World Civilizations Chapter 1

What are the main differences between an agricultural and a hunting and gathering economy?

Agricultural economies could support more people than hunting and gathering. Agricultural economies had more diseases. Agricultural Could begin the development of towns and cities.

The Spread of Agriculture

Agriculture appears to have spread in ways similar to human populations, but from a Middle Eastern rather than African epicenter.

Nomads

Cattle and sheep-herding societies

Why are nomadic societies important in world history?

Developed equipment to be used with horses, established a silk trading network, and had important invasions.

Where was farming originally developed?

In the Middle East and Black Sea regions, in an arc of territory running from present-day Turkey to Iraq and Israel. Very fertile area (Fertile Crescent)

As farming evolved what new animals were domesticated?

In the Middle East and parts of Asia, by 9000 B.C.E pigs, sheep, goats, and cattle were being raised.

What were the most significant human achievements before the rise of agriculture?

Paleolithic people gradually improved their tool use, by the later Paleolithic period people had developed rituals to lessen the fear of death, created cave paintings to express a sense of nature's beauty and power, Goddesses often played a prominent role in the religious pantheon which in turn gave the human species to develop systems of belief that helped explain the environment and set up rules for various kinds of social behavior, The development of speech provided rich language and symbols for the transmission of culture and its growing sophistication. Greatest achievement of Paleolithic people was the sheer spread of human species over the earth's surface.

What was the measure of wealth in a nomadic society?

Size of herd

Where were arrows most likely invented?

Southern Africa 65,000 years ago

Who were the first first groups of nomads to break into historical record?

The Indo-Europeans

What were the patterns of early human migration?

The first people moved out of Africa about 750,000 years ago. Humans inhabited Britain 250,000 years ago. Later migrations took people to Eurasia. Two strands developed once migrants are in west Asia: one took people to Europe, central Asia, and south Asia and the other pushed on to the east and southeast Asia. From that people first crossed to Australia 60,000 years ago, followed by another 20,000 years later. Humans crossed from Siberia to Alaska about 25,000 years ago. Settlers from China reached Taiwan, the Philippines, and Indonesia 4,500 to 3,500 years ago.

Neolithic Revolution

The succession of technological innovations and changes in human organization that led to the development of agriculture, 8500-3500 B.C.E. The revolution took more than a thousand years, and then several thousands more, to spread to key population centers in Asia, Europe, and Africa.

What are some of the main characteristics of the human species?

Unusually aggressive against their own kind, grip provided by an opposable thumbs, omnivores.

When did we discover metal tools?

About 4000 B.C.E. By 3000 B.C.E. metal working is so common that that the use of stone tools dissipated.

How long ago was fire tamed?

About 750,000 years ago

What has the development of agriculture been termed?

A Neolithic Revolution

Homo erectus

A less apelike species, whose larger brain and erect stance allowed better tool use, that emerged between 500,000 and 750,000 years ago. Spread in Africa, then to Asia and Europe, reaching a population size of perhaps 1.5 million 100,000 years ago

How did agriculture encourage technological change?

Agriculture was too hard not to have any technological change.

Homo sapiens sapiens

All humans in the world today are descendants of and originated about 120,000 years ago in Africa. The success of this subspecies means that there have been no major changes in the basic human physique or brain size since its advent.

Neolithic or New Stone Age

Between 8,000 and 5,000 B.C.E; period in which adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animal accomplished. Invention of agriculture, the creation of cities, and other foreshadowings of civilization.

Mesolithic or Middle Stone Age

Designates a span from about 12,000 to 8,000 B.C.E, in which human ability to fashion stone tools and other implements improved greatly.

The initial development of agriculture was triggered by what two results of the ice age's end?

First, population increases stemming from improved climate, prompted people to search for new and more reliable sources of food. Second, hunting's overall yield declined.

Paleolithic or Old Stone Age

Human beings learned only simple tool use, mainly through employing suitably shaped rocks and sticks for hunting and warfare.