Global 9: Social Sciences, Prehistory, and the 1st Civilizations

Anthropologist

Someone who is mainly interested in the evolution or development of humans

Archeologist

Someone who studies artifacts and remains

Economist

Someone who is interested in resources, trade, and economy of a civilization

Geographer

Someone who is interested in the geographical layout

Historian

Someone who is interested in stories of the past of humans

Political Scientist

The study of political activity and behavior

Psychologist

Someone who is interested in the mind and behavior of humans

Sociologist

Someone who is interested in the structure, development, and function of a society

The 5 Characteristics of Civilization

Complex Institutions, Advanced Technology, Large Cites, Specialized Workers, Written Records

Code of Hammurabi

an ancient Babylonian set of laws established by King Hammurabi

cultural diffusion

the spreading of ideas or products from one culture to another

cuneiform

a system of writing with wedge-shaped symbols, invented by Sumerians around 3000 BC

delta

a marshy region formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of a river

domestication

the taming of animals

dynastic cycle

the historical pattern of the rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties

dynasty

a series of rulers from the same family

Fertile Crescent

an arc of rich farmland in Southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea

hieroglyphics

an ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds

hominid

a human and other creatures that walk upright

loess

it gives the Yellow River it’s color

monotheism

a belief in a single god

natural barriers

it is harder for invaders to get in

natural selection

the process of when some organisms in a species have an advantage and survive, they then carry those traits to the entire species, therefore they are adapted to their environment better

Neolithic Age

the New Stone Age, lasting from about 8000 BC to as early as 3000 BC

Neolithic Revolution

the agricultural revolution-the far-reaching changes in human life resulting from the beginning of farming

papyrus

a tall reed that grows in the Nile delta, used by the ancient Egyptians to make a paper-like material for writing on

pharaoh

a king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader

pictographs

earliest form of writing and visual representation of numbers or objects

polytheism

a belief in many gods

pyramid

a massive structure with a rectangular base and four triangular sides, like those that were built in Egypt as burial places for Old Kingdom pharaohs

siltation

the flow of silt into the ocean

ziggurat

a temple, which means “mountain of god”