Final

Cahokia [Illinois, USA]

Located in the rich bottom lands of the Mississippi Reliance on maize, beans, and wild plants and animals Food surplus enabled the evolution of a class of priests and attendant nobility and artisans Monks mound Peak AD 1150 Dense settlement 18 separate mounds Log palisades Three-tiered hierarchy: Cahokia was the apex of the sociopolitical pyramid Beyond Cahokia are small communities with fewer mounds Most people lived in the numerous farmsteads on the outskirts Centralized craft production Trade in exotic materials Copper Shell from Gulf Coast Galena

Mesolithic

Middle Stone Age/Marked by cultural diversity and regionalization in the post-Pleistocene world/ elaborations of tech./ use of resources/ atalt then bone & arrow not the case they overlap/ shell middens (trash pile/resources)/ hazelnut harvest (lot of diff. groups aggregating to make use of res.)

Mississippian

Mound builders Conical mounds Truncated pyramids Considered among the most elaborate cultural traditions to flourish in North America Regional Mississippian societies developed over much of the Midwest and Southeast

Neolithic

New Stone Age/ the shift from food collection to food production (corn,rice,wheat,etc.)/ population growth/

Stonehenge [England]

Stonehenge 3000 BC/ Great Britian/ timber monuments: posts were erected linear patterns, cremation remains indicated could have been a cemetery/ bluestones: circular or semic arr. of stones by 2500 BC, four tons , brought 250 miles from Wales/ sarsen circle: iconic shape 16 foot high circle, 30 worked stones, banked ave. to the river avon/ later refinements: bluestones cast aside were repositioned as ciricle and hourseshoe within sarsen,& double ring pits/ by 1500 BC it was no longer maintained

megalith

Stonehenge, Skara Brae, Castlerigg, Swinside, Avebury, Carnac (GB)/ a large stone that forms a prehistoric monument (e.g., a menhir) or part of one (e.g., a stone circle or chamber tomb)./

Tikal [Guatemala]

Strategically situated to control major inland trade routes Important Early Classic city Constant interpolity competition between Maya centers Principal rival: Calakmul Temples, tombs, and palaces water management/ up to 90% of the population were farmers

Palenque [Mexico]

Temples, tombs, and palaces The buildings are historically significant for its extensive hieroglyphics that tell stories and show historical facts. mid-sized settlement that is smaller than Chichen Itza and Tika The settlement flourished in the 7th Century under the rule of Pakal.

Harappan

The Harappan people were literate and used the Dravidian language. Only part of this language has been deciphered today, leaving numerous questions about this civilization unanswered/ The cities did contain fortifications and the people used copper and bronze knives, spears, and arrowheads./ no social classes or military / long distance trade/ simplistic & few material goods

pyramid

a monumental structure with a square or triangular base and sloping sides that meet in a point at the top, especially one built of stone as a royal tomb in ancient Egypt.

henge

a prehistoric monument consisting of a circle of stone or wooden uprights.

pharaoh

a ruler in ancient Egypt../ Narmer (1st P.)

hieroglyphs

a stylized picture of an object representing a word, syllable, or sound, as found in ancient Egyptian and other writing systems/ writting phonetic, no vowels/ "scared engraving"/decipherment: the rosetta stone 196 B.C. (found by Napoleon's Army)

complex society (or complex societies)

after 6,000 B.C./ are those "organized beyond the household, family, or local community. Complex societies exhibit differences in social status, political power, and wealth"/Settlements of 5,000-20,000 people / Large, communal storage facilities (e.g. for grain)/Burials whose elaboration of form and grave goods suggest ranks in social standing/ Monumental architecture - large labor force/ Some specialization in craft production/ Jericho, Olmec, Megalith building

food surplus

an amount, quantity, etc., greater than needed/ Mesopotamia had such rich farmland, it was able to produce more food than people could actually eat. i.e. a surplus. This meant that fewer people were actually needed to produce enough food to support the entire population. More people could do other jobs, from heavy labor building things to skilled craftsmen making tools, furnishings, clothing, and other stuff. These people could trade their goods for the food they needed, either through direct barter or by using money. The surplus food could be stored for future use, or traded with neighboring countries for resources needed

khipu (also spelled quipu)

are textile artifacts composed of cords of cotton or occasionally camelid fiber. The cords are arranged such that there is one main cord, called a primary cord, from which many pendant cords hang/ recording devices: taxes, census, military organization

