Hist 201 - 1
How have historians disagreed about the relationship between the development of agriculture and "progress"?
"Progress" and "advanced" just mean "more like us". A better term is formidable. I more formidable society has advantages that allow it to survive better than others. Agricultural societies are more formidable than hunter/gatherer societies.
Diamond's purpose and thesis
"Why did human development proceed at such different rates on different continents?" "History followed different courses of different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves."
3 truths and a lie: ways that farming spread
- Displacement of foragers by farmers - Imitation of farmers - Environmental change that favored farmers - Greater intelligence among farming peoples (lie)
3 truths and a lie: foraging peoples
- They lived in small bands with low population densities. - They had to spend the majority of the daylight hours foraging or hunting for food. (lie) - Men specialized in hunting and women in gathering. - They had few social distinctions or inequalities
What are some of the differences found in ancient religions in different societies?
- deeds in life affecting afterlife - who gets a good afterlife - relationship between human and divine (how does this change after death)
What are the characteristics of ancient religions on complex societies?
- polytheistic - centered around a pantheon of gods - arm of the state - priest class (Brahmin) - available only to elites
Early Chinese Religion
- supreme god, Shangdi and other great nature gods - Shang dynasty emphasized that their ancestors could influence the gods - led to belief that everyone's ancestors influenced the gods, led to... - ancestor worship (heavy emphasis)
transition to agriculture
-Occurred in many regions, independently. -Not inevitable. -Not always "better" slow process often brought on by climate change, or pressure from other farming communities
state
a territorial unit and political community with a formal government
Plow Agriculture
A form of cultivation in which fields must be plowed to remove weeds and grasses prior to planting - made soil better and allowed farmers to use heavier soils
Bantu
A major African language family. Collective name of a large group of sub-Saharan African languages and of the peoples speaking these languages. Famous for migrations throughout central and southern Africa.
What was an impact that increasing numbers of Paleolithic peoples had on the environment?
A mass extinction of large mammals
Natufians
A people in the middle east area, the climate allowed wild wheat to grow. They harvested it with sickles and ground it with stones. The climate changed and some left the area, while others learned to farm the wild wheat (first agriculturists). Held funeral for shaman woman with a variety of food
Who were the Magdalenians?
A settled, foraging people who lived off reindeer meat in southern France
Eurasian Steppe
A vast expanse of dry grassland extending from Romania to northeastern China.
Why did some peoples adopt agriculture?
A warm climate allowed them to obtain more food by farming, a cold climate forced them to farm, certain types of grain farmed really well
Tuberculosis
An infectious disease that may affect almost all tissues of the body, especially the lungs, dates to ancient Egypt
What types of sources do scholars use to find out about foraging peoples?
Archeological, anthropolocial, genetic
Why do you think agriculture developed independently in different parts of the world?
Because climate does weird stuff everywhere causing a need for more reliable food. At some point most peoples struggle with food due to some reason or another and they know that plants need things to grow and if they help the plants grow better they get better food
Polytheism
Belief in many gods, often as a pantheon
Monotheism
Belief in one God - first in Aten (sun god) as the only god, pharaoh Akhenaten attempted to destroy traces of other gods (more of a power grab from the priests, than actual religion)
What are 3 sources used by historians and scholars to study foraging societies?
genetic, archaeological, anthropological
What were the most important conditions for the first transition to agriculture?
Climate made plants less good, less good plants means less animals and less plants for eating. Deliberately cultivating plants gives more reliable crop (probably, I don't really remember this part)
crowd diseases
Diseases, such as typhus, tuberculosis, and smallpox, that tend to develop in situations of overcrowding and poor sanitation. - more opportunity for infectious diseases (animal-human, human-human) -close social contact -proximity to human and animal waste
Approximately where and when did the domestication of the most important farm animals occur?
Dogs in eurasia like 20000 years ago, cats in turkeyish? i think? the americas kind of had llamas, but not really. I want to say between 8000 and 15000 years ago in eurasia. Sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, cows, etc.
Akhenaten
Egyptian pharaoh that attempted to seize power back from the priests by ending worship in other gods and only worshiping Aten, the sun god. Only he could worship Aten, everyone else had to worship him. Everyone hated it and when he died, they all went back to the old way.
Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic poem from Mesopotamia, written 2000 BC, oral tradition several millennia earlier, Gilgamesh was probably a real king at some point. In the story, Gilgamesh's friend kills a sacred bull and is sentenced to die. Gilgamesh (partly divine) confronts his mortality and searches for immortality. Sumerian views of afterlife - immortality/afterlife is for Gods, normal afterlife is wasteland search for food/water. No correlation between behavior in this life, and a better afterlife in the next. Gilgamesh's quest is to PROVE his divinity.
What were the two main ways in which farming spread far and wide?
Farming took over the lands the hunter/gatherers used and so they kind of had to farm or else they couldn't eat. Also webs of communication and trade and people just liked the idea of being able to grow more reliably? Probably anyway.
