000 BC during which humans used tools of stone, bone, and wood and obtained food by gathering and hunting.

Foraging

Hunting and gathering; a style of life in which people gain food by gathering plant products, trapping, or catching small animals and birds, and hunting larger prey.

Clans

Extended families.

Egalitarian groups

Groups where contributions for survival are equally valued and recognized among men and women, and there is equal access to resources.

Nomadic groups

Communities that move around from place to place (pastoralists, foragers).

Neolithic Era

('New Stone Age'): Period beginning in ~10,000 BC during which humans obtained food by raising crops and animals and continued to use tools primarily of stone, bone, and wood; increasingly complex.

Agricultural Revolution

The dramatic transformation from foraging to raising crops and animals (husbandry).

Division of Labor

Differentiation of tasks by gender, age, training, status, or social distinction.

Domestication

The process of bringing an animal or plant under human control in order to provide food, power, or companionship around the homes; selective breeding to serve human needs.

Sedentary Groups

Groups staying permanently in one place.

Semi-Sedentary Groups

Groups who moved from place to place every few years.

Fertile Crescent

Where intentional crop planting first developed in present-day Lebanon, Israel and Jordan north to Turkey and then south along the Tigris and Euphrates River to the Iran-Iraq border.

Surplus

Excess; more than what is needed or used.

Private Property

Individual or familial possession of land, livestock, sources of water, goods, information, etc.

Slash and Burn

Chopping and burning natural vegetation, and planted crops in successive years until the soil is eroded or lost its fertility, then returning years later when fertile again.

Pastoralism

An economic system based on herding and raising flocks of goats, sheep, cattle, or other animals who roam in pastures to graze.

Social Hierarchies

Arrangement where people or groups are organized according to rank or level of importance and power/authority, such as divisions between the rich and poor.

Inheritance

A source of wealth passed down from generation to generation.

Patriarchy

The social system in which men have more power and access to resources than women, and some men are more dominant than other men.

Matriarchy

The social and political dominance of women.

Elite

A select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.

Animism

The idea that people, animals, plants, natural occurrences, and other parts of the physical world have spirits.

Shamans

Spiritual 'adept' men and women who communicated with the unseen world using complex rituals to ensure health and prosperity among individuals, families, or groups.

Bronze Age

~7,000-1,500BC; period defined by bronze (copper + tin/lead) weapons.

Iron Age

~1200 BC; use of iron as a metal and spread globally by the Hittites.