Great Bath

two layers of fired brick/ lined with bitumen/ special well & drain/was built in the 3rd millennium BC, soon after the raising of the "citadel" mound on which it is located/ "earliest public water tank of the ancient world"

Narmer

unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and in turn the first king of a unified Egypt./ Early Dynastic Period/Narmer Palette: shows Narmer wearing the crown of Upper Egypt on one side of the palette, and the crown of Lower Egypt on the other side, giving rise to the theory that Narmer unified the two land

Tenochtitlan [Mexico]

was a large Mexica city-state on an island in Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. Founded on June 20, 1325, it was the capital of the expanding Aztec Empire in the 15th century until it was captured by the Spanish in 1521./Tenochtitlan can be considered the most complex society in Mesoamerica in regard to social stratification/ the wandering tribes would find the destined site for a great city whose location would be signaled by an eagle with a snake in its beak perched atop a (Opuntia) cactus / garden floating beds/main temple complex "Temple Mayor" : focal point of religious life, many offerings & precious goods found/ Tlaloc (blue shrine) was symbolic of the wet season Huitzilopochtli (red shrine) marked the dry season and the time of warfare

Minoan

was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands which flourished from about 2600 to 1100 BC. It preceded the Mycenaean civilization of Ancient Greece./Minoan period saw trade between Crete and Aegean and Mediterranean settlements, particularly the Near East. Through their traders and artists, the Minoan cultural influence reached beyond Crete to the Cyclades, Egypt's Old Kingdom, copper-bearing Cyprus, Canaan and the Levantine coast, and Anatolia. /

Erh-li t'ou

was an early Bronze Age urban society and archaeological culture that existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC or 1750 to 1530 BC/ Phase 1: growing/ Phase 2: urbanization / Phase 3: reached peak, rammed earth wall, palaces built/ Phase 4: decreased / Phase 5: reduced to a village, no sign of destruction or fire

Pacal the Great (of Palenque)

was the Maya king of Palenque in the modern-day State of Chiapas, Mexico. Also known as Pacal (which means 'shield') and Pacal the Great, he is most famous for raising the city of Palenque (known as B'aakal) from relative obscurity to a great power, his building projects in the city (especially the Temple of the Inscriptions), and his elaborately carved sarcophagus lid which has been interpreted by some to depict an ancient astronaut riding on a rocket ship

Maya Royal tombs

were over 18 elaborately decorated pottery vessels (Fig. 2), some of which still held food (dried fish and fresh-water shrimp), painted gourds (used as serving vessels), nested baskets, jade earflares, and mosaic adornments of jade and shell. The pattern of deposition indicates that additional offerings were added after part of the vault had collapsed. The presence and extraordinary preservation of straw baskets and other organic objects/ copan/ woman was buried with the richest array of jade and shell ornaments yet encountered at Copan. She wore intricate sandals or anklets fashioned of shell plates and knee-bands of large jade beads/ feathered crown, jades, beans/ margarita tomb/ buried deep within Acropolis

chasqui

were the messengers of the Inca empire. Agile, highly trained and physically fit, they were in charge of carrying the quipus, messages and gifts up to 240 km per day through the chasquis relay system.[1] Chasquis were not just messengers (those were young boys who were just used to pass along basic information/ keep on eye on the locals & keep track/ conch shell as trump and storage for info. / mace weapon

Ain Ghazal

"Spring of the Gazelles"/is a neolithic archaeological site located in metropolitan Amman, Jordan,/ plit into two phases. Phase I starts circa 10,300 BP and ends c. 9,950 BP, while phase II ends c. 9,550 BP./ village of modest size. It was set on terraced ground in a valley-side, and was built with rectangular mud-brick houses that accommodated a square main room and a smaller anteroom. Walls were plastered with mud on the outside, and with lime plaster inside that was renewed every few years./ `Ain Ghazal people cultivated cereals (barley and ancient species of wheat), legumes (peas, beans and lentils) and chickpeas in fields above the village, and herded domesticated goats.In addition they hunted wild animals - deer, gazelle, equids, pigs and smaller mammals such as fox or hare./ mass killings of gazelle (killing pits) not domesticated

Uruk

(4,000 - 3,200 B.C.)/ Early State Formation/ The First City/ Warka Vase/Warka in Arabic ,Erech in the Old Testament/ 50,000 people at 3,000 B.C. (brought people in from hinterlands)/ Wealth differentials in housing and burials!/ The Anu Ziggurat/ was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river.]/ Meso.

