World history 101 exam 1

When did modern humans leave Africa?

100,000- 50,000 MYA

Human characteristics

make tools, engage in family life, use language, refine cognitive abilities

speed of human evolution

thought to be slow and gradual, scientists now believe it happened in short bursts with long stagnation periods

Australopithecus Africanus and Lucy

famous hominids

hominid characteristics

apposible thumb, highly social, intelligence, bipedalism

homohabilis (2.5 MYA)

tool use, subspecies, had larger brains, generational knowledge (man who uses tools)

Homo erectus (1.8 MYA)

big brains, walked upright, family dynamics, fire, traveled long distances, some fossils found in Asia

Homo sapiens (315,000 YA)

us, bigger brained, more dexterous, agile

Hunter gatherer culture

• egalitarian between sexes, “relaxation time”

• beginning of art

Early Migration

• 200,000 YA sapiens became dominant around world

• all across the globe (land bridges)

• slow eclipse from homo Erectus to sapiens

agricultural revolution

• 10,000 BCE

• domestication of animals and plants bc of population expansion

• lead to settlements, looks different around world

Pastoralism

community members move herds from settlements to graze as needed

Transhumant herding

herders who are affiliated with settlements for trade of needed products

Nomadic Pastoralism

who flourished on steppe lands north of agriculture zone of Eurasia, horse riders

Native agriculture from southwest Asia

• Cereals + mammals in fertile crescent

• Euphrates + tigris rivers

Native agriculture from east Asia

• Rice, millet, buckwheat

• Yellow+ Yangzi river

Native agriculture from Africa

• Sorghum, root crops, ensete plant

• sahel river spreads east and west

Native agriculture from Americas

• Maize, squash, legumes, fishing

• more gradual development than other places

Native agriculture from Europe

• wheat, barley, mammals

• Mediterranean, Rhine + Danube river basins

products of village growth

• specialization + stratification, inequalities arose unlike hunter gatherer life

ecological changes from agriculture

• less biodiversity- idea of weeds + pests

• diseases, parasites, less health

Neolithic revolution

Otherwise known as agricultural revolution

Plant Maize was created from

Teosinte

Wheat/Barley

• 20 steps just to get wheat ready to plant

• harvested once a year

• farmers where 80-90% of pop for most of history

Catalhoyuk

• Discovered in Turkey, 10% excavated

• occupied 7-5,000 BCE

• important size + longevity

Catalhoyuk city layout

• no roads, people entered through roofs, no public/ religious areas for 3-8,000 citizens

Catalhoyuk Culture

• Burried dead inside walls and floor of homes, never related

• soot stained walls painted over

• wall map paintings/ female fertility figures

Catalhoyuk society

• egalitarian society

• nonviolent

• 7th millenium: rising differences, individualization, stratification began to end settlement

Early Large Cities

• Began to appear by 3500 BCE

• Uruk was first city of its time

• most of world didn’t live in these cities

• Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, China (later)

Early city developments

irrigation, tech, specialized labor, increasing inequality, urban/ rural divide

non urban communities

• transhumant herders in SW Asia

• Inner Mongolia/ steppes

island life in Mediterranean

• longer to develop

• - Anatolia: fortification + trade

Europe 2000 BCE

• Megalithic structures appear

Africa 2000 BCE (sub Saharan)

urbanization not yet developing

Americas 2000 BCE

• Tehwuacàn (modern Mexico City), largest population but not really a true city (clustered villages)

Mesopotamia 2000 BCE

• easy access to neighboring cities

• revolutionary irrigation (silt)

• few natural resources- needed to trade

• Mesopotamia became a trade crossroad

• Uruk, Eridu, Nippur, Ur ,(35+)

East Asias pre 2000 BCE

• developed slower

• cultural divide between yellow & yangzi rivers

• isolated

• short lived political organizations \

• slash + burn agriculture

East Asia 2000 BCE

• developed elaborate + similar agricultural civilization

• extensive trade

• stratified social hierarchy

• sage kings tradition

Egyptian religion

• official culture Vs. pop. culture

• popular religion was experimental + eclectic in Egypt

• multiple, lesser divinities

• shrines

• egyptian people didn’t blindly follow who each king worshipped

Oldest form of writing

Cuneiform, by 600 BCE many written languages were created

2200 BCE

• warming and drying began to occur

• climate change caused migrations

• changing society + cultures

• pastoral/transhumant herders still around

Indoeuropean nomads

• transhumant herders+ nomadic pastoralists

• horses domesticated in late 4000”s in steppes of caucasus mountains

• chariots began to appear for show and warfare

Chariots

• made of metal and wood

• lightweight/ wide maneuver base

• changed travel and war → faster mobility

• also used for show because person is elevated

territorial state

centralized kingdoms organized around charismatic rulers who rules city and distant lands, had clear leadership change

territorial state growth

• gained authority in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and china in 1000’s