Cult of Osiris
Followers of Osiris, fertility god of the Nile, killed by brother, body parts scattered, gathered by wife Isis, resurrected. Symbolizes flooding of the Nile, life cycle of crops. At first, only rich who could afford mummification were thought to be resurrected - eventually everyone was thought to be resurrected. Osiris seen as a guardian of the souls of the dead. Weighing of the heart - beginnings of morality determining afterlife stuff.
Is the development of agriculture an inevitable stage in human progress? Explain why or why not.
I think yes. Just because climate does weird stuff and it might take a million years but eventually it seems to happen. It happened independently in a lot of places (not Australia, but they've always been weird. That place is a freaking death trap)
Herd immunity
If enough people are immune to a disease, it means the microbes have fewer hosts to travel to. Herd immunity means that people who are not individually immune are less likely to encounter the microbe and thus less likely to get sick. But they have no antibodies of their own and if they are exposed they may still become sick.
secondary source
Information gathered by someone who did not take part in or witness an event
Endemic disease
Inherent to the population, everyone gets it at some point, mostly just children who have never had it before die
The Jomon culture was found in...?
Japan
How did accessibility to food sources affect where the first sedentary and semi-sedentary people lived?
Lack of some food (animals?) forced them to cultivate crops to survive off of. Presence of a crop they liked may have caused them to cultivate and domesticate it. Abundance of a crop may have caused them to settle there. Sea shores and generally next to large bodies of water where fish could be found. Or river beds where crops tended to grow really well.
What was one of the first grains domesticated in northern China (in the Huang He valley)? (Hint: its not rice)
Millet
Which of the following was one of the first grains domesticated in northern China (in the Huang He valley)?
Millet
What kinds of difficulties do scholars encounter when using anthropological studies of modern-day foraging societies?
Modern foraging societies live in marginal areas today, and in early societies they lived in productive lands.
How did the transitions to agriculture impact human population and health?
Not good. Less variety meant worse nutrition and they were also getting less protein. Health was worse. Farming took a toll on the body. Women especially suffered, not to mention the strain and danger on the female body from giving birth more often
The era before humans developed agriculture is usually referred to as the ______________ era
Paleolithic
Upanishads
People used to hope to live with the gods in the afterlife. These book(s)? introduced the idea of reincarnation
Foragers
People who support themselves by hunting wild animals and gathering wild edible plants and insects.
Describe the process of domestication with examples of animals and plants.
Plants- plant seeds, harvest, plant the seeds of the plants that grew better, tasted better, gave more food, didn't need as much water, survived the cold, etc. Animals - kill the more aggressive males, only allow more submissive males to mate, prioritize mating of animals with better wool, etc.
What are some important characteristics of foraging societies?
Small, children spaced out, lots of free time, very distant and different from other groups, more calories from gathering than hunting
Indian Ocean Monsoon
Strong winds caused by seasonal temperature change in central Eurasia. Northward in summer, southward in winter, made Indian ocean accessible to seafarers.
Oracle bones
The earliest known Chinese writing is found on these, bones are heated and cracks tell
Why were peoples that grew primarily grain crops more likely to develop states?
grains are lightweight and don't spoil fast, can be traded over far distance, easy to use as tax/currency
Hebrews
The other (more successful) monotheistic religion. Started with Abraham. Started more with Moses and the exodus from Egypt - kept having to remind them to not worship other gods. Kings marrying polytheistic women didn't help. Individual having a relationship with God. Offences against neighbor are offences against God. Religious texts are important.
What is the difference between "the past" and "history"?
The past is what actually happened, history is what's written about what happened.
gracialization
The thinning and shrinking of skeletons through evolution. Humans underwent this process as social groups grew and relied less on their physical strength for survival.
Acquired/natural immunity
There are some diseases a person becomes immune to once they've had the disease and survived it. Acquired immunity (in most cases relevant to what we discuss in this lesson) cannot be passed on to children
In what sense was the development of farming an energy revolution?
They could get a lot more food out of a lot less space
Why did the populations that moved out of Africa become culturally diverse?
They were adapting to a wider range of environments
Vaccine-induced immunity
Thus, through vaccination immunity is granted to the vaccinated person even though they didn't inherit it or acquire it by having to go through the diseases. Vaccines are part of the reason why the human population has been growing exponentially for the last couple hundred years.
Rig Veda
a series of songs, poems, etc. written by the Brahmins (Indian priest class) in 600 BC, the first of the vedas
Transmigration of the soul (reincarnation)
Your deeds in life determine if you are born next as a lesser (animal or lower cast) or higher being. Goal is Moksha - escape from the cycle, release from rebirth - soul reunited with the Brahman or universal soul.
shamanism
a general belief in spirits, dreams, afterlife, music, dance, trances, possibly/probably the beginnings of religion
complex society
a large-scale social unit with an elaborate division of labor, pronounced social hierarchy hundreds of different social roles that people can fill, and institutions to regulate exchanges among individuals and among groups
Younger Dryas
a mini ice age about 12000 years ago, caused some to migrate to warmer climates, others began cultivating crops
bronze
a mixture of copper and tin, Some people call the later part of the Neolithic Age the ______ Age because of the advancements in metallurgy and tools.