Ubaid

(5,000 - 4,000 B.C.)/ Large Villages in South/settle along rivers and natural channels/ irrigation agriculture/ increasing population / prehistoric period of Mesopotamia

ziggurat

(in ancient Mesopotamia) a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple. Ziggurats are first attested in the late 3rd millennium BC and probably inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9).

roads (use and distance)

30,000 miles /road simply provide transportation for people who were traveling through the empire, the road also provided many military and religious purposes for the Inca. Ordinary people were not allowed to travel along the roads for private purposes without official permission./ chasquis/ the mountains were objects of worship; the Incas held many rituals, including the sacrifice of children, goods, and llamas, at the tops of mountains/ trades

Lung Shan

5, 000 ya/ Hang tu defensive walls/evidence of socioeconomic inequality/ no wooden coffins for low status & few grave goods, more % of these burials/ Black Pottery Culture, was a late Neolithic culture in the middle and lower Yellow River valley areas of northern China from about 3000 to 1900 BC./ expanded dramatically during the 3rd millennium BC, with many settlements having rammed earth walls/ silk

Mohenjo-daro [Pakistan]

Built around 2500 BCE/ Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BCE as the Indus Valley Civilization declined/ site is currently threatened by erosion and improper restoration/ "Mound of the Dead Men"/Cock-fighting may have had ritual and religious significance for the city, with domesticated chickens bred there for sacred purposes, rather than as a food source. Mohenjo-daro may also have been a point of diffusion for the eventual worldwide domestication of chickens/ "Priest-King" pierced earlobes / foot traffic, residential grid, sanitation, raised citadels to the west

oracle bones divination

writing on them/ China/ Earliest writing traced to Shang Dynasty /Associated with political, military, and ritual activities of the upper class /More than 5,000 characters/ Not fully translated/are pieces of ox scapula or turtle plastron, which were used for pyromanc

record keeping

writing/ keeping—to keep track of taxes, food surpluses, military service, conscripted labor—is crucial for complex societies, and especially states

Metallurgy/metal working

In Crete, the first metal articles date to the Early Minoan period (3000-2000 BC). The metals used at this time were copper, gold, lead and silver./ The variety and the exact methods employed for the manufacture of metal objects are not well known since metals were recycled, melted down and used again according to need. Thus, the main sources we have for the metalwork of the Early Minoan period are the metal grave offerings which have survived intact

Mesopotamia

Land between rivers/ Tigris and Euphrates river/ Hassunian (8000 to 7200 B.P.) first farming based society/ Samarra (7500 B.P.)precursor to Ubaid, known for pottery/ Halafian (7500 to 6700 B.P.) hill people, pottery / Early Farming Communities in Northern Mesopotamia/ Mud-brick houses ca. 7000 BC/ West Asia

sedentism

Living relatively permanently in a single place, often indicated by more substantial domestic architecture

burial of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (aka Ying Zheng)

first emperor of unified China/ were that the three pits containing the Terracotta Army held more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which remained buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum./ chariot burials/ clay replications of each of his soldiers

Seafaring

powerful people Minoans/ dominated trade in the eastern Mediterranean from about 2000 to 1400 B.C. They lived on Crete, a large island on the southern edge of the Aegean Sea./ produced some of the finest painted pottery of the time. /traded that pottery, along with swords, figurines, and vessels of precious metals, over a large area./exported their art and culture. These included a unique architecture, burial customs, and religious ritual./ Trading turned Crete into a "stepping stone" for cultural exchange throughout the Mediterranean world./ traveling by sea

Giza [Egypt]

pyramids: Khufu (2528 B.C. **earliest**), Khafre (2500 B.C.). Menkaure (2480 B.C.). Enormous Expense Great Pyramid = 13 million person-days/ Workman's village (2551-2472 BC)/ pyramids built by people & not by slaves/ burial monuments of Pharoahs/ west bank of the Nile, third largest city/ Heit el-Ghurab "workers town" south of the sphinx / workers who died here were buried near pyramids/ drank beer for nutrition/ given a place to live and given food, bread

social stratification

refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy.

