Jay Stanton Period 54A September 7, 2011

From Human Prehistory to the Early Civilizations I. Neolithic Revolution a. Stone Age i. Limited knowledge of Stone Age society ii. Knowledge based on tool remains, cave paintings and burial sites iii. What we are able to do today is based on ancestors knowledge of physical matter b. Agriculture i. Allowed humans to settle in one spot and focus on the following goals: 1. Economic 2. Political 3. Religious ii. Increased population from 6-8 million to about 100 million in 3000 years iii. Agriculture Development 1. Stemmed from the large growth of people and the need for other sources of food. 2. End of ice age caused less big game animals to be hunted and the dependency on smaller animals and different food sources 3. By 9000 B.C.E certain parts of the world were producing wild grains, berries and nuts and becoming more depending on these resources. 4. During the same time more animals became domesticated and farmers begin to use the animals for meat, skins and dairy products. 5. Led to nomadic herding societies. 6. Farming initially developed in the Middle East a. Initial farming ran from Turkey to Iraq and Israel b. Area was very fertile compared to today and development may have begun as early as 10,000 B.C.E c. It eventually spread to India, North Africa and Europe d. China agriculture including rice developed independently e. Agriculture invented separately in the Americas based on corn cultivation around 5000 B.C.E 7. The agriculture revolution was a slow process which took over 1000 years and several more thousands to spread to key population centers in Asia, Europe and Africa. 8. Agriculture supported larger populations and lead to people settling in one place. It allowed for better food supplies and people could afford to build houses and villages.

Jay Stanton Period 54A September 7, 2011

II.

9. Hunters resisted the agriculture movement but were eventually won over or driven out. 10. Disease also help push out hunters who were not immune to the diseases carried by the agricultural societies. 11. Some areas such as southern Africa, Australia, islands of southeast Asia and northern Japan did not catch as fast. Hunting tribes in Japan still existed up until 100 years ago and other areas converted about 2000 years ago. 12. Started in Americas around 5000 B.C.E and developed quickly in Central and South America 13. Some small areas still resisted due to harsh climate, and lack of knowledge 14. The growth of agriculture spawned the growth in other areas. a. Required control nature b. New technologies c. Storage facilities d. Metal tools around 4000 B.C.E. started in the Middle East allowed more efficient working conditions - Bronze Age Civilization- the first cities started to develop, along with advances in technology like the introduction of metal tools. a. Civilizations i. Most civilizations in this time period were around 40 to 60 people ii. Most people used a system known as slash and burn agriculture 1. They would burn the trees down, farm for a few years and then move to a new location iii. It was better for people to stay where they were though, because there were usually not new lands nearby and if you stayed then you could make long term investments like a good house and a well for water. iv. Catal Huyuk- was an agricultural community that became a civilization that eventually ruled over other civilizations. People there had house made of mud bricks and started to create a political system. v. What exactly is a civilization- The word is Latin for city. 1. The first step for a civilization is for it to have a writing system a. Cuneiform- writing system that was based on wedge characters 2. Nomadic hunting people were not able to create a civilization due to not being able to create a writing system 3. Nomadic people did contribute greatly to the development of civilizations because they traveled allot creating world trade. They

Jay Stanton Period 54A September 7, 2011

also developed technological advancements like riding equipment to get from place to place 4. Civilization started in the middle east, Egypt, northwestern India and northern China b. Tigris-Euphrates Civilization- many of the first civilizations started to evolve here including Mesopotamia i. Mesopotamia- one of the only civilizations that was created completely from scratch 1. Farmers quickly found copper, bronze and even created a wheel for transport 2. Due to not having the best ground conditions they need to irrigate the land in order to farm. This was the basis to start a political structure ii. Sumerians- were the first to create an alphabet structure that corresponded with spoken sounds 1. Not only did this civilization create an alphabet system but they also created a number system 2. Also had wide widespread religious beliefs throughout each town a. Ziggurats- huge towers in each town that everyone prayed to 3. City-states- the town was spilt up into city states and each one had a king that ruled over it iii. Babylonians 1. Made their empire bigger which aided in bringing civilization to other parts of the middle east 2. Hammurabi- under the rule of this king, he brought a court system to the Babylonians c. Egyptian Civilization- was formed around 3000 B.C.E. i. Pharaoh- was the king of the land and had all the power to do pretty much anything that he wanted to do ii. Pyramids- the huge tombs that the pharaohs had built for themselves iii. Thought of the idea to have 24 hour time zone iv. There alphabet was not close to the Mesopotamians III. The Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations- These civilizations stated to decline around 1200 B.C.E. And smaller towns developed around the middle east. these small centers started many things along with the religion of Judaism River Valley Civilizations 1. Introduce religion of Judaism

i.

Jay Stanton Period 54A September 7, 2011

2. Egyptian Pyramids 3. Numerous Inventions a. Wheel b. Horse taming c. Useable alphabet d. Key math concepts e. Organized monarchies and bureaucracies ii. Later Cultures 1. India and China 2. Introduction of slavery 3. Mesopotamians art Egyptian Architecture a. Influence on Greek styles b. Influence on European and Muslim cultures 4. Phoenicians a. Simplified alphabet with 22 letters around 1300 B.C.C which became predecessor of Greek and Latin alphabet. b. Improved numbering system 5. Lydians Introduced coined money 6. Jews a. Introduced the first clearly developed monotheistic religion b. Religion and moral code persisted even until today c. Key basis for the development of Christianity and Islam

IV.

The First Civilizations a. Many communities developed different beliefs and views on many different issues. b. Allot of the civilizations had developed their own language system