Magdalenian
a people in southern france/northern spain that hunted and smoked enough reindeer meat in one season to sustain themselves for most of the year, known for their art on cave walls
Genetic/inherited immunity
a person has genes that will keep them from being infected by a particular disease. It usually takes many, many generations for genetic immunity to evolve, and it is quite rare.
holocene
after the younger dryas to present, a period of more stable climate
shifting agriculture
also called slash and burn or swidden - cut and burn a clearing, farm for several years, move (ash provides good nutrients for a while), pretty practical
What were the two biggest environmental impacts of Paleolithic humans?
altering vegetation through repeated burning of landscapes, and mass extinctions of large animals
primary source
an account of an event created by someone who took part in or witnessed the event
The Old World Web
from China to Egypt, encompassing most of Eurasia and north Africa
Why did sedentary life spur the development of tools and other objects?
because people could suddenly own more than just what they could carry. Also, a consistant living environment could allow for more specialization of tools and such
What are the main reasons that Homo sapiens is the last hominin standing?
bipedalism, big brains, culture, tools, fire, language, more adaptable, more imaginative
Animism
both farmers and foragers, belief that everything in the world has a spirit, magic, religious rituals, - explain the unexplainable
domestication
breeding traits in plants or animals that are beneficial to humans
Smallpox
from cows, completely eradicated now
webs of world history
connections between peoples and cultures from trade, travel, alliances, conflicts, etc.
city
contains the elaborate division of labor and social hierarchy of complex society, distinguished by dense living quarters, open public spaces, and imposing public buildings
There are three basic and common effects of agriculture on the environment that human societies have had to deal with. What are they?
deforestation, soil erosion (caused by lack of trees, heavy rainfall, and/or wind), and soil depletion (caused by over-farming)
Epidemic disease
disease acquired by many hosts in a given area in a short time
What is the homogenization of the disease pool? How has it affected human history? What role did disease play in human societies?
each time a new society joins the pool, it brings its own diseases, which create epidemics for the others until eventually they become endemic
Paleolithic
era from 2.6 million years ago-13000 years ago not a ton of interaction outside of groups 20-80 individuals lots of leisure time us vs them mentality those that can't keep up are left behind
What changes in Paleolithic human societies did the emergence of religion bring?
more likely to grow, cooperate despite there being more of them, higher resiliency, improved odds of survival and reproduction
Crowd diseases
more opportunity for infectious diseases (animal-human, human-human) -close social contact -proximity to human and animal waste -always new hosts
In what sense was there a cultural revolution during the late Paleolithic period?
more people began to survive to an older age, more children were born and survived, populations grew rapidly, groups ran into each other more and exchanged more ideas
irrigation
much higher crop yield, much more work, dams could be a weak point for invaders to attack
Herders
nomads who kept cattle, goats, or sheep and drove them to find water and good pastures for grazing during the dry season, kind of the animal counterpart of farmers
Why was slow global warming after about 18000 BC a benefit for humans?
opened up new areas for habitation, allowed food to grow better, plants grew better
Malaria
parasite, greatest cause of human death, no acquired immunity, carried by mosquitoes
Jomon culture
people in what is now Japan, known for pottery with ropelike lines and high population density for a foraging people
How did the unstable climate of the last ice age encourage human migration?
peoples either moved to warmer areas or began farming to ensure a food supply
Why are most scholars moving away from the term "civilization," in favor of "complex society"?
problematic, implies that the lack of use means a society is uncivilized, used to justify racism
Moksha
release from rebirth
Göbekli culture
semi-sedentary, built a temple nearish to trade routes that would have taken 500+ people to build, shows cooperative effort and religious presence
What are some of the most common characteristics of complex societies (which we will also refer to as, indicators of complexity?)
surplus agricultural production, large settled urban areas, regional or long-distance trade, complex division of labor, political and/or religious hierarchies, writing
Metallurgy
the branch of science and technology concerned with the properties of metals and their production and purification.
Brahmin
the highest of the four classes of the caste system, traditionally made up of priests
Why did complex societies often form in dry areas that had rivers, rather than in well-watered areas?
those that controlled the irrigation, controlled the people, amassed power, can't go far away from the rivergra
How did agriculture and urban living increase the amount of disease in human society?
tighter packed people so easier transmission, more standing water, living around animals means more opportunities for a mutated animal virus to spread to humans
Brahman
universal soul
Schistosomiasis
virus snails, crowd disease, 200 million cases per year, dates back to ancient Egypt
levant
western edge of fertile crescent, where farming communities likely started
yangzi river
where rice was probably first domesticated - more yield but also more work