cuneiform writing

s a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia c. 3500-3000 BCE. It is considered the most significant among the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians and the greatest among those of the Sumerian city of Uruk which advanced the writing of cuneiform c. 3200 BCE/ Amarna Letter 1340 B.C./a stylus is pressed into soft clay to produce wedge-like impressions that represent word-signs (pictographs)

domesticated wheat

seed morphology of non brittle attachments harvested (Einkron)/ wild- ripe spikelets as ripening rachis breaks into segments, smooth rounded edge of rachis point, arrowed shaped spikes adapted for penetrating surface litter & cracks/ domesticated- ripe spikes remained in ear only shatters when threshed, poor developed barbs, more rounded spike body, rough breakage of rachis, sharp corners which impede penetration, lost some key features of self implantation, fragile ineffective awns

artificial selection

selectively choosing to replant those crop strains with the greatest yields, those that were easier to harvest, and that were better tasting. In doing so we were guiding the process of evolution/ better tastes & sizes

Cuzco [Peru]

served as the administrative center Home of the sun god Inti About 40,000 people Coricancha palace: where the gods reside Each local leader was required to build a house in the city and live part of the year in Cusco, restricted to the quarter that corresponded to the quarter in which he held territory.

Mesoamerica

7000 BC, domestication of sunflower, beans, squash,& maize/ mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures/caused a transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherer tribal grouping to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages/complex mythological and religious tradition, a vigesimal numeric system, and a complex calendric system, a tradition of ball playing, and a distinct architectural style, were diffused through the area. Also in this period, villages began to become socially stratified and develop into chiefdoms with the development of large ceremonial centers, interconnected by a network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods, such as obsidian, jade, cacao, cinnabar, Spondylus shells, hematite, and ceramics./ earliest complex civilizations was the Olmec culture

Chaco Canyon [New Mexico, USA]

75 substantial settlements 300 smaller settlements Major towns connected by a series of roads Pueblo Bonito (Immense sandstone block structure 800 rooms (some as high as five stories) Trees used in construction transported 80 km) long distance trade/down the line exchange networks/ cacao, truq, conch shell trumpets, copper bells, macaw feathers Ancestral pueblon chaco roads (raw materials)

domestication (plant and animal)

A relationship of interdependence between humans and plants &animals / remains appear abruptly in the archaeological record at sites located in territories where the animal species represented are not known to have grown or lived naturally/ change of mean size exploited by human beings is indicator of human activity/ osteological change lightly constructed bones of wild animals found resulting from them being penned (concave/twist, flat, cross sec.)/ domestication of goats/ young animal males bones found indicates people had a greater control of population

hang t'u (pounded or rammed earth)

A type of rammed-earth construction of walls and foundation platforms for buildings developed by the Chinese from Late Neolithic (Longshan) period and Shang Dynasty (c 1600-1027 BC), notably at An-Yang. It was also used for shaft tombs in the Shang and Zhou (Chou) periods. Earth was packed between wooden forms in successive thin layers, each layer being pounded down before the next was added. Hangtu walls have been found at only two Late Neolithic sites, Chengziyai and Hougang. Much of the Great Wall of China was originally built of rammed earth.

Angkor state

AD 802 to 1430)/ Angkor state reached height of prosperity between AD 900 and AD 1200/ Power depended on a strong central administration /By the 15th century Angkor was weakened by drought /The resultant weakening of the administrative state combined with threats from Thailand led to collapse in about 1420 to 1431

An-yang

Anyang is the name of a modern city in Henan Province of eastern China that contains the ruins of Yin, the massive capital city of the late Shang Dynasty (1554 -1045 BC). In 1899, hundreds of ornately carved tortoise shells and ox scapulas called oracle bones were found in Anyang./-Excavations revealed 53 rectangular foundations of stamped earth in three groups -One group of 15 foundations supported timber structures -Royal residences for nobles and their families/ capital during final phase

Machu Picchu [Peru]

Appears to have been a royal estate Housed the king and his court when they were in residence A small permanent population responsible for maintenance lived at Machu Picchu