• based on monarchs, widespread bureaucracies, legal codes. territory expanses

Egyptian territory

• middle + new kingdom reunited river valley(north + south Egypt)

• expanded trade: wood, Byblos, metals, ivory, livestock, slaves, gems

• colonized Nubia for more trade

Pharaohs

• people viewed as a good shepherd that connected with the gods

• often each picked a new god to experiment worship with

Hykos invaders

• really just nomads that came to Egypt in 1640 BCE

• overthrew dynasty through tech

• introduced bronze, pottery, wheel, loom…

• adopted Egyptian ways

Megiddo

first recorded chariot battle,gold, (1149 BCE)

Hammurabi

• king of babylon

• sought to centralize state

• hammurabis code

• supported intellectual + creative works

• valued oral tales + written records

mesopotamia economy

• shift towards private

• merchants+ entrepreneurs gained privileged positions

• royal debt gets removed when kings switch

Communication between pharaohs and other leaders

• mostly non violent, diplomatic, marriages

Indus River valley climate change

• draughts hit later → Vedic nomads came from inner eurasia

• did not immediately establish city states

• introduces sandskrit, animals, chariot, metals, religion + beliefs

Vedic migration

Because of droughts these people move from Eurasia to the Indus valley to inner Eurasia, then they reach Ganges river by 1,000 BCE.

Shang state east Asia

• emerged 1600 BCE

• combined features with lang Shan culture

• hereditary rulers, written records, metallurgy (pots)

• not affected by chariots or pastoral migrations

• oracle bones

fief system

used by Shang state, elites own land, give out land for labor/service

Scythians (700 BCE- 500 CE

• nomads on the eurasian Steppes

• carried culture around with them

• not an empire

Micro societies

small scale, fragmented, dispersed community with limited interaction

Aegeans

no central Govs, because of small islands, gradual development, Cyprus + Crete. absorbed influences from all over (Minoans)

Austronesian

• costal south china, island hopped with canoes with sails

• passes Taiwan by 2500 BCE reached most of pacific by 400 CE

• agricultural success with volcanic soil

Mycenaean Culture

• Migrated from Central Europe 1850-1600 BCE, brought Indo-European language

• expansion united cultures throughout greek language

• culture emphasized weaponry, war/soldier portraits

• end of 2000 BCE large scale internal + external conflict ended micro society” hey day”

rise of early empires

• climate change 1200 BCE → environmental crisis, people moved to urban areas

• destruction of cities, administration centers paved the way for new states

Bronze Age collapse factors

• lack of whole picture from evidence

• migration + demographic changes

• more war than before

• political collapse

New tech

• camel use, seaworthy vessels, iron tools, iron weapons

• “Iron Age” begins

neo Assyrian empire (911-612 BCE)

• relied on military, constant harsh warfare+ brutal exploitation

• unique imperial structure

• periphery set cities (by importance)

• deportation + forced labor

• inherently unstable

Persian empire (560- 331 BCE)

• also used warfare (but less), attempted to assimilate, embraced more culture

• no fixed capital, no true traditions

• Zoroastrianism → not monolithic or imposed

• social system still hierarcal but gave ppl more freedom

Cyrus the great (559-529 BCE)

united Persian tribes to defeat Lydians, Anatolia, then greek city states

Darius 1

organized empire efficiently, Satraps (nobles), promoted trade in the empire, built roads, standardized currency, measurements, and weights

Vedic culture (1500- 600 BCE)

• chieftainships merged into kingdoms tied to kins + clan structures, more agrarian + hierarchal by 1000.

• Varna (castes) brahmans- priests, Kshatriyas- warriors, vaishyas- (land) workers, Shudras- non Vedics, laborers or slaves

• Vedas- Vedic texts, almost like scripture

Zhou Dynasty (1045-771 BCE)

• drought reshaped political landscape of east Asia and Zhou peoples defeat shang

• new innovations in culture + tech, weaker than persia

• occupation based hierarchy

• feudal lands

“Mandate of heaven”

• justified Zhou rule, gave more superiority over shang

• Mandate bascially a religious compact only ruler can lose mandate