Class 6 - ancient civilizations

Feb 12, anicent civilizations

diffusionism from egypt

single genius culture produced technological innovations that were diffused out to other cultures

is there aliens and mystery in the ancient world?

no

what did the development of complex societies (civilizations) in antiquity had to do with?

human ability, creativity, genius, economic inequality

characteristics of civilization

1. food surplus

2. social stratification

3. formal government

4. monumental works

5. specialists

6. urban settlements

7. system of record keeping

food surplus

the ability to produce a huge food surplus inorder to support classes of architects, artisans, merchants, pyramid builders, soldiers, priests, rulers, etc

when only a small fraction of populace is need in food production, what happens with the rest of the population?

they are free to do other things

what are features that give signs that a civilization will have a surplus of food?

• granaries

• extensive agricultural fields surrounding population centers

• irrigation canals

granaries

features where surplus food are stored

social stratification

social hierarchy

• high status burials filled with offerings

• larger domiciles with better class of stuff

what does forensic analysis show in terms of social stratifcation

• differential access to higher cost/quality food, differential evidence of malnutrition

• differential wear and tear on the skeletons of rich vs poor

Ancient example of social stratifcation

warka vase

formal government

rulers or kings controlling the people with government officials

monumental works examples

• abu simbel

• uxmal

• coliseum

• tikal

• baalbek

• cliff palace

• great wall of china

• roman wall

specialists/craftsman

fine arts and crafts that would have required a lifetime of training and practice to achieve

urban settlements examples

• manhattan and paris today

• djado

• pompeii

• dier el medina

• Ur

system of record keeping examples

• egyptian hieroglyphs

• maya day and month glyphs

• maya syllabic glyphs

• sumerian and akkadian cuneiform

• Chinese

what does actual archaeological evidence show conclusively and definitively about the ancient world

civilization did not arrive on earth fully formed from somewhere else

hancock and maya calendar

• skeptic of maya ability to make calendar

• says they must have inherited from a more advanced lost civilization

cyclical calendars

• tzolkin

• haab

• calendar round

tzolkin

• divine calendar

• 260 days - 20 day glyphs in combinartion with numbers 1 to 13

• the length if it matches the nine cycles of the moon and the gestational period of humans

• related to movements of zentih sun and growing cycle of corn

haab

• civil calendar

• 365 days = 18 20 day-day months, 1 5-day month

• solar year

calendar round

• interweaving of Tzolkin and Haab calendars

• any givne combination of Tzolkin day with Haab day will not repeat itself, until 52 periods of 265 days have passed

what do maya believe about when a person reaches 52 years of age

they attain the special wisdom of an elder

2012 apocalypse and mayan calendar

• counts 5 cycles of time

• chronologically date mythical and historical events

• the 13 baktun cycle of the maya long count calendar measures alot of days and tropical years

• begins with mythical creation data of 13.0.0.0.0 4 ajaw 8 Kumk’u

  • on this date, sun was at its zenith at midday; and maya constellation of the turtle was in the nadir position, which is considered underworld

• cycle ends winter solstice dec 21, 2012

• next apocalypse scheduled for apr 2, 7138

stonehenge location and how long ago it was built

• england

• built 5000 years ago

henge

“a prehistoric momument consisting of a circle of stone or wooden uprights”

build/addition order of stone hedge parts

1. 5000 ya - round ditch 100 m diameter

2. 4600 ya - added double half circle of blue stones

3. trilithons added (5 sets of 3 stones)

   • arranged in u shape in middle

4. 30 addition sarsen stones

5. 30 linitels places on additonal sarsen stones

6. other little stones added

7. heelstone 80 m northeast

what would happen if one stands at the center of stonehedge at a certain time of day/year

standing at the center of stonehedge on the morning of the summer solstice, the sun rises on the western edge of the Heelstone. If the second “heel” stone were still standing, it would rise between them. Those viewing this sunrise would be able to confirm that the summer solstic, the half-year mark, and most likely an important point in the agricultural cycle, had occured

what does this picture present?

stonehenge construction

what is an modern example of moving stone

• nia people of new guinea

• moving giant rocks

• early 20th century

what happened with stone hedge during or after stage 2?

• ring began to be used for deposition of cremations

• some of human cremation deposits also contained animal bones, likely from feats

where were the cremations found regarding stonehenge?

• some found in or near aubrey holes

• most cremations found in ditch

what does finding some cremations in or near aubrey holes suggest?

that cremations may have been placed next to wooden timbers that once stood at the site

what happened overtime with cremations at stonehenge?

• earliest cremations were not fully burned, and large portions of bone remained

• cremations became more complex overtime

what was the community like when building stonehenge?

• builders lived nearby

• 2 miles NE of stonehenge

  • excavated habitation and festival remains

  • within stonehenge area - cementry

what does magnetometry suggest about Stonehenge community?

there may be several hundred more houses in this community, making it the largest neolithic settlement in Britain and one of the larger ones in Europe

Gobekli Tepe

• 6000 BCE, Turkey

what do robert shoch and many others believe regarding Göbekli Tepe and Ancient egypt?

dates to the same time, and same culture

Neolithic crop circle in Diessenhofen, Germany 2008

• enormous, beautful, and elaborate pattern made by flattening a crop

• as crop “circles” became more intricate through it became increasingly obvious to many that they were the result of pranksters

• not aliens

Bosnia “pyramid”

• some of the features of the hills have been interpreted as being not naturally configured but enormus, artificial pyramids, more then two and a half times the size of the largest egyptian pyramid and more than twice as ancient

• no actual archaeological or geological evidence has yet been presented that supports this interpretation

Utah “pyramid”

• looks as pyramidal as Bosnian pyramid

• geological process commonly produce patterned, symmetrical features like these

• neither this mountain or Bosnian mountain are the results of human labor