Inca mummies

Children chose for sacrifice were often "peasants" drawn from the large agricultural class Considered a great honor, but also acted as a form of social control didn't suffer/ died of can't breath up on mountain/cold/ the maiden

Linear A [Undeciphered]

Clay tablet inscribed with six lines of Linear A writing -- Zakros, ca. 1450 B.C./ one of two currently undeciphered writing systems used in ancient Greece (Cretan hieroglyphic is the other). Linear A was the primary script used in palace and religious writings of the Minoan civilization. /origin of the Linear B script, which was later used by the Mycenaean civilization/ Minoan

Nile Valley [Egypt]

Deshret "red lands"/ Kemet "black lands"/ 4,000 + miles long (longest river in the world), 12 mile wide irrgable strip/resourceful for communities

Teotihuacan [Mexico]

Developed from a series of small villages in 200 B.C. Became the largest city in the Americas, with some 200,000 inhabitants, by A.D. 450. It was and important religious center and prospered from the obsidian trade. Pilgrimage city both during and after occupation Aspects of the monumental city, such as the Avenue of the Dead, started around 200 A.D. The Pyramid of the Sun is one of the largest in the world tablero Known to have conquered or otherwise influenced Mayan city-states Evidence that some of the inhabitants came from other cities and cultures Accelerated after AD 700 May have been the result of internal strife Evidence of burning of temples and palaces

bead production

Different materials were used to make beads, such as carnelian, bone and ivory. Beads of many different shapes and sizes have been found at all the major Indus Valley sites./ chert/ natural, gold, teracotta, lapis

Göbekli Tepe

Starts 11,600 BP in Turkey/ Circular architecture with T-shaped pillars/ Ceremonial site?/ "Potbelly Hill"/ The site is decorated with pillars depicting carvings of headless humans, snakes, and scorpions. It is thought be world's oldest known Neolithic monumental religious complex./ believed that the site was a sanctuary where people from a wide region periodically congregated, not a settlement./ function of it is a mystery/

Çatalhöyük [Turkey]

Earliest occupation levels 9,000 ya/ Occupied for 1,200 years / 2,000 densely compacted houses/ Population estimates as high as 8,000 people at peak/ Domesticated plants and animals/ Architecturally undifferentiated/ Little evidence of labor specialization/ Home decorated with murals and sculptures/ Dead buried under floors

chariot burials

Elite buried in wooden lacquered caskets/ Royal cruciform (cross-shaped) graves/ Chariots and sacrificed horses/ Sacrificed attendants/ Ehr-li-t'ou/ elite buried in wooden lacquered caskets/

Aztec (or Mexica)

Empire focused on the acquisition of wealth through tribute. At contact, the Aztec ruler had 1 million subjects just in the Valley of Mexico. pottery produced both locally and imported flower wars : ritual war or battle, agree to fight, captives taken in battle are sacrificed aztec warriors ranked achieved through skill on the battlefield & captured of enemy soldiers 1300 to 1521

Ur

Excavations (1920s) ziggurat/ royal cemetery (2,600 B.C), bull headed lyre, a grave in the "death pit", 2,500 burials, 16 royal burials, 100's of scarifices/ queen puabi's grave massive display of wealth and power, more than 50 attendants, 2 ox drawn carts, gold, lapis, carnelian, silver/ was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar

characteristics of civilization (or states)

Food surplus/Large, dense populations/Social stratification /Formal government/ Labor specialization/ A system of record keeping/ Monumental works/State religion/ Importance of trade

Ancestral Puebloan

Four corners region Florescence of Puebloan culture after AD 1000 Great houses Cliff Dwellings Great Kivas

Saqqara

Pharaoh Djoser's (2668-2649 BC) chief architect Imhotep designed the famous step pyramid/ Located opposite the royal capital at Memphis/ Part of a large mortuary complex that entombed the pharaoh, the royal family, and other elite/is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis

chiefdoms

Problematic concept/ Less complex than state-level societies / Hierarchical power and prestige but it is less rigid than in a state/ Status can be passed on/ Increased trade and exchange/ Chiefs were also religious leaders with links to the spiritual realm/ Leaders rewarded loyalty with gifts of food and exotic goods/Big Men:Entrepreneurs with above average abilities, Loyalty from followers/ Such leaders eventually created hereditary dynasties

