Presentation 16 - Asia, Africa and American Before 1492

what were medieval notions of space

physical and spiritual dimensions, people believed that biblical locations existed somewhere within the world

what was common geographical knowledge during this time

no educated european thought the earth was flat, the ocean between europe and asia was seen as largely empoty and impassible for ships and believed that life near the equator was impossible due to the heat (torrid zone)

what were the technical skills of this time

maritime charts were created but lacked prokection methods to represent the large land masses

what were winds like at this time

the strong winds in the atlantic and pacific were unknown - they didnt know whehter they would make the ships remain in the same place or whether it would help them back 

what was commerce like (business but more appropriately exchange) during this time

they wanted to expand their trade routes to china and the far east but the land conenctions to asia were cut off

what was gold, silver and the europena economy like durin this time

they were in a trade defecit with asia - so europe sought new sources - so spain and portugals obssession with gold and silver was for trade not greed

what was the understanding of asis for europeans

they had a basic understanding of asia - early accounts of trade narratives e.g. alexander the great helped to aid exploration and engagement

what were the diplomatic and commercial relations to the west

they wanted to connect with the east because of their wealthy but it was difficul to maintain relationships

what did they think of the kings of the east

they thought that there ere powerful chirstian rules in the east - so they wanted to explore them

what did marco polo do to the influence

his voyages shaped the western knowledge of asia - a very detailed view of the east

what was the mythical knowledge of asia

it was based on fiction and myth more than accurate information

what was the north africa and middle east knowledge like before 1500

well-known to europes through proximity and trade - however becuase of muslim conquest access with restricted

what was knowledge of central and southern africa like

largely unknown until portuguese voyages 

what were the knowledge of christian kingdoms in africa

reports of chirstian kingdoms especially in ethiopia - which sparked interest but knowledge was limited

what were the complex societies of africa

home too several societies like benin empire highly organised government, impressive art and extensive trade network

what wer pre modern slave routes

the routes laid groundwork for later development of atlantic slavery - as they wer transported across the sahra

what was the importance of gold and wealth in africa

well-documented and Mansa Musa had a very important pilgrimage to mecca + mali empire showed africas importance in trade adn their wealth

how were the human entered to orth america from asia

walking acros a land bridge from asia and north america more than 20,000 years ago

what kind of societies were in pre-columbia

concentrated sedentary/empires- permanently settled agricultural people, segmented sedentary/state cities - occupied lands were there were no empires or large polities, semisedentary - both agricultural and hunting, non-sedentary or nomads 

what were the mesoamerican major civilisations

olmec, maya, teotihuacan, aztec

what were the major civilisation in the andes

pre-inca and the inca

what were the political systems of american civilisations like

empires were centralized with tribute and lbaour systems(tax), city states were allied or in conflict and independent, tribal societies wer organized by kinship and had collective leadership 

what were social structures like in american civlizations

hierarchical societies and egalitarian groups (everyone is equal)

what was the economy and relgiion like in american civilisations

advanced agricultural, extensive trade and many of the societies were polytheistic

what was culture and writing like in american civilisations 

rich oral traditions, but mayas had developed a full writing system, mesoamerica used pictographic recors and the andes knotted cords

what was science and tehcnology like in the american civilisations

astronomy was fairly developed but limited in mathematics