Civ IN- Text from Lecture 1
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Lecture 1A- Prehistory
I)
Evolution
II)
Paleolithic Age
III)
Neolithic Age
IDs:
Literalism
fides et ratio
Fire
Evolution
homonids
hunter/gatherer
Ancestor worship
Neanderthal
Cromagnon
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Debate over evolution
Prof. Fitzgibbons
Epistemology
Debate:
Literalist
vs.
Symbolic
Catholic teaching?
Humani Generis (1950)
Pope John Paul II
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Pope John Paul II on
science and religion
(speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 1979)
“We cannot but deplore certain attitudes which have existed among Christians themselves,
insufficiently attentive to the legitimate autonomy of science. Sources of tensions and conflicts, they
have lead many minds to conclude that faith and science are mutually opposed.” (1979)
Further statement (on science and religion in general): Fides et Ratio (1998)
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Pope John Paul II on evolution (1996)
“Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of [Pius XII’s Humani Generis], some new findings
lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than an hypothesis.”
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Early homonids
“Lucy”
C. 3-4 million years ago
Recent discovery
East Africa (Zaire)
C. 8 million years ago
Concurrent types of homonids
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II) Paleolithic Age
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Paleolithic Peoples
From 2.5m years BC- to 10,000 BC
“Old” + “stone”
Discovery of fire- c. 500,000 BC
Hunter/gatherer communities
- followed wild herds
- 20-30 individuals
Moved from Africa to Europe and Asia
Stressful life
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Paleolithic Shelters
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Paleolithic Era Inhabitants
Homo sapiens- approx. 200,000 BC
- 2 types
#1- Neanderthals
- 100,000 BC - 40,000 BC
- early language
- early religion- “ancestor worship”
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Neanderthal burial
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Cave Paintings
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Paleolithic Era Inhabitants
Homo sapiens- approx. 200,000 BC
- 2 types
#1- Neanderthals
#2 Cromagnon (homo sapiens sapiens)c. 250,000- 10,000 BC
- community
- outlasted Neanderthals
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Lecture 1B- Neolithic Civilization
I)
Agricultural Revolution
II)
Urban Revolution
IDs:
Domestication
river plain societies
Pictographs
Irrigation
Surplus
elemental gods
Polytheism
Priests
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Neolithic Peoples
Began after the end of the Great Ice Age (around 10,000 BC)
Food moved north
Mild and damp climates
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Revolution #1:
Agricultural Revolution
1st Major change:
Agricultural Revolution
- 7,000 or 8,000
years BC
- domestication
- gamble
- payoff
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Neolithic creations
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Neolithic burial
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Neolithic burial site at Newgrange
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II) Urban Revolution
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Revolution #2:
Urban Revolution
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Earliest Cities
Satal Huyuk (Catal Hüyük)- c. 7000 BC
Around 6,000 residents
Use of copper
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“Civilization” and the Urban Revolution:
4 basic components
Political
- irrigation→
organization
Religious
- ancestor worship→
elemental gods
Economic/social
- surplus
- specialization
Cultural
- pictographs
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Urban Revolution- Mesopotamia
Political:
Need for cooperation on irrigation
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The Fertile Crescent
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Mesopotamian irrigation (ca. 4000 BC)
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Mesopotamian irrigation (ca. 4000 BC)
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Urban Revolution- Mesopotamia
Political:
Need for cooperation on irrigation
Rulers and supernatural favor
Example: Petition to king:
“You in your judgment, you are the son of Anu [the sky god]. Your commands, like the word of god,
cannot be reversed; your words, like rain pouring down from heaven, are without number.”
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Sumerian Palace (ca. 1792 BC)
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Urban Revolution- Mesopotamia
Political
Religious:
Elemental gods
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Political
Urban Revolution- Mesopotamia
Religious:
Elemental
- sun, wind, rain, etc.
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Fertility statues
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Ziggurats
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Urban Revolution- Mesopotamia
Political
Religious:
Supernatural
Ziggurat and resources
Land ownership
Polytheistic
Worship