Caral

Prospered by growing cotton and relying on marine resources like anchovies Abandoned between 2000 and 1500 BC lack of warfare / Peru

chinampas

Rectangular plots of land surrounding on three or four sides by canals/ May have provided one-half to two-thirds of the food consumed in Tenochtitlan/ artificially raised fields/is a type of Mesoamerican agriculture/ The Aztecs did not invent chinampas but rather were the first to develop it to a large scale cultivation.Sometimes referred to as "floating gardens," chinampas are artificial islands that were created by interweaving reeds with stakes beneath the lake's surface, creating underwater fences. A buildup of soil and aquatic vegetation would be piled into these "fences" until the top layer of soil was visible on the water's surface/Among the crops grown on chinampas were maize, beans, squash, amaranth, tomatoes, chili peppers, and flower

Mound 72

Remains of one of Cahokia's leaders Body on platform of 20,000 shell beads shaped like a falcon Surrounded by more than 700 finely made arrowheads Sent to the afterlife with six possible sacrificial victims sacrificial burials/beaded burials

Shang

Shang dynasty is first clear indication of a state./ , ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty./ uncovered eleven major royal tombs and the foundations of palaces and ritual sites, containing weapons of war and remains from both animal and human sacrifices. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, and ceramic artifacts have been found./Represented a dramatic increase in complexity/ Dominated from approximately 1766 to 1122 BC

Hohokam

Sonoran Desert AD 700 until around AD 1000 Complex irrigation network focused along major river systems The Gila The Salt The Santa Cruz Salt River irrigation network 50 large artificial water channels Hundreds of secondary arteries Labor necessary would have been enormous Evidence of conscription and organization of labor force Long-distance trade Marine shell from Gulf of California Stone carvings and shell-bead necklaces Turquoise Red-on-buff ceramics Housewares Human-shaped pots Casa Grande (apartment complex) Snake town (large settlement & ceremonial center)

Fertile Crescent

The Near East/ is the region in the Middle East which curves, like a quarter-moon shape, from the Persian Gulf, through modern-day southern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and northern Egypt./ Known as the Cradle of Civilization, the Fertile Crescent is regarded as the birthplace of agriculture, urbanization, writing, trade, science, history and organized religion and was first populated c.10,000 BCE when agriculture and the domestication of animals began in the region. By 9,000 BCE the cultivation of wild grains and cereals was wide-spread and, by 5000 BCE, irrigation of agricultural crops was fully developed. By 4500 BCE the cultivation of wool-bearing sheep was practiced widely.

Toltec

Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl moved the Toltec capital to Tollan (Tula)/Rose to prominence following fall of Teotihuacan (AD 800) Reached maximum size between AD 950 and 1150 Declined before AD 1200 Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors

Tsunami

city of Alantis/Thera, also referred to as the Thera eruption or Santorini eruption, was a major catastrophic volcanic eruption/ one of the largest volcanic eruptions/ sent huge waves across eastern Medi./ many theories: ashes caused starvation, tsunami impacted costal regions, resulted from an earthquake then the eruption of thera/ unclear if this resulted on the downfall of the civilizations/ Mycenaean weaponry has been found in burials on Crete. That demonstrates Mycenaean military influence not many years after the eruption.[54] Many archaeologists speculate that the eruption caused a crisis in Minoan civilization, making them vulnerable to conquest by the Mycenaeans/ 2nd millenium

Thera [Santorini]

classically Thera/ is an island in the southern Aegean Sea/ largest island of a small, circular archipelago/The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption (sometimes called the Thera eruption), which occurred some 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization.[4] The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of metres deep and may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete/ source of the legend of Alantis

stela (plural: stelae)

consist of tall sculpted stone shafts or slabs and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain.Many stelae were sculpted in low relief,[23] although plain monuments are found throughout the Maya region.[24] The sculpting of these monuments spread throughout the Maya area during the Classic Period (250-900 AD), and these pairings of sculpted stelae and circular altars are considered a hallmark of Classic Maya civilization/ limestone , painted in red, yellow, black, blue etc

textiles

cotton at Mohenjo Daro in 3rd mill. BC./ Indus Valley/ various types of wool and possibly jute or hemp fibres were also used. Most recently, the discovery of silk thread inside copper beads from the site of Harappa indicates that wild silk was also known to the ancient inhabitants of the region, though there is no evidence to suggest that it was woven into fabric/ turbans, robes, skirts

warfare

engagement in or the activities involved in war or conflict.

