world history vocab

Neolithic Revolution

The shift from hunting and gathering food to the development of agriculture.

Domestication

The process of cultivating plants to maintain a supply and/or taming an animal to keep for eating and breeding.

Hunter-Gatherers

People who live by hunting, fishing, and harvesting wild food.

Systematic agriculture

Growing and harvesting food on a regular basis.

Archaeologists

Study physical artifacts like tools, pottery, and ruins by excavating sites and using techniques such as carbon dating to determine age and historical context.

Artisans

Skilled workers who make products like weapons and jewelry.

Culture

The way of life of a people in a certain time and place.

Civilization

A complex culture in which large numbers of human beings share several common elements such as cities, government, religion, social structure, writing, and art.

City-states

The basic units of Mesopotamian (Sumerian) civilization.

Polytheistic

Belief in many gods.

Anthropologists

Researchers who study cultures and human behavior through observation, interviews, and analysis of customs, languages, and traditions to understand societal development over time.

Ziggurat

A massive, stepped tower that held a Sumerian temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of the city.

Theocracy

A government established by divine authority.

Historians

Examine written records, documents, and primary sources to build accurate accounts of past events.

Cuneiform

Sumerian writing using a reed stylus to make wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.

Dynasty

A family of rulers whose right to rule is passed on within the family.

Pharaoh

The title of the Egyptian monarch, meaning 'great house' or 'palace'.

Geographers

Use maps, satellite images, and spatial data to study how human and physical features interact across space and time.

Bureaucracy

An administrative organization with officials and regular procedures.

Hieroglyphics

Egyptian writing meaning 'priest carvings' or 'sacred writings'.

Pastoral Nomads

Nomadic groups who domesticated animals for food and clothing.

Monotheistic

Believing in one God.

Monsoon

A seasonal wind pattern in Southern Asia bringing heavy rainfall.

Sanskrit

An Indo-European writing in the Indus Valley.

Aristocracy

Upper class whose wealth is based on land and whose power is passed on from one generation to another.

Dao

'Way,' the correct or divine way.

Filial piety

The duty of family members to subordinate their needs and desires to those of the male head of the family.

Empire

A large political unit or state, usually under a single leader, that controls many peoples or territories.

Patriarchal

Dominated by men.