sickle sheen and cereal harvesting

gathering grain with sickels/ natufian sickles (Lunates)/ sickles were composed of a handle made of bone or wood, and flint blade(s) or bladelet(s) inserted in it/ gloss which occurs on the edge of flint sickle blades, and which is caused by the wear of the blade against the phytoliths in the grasses being cut, shine produced on flint tools which have been used to reap cereal grasses. The polish comes from the action of silica present in the stems of both wild and cultivated cereals, so the occurrence of reaping tools with sickle gloss need not by itself imply agriculture./ gloss indicates their function as cereal harvesting tools since it is formed when used for cutting silica-rich plants, such as sedges or grasses, including wheat and barley

Teosinte

grass wild ancestor of maize in Mesoamerica/ Zea (Greek) cereal grain/ "grain of the gods"/general growth form is similar to that of maize, although they have much longer lateral branches

Indus script [undeciphered]

harappan seals/ Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not these symbols constituted a script used to record a language, or even symbolise a writing system./ longest 14 symbols in a line

terracing

inca/is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. /They developed resilient breeds of crops such as potatoes, quinoa and corn. They built cisterns and irrigation canals that snaked and angled down and around the mountains. And they cut terraces into the hillsides, progressively steeper, from the valleys up the slopes./ 1st layer: stones to build up and level 2nd layer: medium-sized gravel for better drainage 3rd layer: fine sand to improve drainage 4th layer: organic topsoil Stone block retaining walls

pyramid (SA)

include the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán in central Mexico, the Castillo at Chichén Itzá in the Yucatan, the Great Pyramid in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the Pyramid at Cholula and the Inca's great temple at Cuzco in Peru.

Jericho [Israel]

is a city in the Palestinian Territories and is located near the Jordan River in the West Bank/ believed to be one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world and the city with the oldest known protective wall in the world/ consecutive layers of habitation built up a mound over time/ Jericho has evidence of settlement dating back to 10,000 BC. During the Younger Dryas period of cold and drought, permanent habitation of any one location was impossible. However, the Ein es-Sultan spring at what would become Jericho was a popular camping ground for Natufian hunter-gatherer groups, who left a scattering of crescent-shaped microlith tools behind them.Around 9600 BC, the droughts and cold of the Younger Dryas stadial had come to an end, making it possible for Natufian groups to extend the duration of their stay, eventually leading to year-round habitation and permanent settlement./

Harappa [Pakistan]

is a large capital of the Indus Civilization, and one of the best-known sites in Pakistan, located on the bank of the Ravi River in central Punjab Province. At the height of the Indus civilization, between 2600-1900 BC, Harappa was one of a handful of central places for thousands of cities and towns covering a million square kilometers (about 385,000 square miles) of territory in South Asia.

raised fields

is a large cultivated elevation meant to allow cultivators control some environmental factors like flooding.

labor specialization

is a powerful force in an economy, benefiting small and large businesses alike. Workers produce more when they occupy specialized roles, so businesses can offer higher quality products at lower prices. Small-business owners can maximize the benefits of specialization by helping their workers find roles that suit their abilities./ nobles,vizier, priests, scribes, soldiers, slaves, farmes

Angkor Wat

is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world/ worship of Buddhism

huaca del sol

is an adobe brick temple built by the Moche civilization (100 CE to 800 CE) on the northern coast of what is now Peru. / layers of brick were laid directly on top of the old, / composed of over 130 million adobe bricks and was the largest pre-Columbian adobe structure built in the Americas/The Huaca del Sol was composed of four main levels. The structure was expanded and rebuilt by different rulers over the course of time. It is believed to have originally been about 50 meters in height and 340m. by 160 m. at the base. Located at the center of the Moche capital city, the temple appears to have been used for ritual, ceremonial activities and as a royal residence and burial chambers

talud/tablero

is an architectural style most commonly used in platforms, temples, and pyramids in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica/ Talud-tablero consists of an inward-sloping surface or panel called the talud, with a panel or structure perpendicular to the ground sitting upon the slope called the tablero. This may also be referred to as the slope-and-panel style./ pyramids

human sacrifice

is the act of killing one or more humans, usually as an offering to a deity, as part of a ritual

Monks Mound

is the largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas and the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica. The beginning of its construction dates from 900-955 CE/the platform mound was constructed almost entirely of layers of basket-transported soil and clay. Because of this construction and its flattened top, over the years, it has retained rainwater within the structure. This has caused slumping,/

Lords of Sipan

is the name given to the first of several Moche mummies found at Huaca Rajada/His jewelry and ornaments, which included headdresses, a face mask, a pectoral, (the pectoral was gold and had the head of a man and the body of an octopus) necklaces, nose rings, ear rings and other items, indicate he was of the highest rank Most of the ornaments were made of gold, silver, copper and semi-precious stones. The Lord of Sipán was wearing two necklaces with beads of gold and silver in the shape of maní (peanuts), which represent the tierra (earth). The peanuts symbolized that men came from the land, and that when they die, they return to the earth. Peanuts were used because they were an important food crop for the Moche. The necklaces had ten kernels on the right side made of gold, signifying masculinity and the sun god, and ten kernels on the left side made of silver, to represent femininity and the moon god./ three young women (possibly wives or concubines who had apparently died some time earlier), two males (probably warriors), and a child of about nine or ten years of age. The remains of a third male (possibly also a warrior) was found on the roof of the burial chamber sitting in a niche overlooking the chamber. There was also a dog which was probably the Lord of Sipan's favorite pet. The warriors who were buried with the Lord of Sipán had amputated feet, as if to prevent them from leaving the tomb. The women were dressed in ceremonial clothes. In addition to the people, archeologists found in the tomb a total of 451 ceremonial items and offerings (burial goods), and the remains of several animals, including a dog and two llamas.

Durrington Walls [England]

is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. It lies 2 miles north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury/ the settlement may have originally had up to 1000 houses and perhaps 4,000 people, if the entire enclosed area was used. The period of settlement was probably short between 2525 and 2470 BC / Neolithic & henge/ timber circle, known as the Southern Circle, 40 metres in diameter consisting of 6 rings of posts was found. More recent work has discovered that the entrance to the circle is aligned on the winter solstice sunrise ie the complete opposite of Stonehenge./ area where maybe those who helped build Stonehenge stayed at

Huang Ho (Yellow) River [China]

is the third longest river in Asia/ it flows through nine provinces, and it empties into the Bohai Sea near the city of Dongying in Shandong province/ Its basin was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization, and it was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history. However, because of frequent devastating floods and course changes produced by the continual elevation of the river bed, sometimes above the level of its surrounding farm fields, it also has the names China's Sorrow and Scourge of the Han People

Olmec

lowland, 1500-500 BC/ Complexity evident by 3,400 ya Largest sites represent autonomous chiefdoms connected by a common religious iconography "Mother culture" of later Mesoamerican cultures Specific styles of monuments and art (figure of man looks like a baby)

Myth of the Moundbuilders

the Moundbuilders were some non-Indian "race" from Europe, Asia, or perhaps Atlantis that built a magnificent empire in this hemisphere only to be overrun and obliterated by the ancestors of the "savage" American Indians, much as Eurasian barbarians were thought to have toppled the Roman Empire/ had discovered and reported there was no physical difference between the people buried in the mounds and modern Native Americans. Genetic research has proven that time and again. Scholars then and today recognized that the ancestors of modern Native Americans were responsible for all of the prehistoric mound construction in North America.

Knossos

the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city/ eventually became the ceremonial and political centre of the Minoan civilization and culture. The palace was abandoned at some unknown time at the end of the Late Bronze Age, c. 1380-1100 BC.[4] The reason why is unknown, but one of the many disasters that befell the palace is generally put forward/

Maya

the only known fully developed writing system of the pre-Columbian Americas—as well as for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya may have derived their writing from the Olmec Associated with recording kingly succession Calandar: Sacred Round or tzolkin - 260 days (20 named "months" with 13 numbered days each "month") Calendar Round or haab - 365 days (18 named "months" with 20 numbered days, PLUS a 5-day period at the end, for a total of 365 days Occurred abruptly around AD 800 Last stela at Tikal AD 869 Southern realm mostly abandoned Focus shifted north to Postclassic sites Chichen Itza Uxmal Mayapan

irrigation

the supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channels.