Unit 1—
Foundations
8000 BCE
to 600 CE
We begin at about 8,000 BC
when village life began in
the New Stone Age. . . Also
known as the
Neolithic Revolution.
NEW STONE AGE
A TOTALLY new way of living:
From
Hunter-Gatherers
to Agriculture
INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE

Mesopotamians first to engage in
agriculture
 Around
8000 BC
 Cereal crops
 Wheat
 Barley
 Herd
animals
 Sheep
 Goats

Woman probably first farmer

Grain-collecting then noticed that stored
wild grain could be grown on purpose
Agriculture changed
how people lived

Agriculture (Farming)

Growth of Cities

Division of Labor
(Specialization)

Trade

Writing and Mathematics
Human/Environmental interaction
Tools and weapons
 Social and political
organization
 Homes
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Lake houses in Switzerland
Long houses along Danube
Stone huts in Britain
Reed lean-tos in Egypt
Clay brick huts in Middle East
Broad language
groups appeared
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

Originally ruled by
council of elders


Close-knit society


Authority moved to
single leader
Communal granaries,
ovens, and fields
Private property
limited to personal
possessions
POSSESSIONS

Needs of
agriculture and
stability
Clay pottery
 Woven baskets
 Woolen and linen
clothing
 Sophisticated tools
and weapons
 Plow

RESULTS OF AGRICULTURE

Required
intensification of
group organization
 Neolithic
farmers
lived in settlements
 Ranged
from 150
(Jarmo) to 2000
(Jericho)
OUTSIDE CONTACTS

Neolithic communities had links
Walls indicate some fearful
 Others were more peaceful
 Obsidian and turquoise in Jericho
from several 100’s of miles away
 Either gifts or received in trade

Jericho
Origins and Spread of
Agriculture
What does it mean to be
civilized?

Historians have determined 6
characteristics of civilization:
 Cities
 Organized
central governments
 Complex religions
 Social classes
 Job specialization and the arts
 Writing
Cities

Rivers provided:

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Euphrates River
Rivers provided challenges:

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water supply
transportation
food supply from animals
flooding
irrigation
Required organized, mass labor
(corvee)

Construction and repair of canals and
irrigation ditches
Organized Central
Governments

Central authority needed to control:
Labor
 Storage of grain
 Dispersion of foodstuffs among
population


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Early governments first
led by priests
Later controlled by warrior
chiefs or kings
Organized Central
Governments

Governments became more
complex as new responsibilities
arose such as:
tax collecting
 law making
 handling public works projects
 organizing systems of defense

Complex Religions

Generally polytheistic
Many gods represented natural forces
 Others controlled human activities
 Priests and worshippers tried to gain
gods’ favor through complex rituals
and sacrifice


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Directed by unquestionable ruling
class of priests
King regarded as a god or as a
god’s agent
Complex Religions

Temples often built to honor
specific gods and goddesses
Egyptian temple
Mayan temple
Mesopotamian ziggurat
Social Classes

People ranked according to their
profession
Egyptian
social
structure
Chief
Priests
Nobles
Wealthy merchants
Artisans
Peasants/farmers
Social Classes


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Priestly class is part of the beginning of
social differentiation
Class structure based on specialization
of labor
Generated class differences
Priests (“We talk to god, you don’t.)
 Aristocrats/warriors (“We have weapons,
you don’t.”)
 Common people (“I guess we work...?”)
 Slaves (“Uh, oh!!!”)

Job Specialization
and the Arts

Artisans specialized in various jobs,
such as:




Bricklayers
Blacksmiths
Production of luxuries (Things You
Don’t Really Need)
Metal technology
Job Specialization
and the Arts
Created great architecture and art
 monumental architecture
 pyramids, ziggurats, big cities
 huge temples and associated
structures
 to fill the needs of a god-oriented
state
 under the control of the priestly
class

Writing


Probably first used by priests
Earliest writing used pictograms
Chinese calligraphy
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Mesopotamian cuneiform
Writing


Symbols later added to represent
words and then sounds
Scribes were specially trained to
read, write, and record information
Religion
 Trade
 Government


Learning
became
cumulative
UNIQUENESS OF CIVILIZATION

Civilization was not simply next
inevitable step from Neolithic Age


Many peoples remained at simple foodraising stage for thousands of years—
without developing any sort of civilization
Only four locations developed
civilizations entirely on their own

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China
Indus River Valley
Mesopotamia/Egypt
Central America and Peru
Common Characteristics ??

Water!!
Deserts of river cultures short on
resources
 River Valley Civilizations

Opportunity to adapt
environment
 Suitable for domesticated
plants/animals
 Relatively stable (a bit hot)
climate

GEOGRAPHY influenced the
development of river valley
civilizations.
Early River Valley Civilizations
Environment
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Indus River
Valley
China
Mesoamerica
& Andes
• Flooding of Tigris and Euphrates unpredictable
• No natural barriers
• Limited natural resources for making tools or buildings
• Flooding of the Nile predictable
• Nile an easy transportation link between Egypt’s villages
• Deserts were natural barriers
• Indus flooding unpredictable
• Monsoon winds
• Mountains, deserts were natural barriers
• Huang He flooding unpredictable
• Mountains, deserts natural barriers
• Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations
• Mountains and ocean natural barriers
• Warm temperatures and moderate rainfall
• Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations
Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent

Sumer – The
Earliest of the River
Valley Civilizations

Sumerian
Civilization grew up
along the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers in
what is now Kuwait.
Sumerian Writing: cuneiform
Cuneiform is created by pressing a
pointed stylus into a clay tablet.
Sumerians invented:
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Brick technology
Wheel
Base 60 – using the circle . . . 360 degrees
Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in
a minute
12 month lunar calendar
arch
ramp
ziggurat
Ziggurat – Holy Mountain

Click on the pictures for more information on ziggurats.
Babylon

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First know written law code
 “Rule of Law”
Hammurabi’s Code - 1792 BC
EGYPT
“The Gift of the Nile”
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Hieroglyphics
Pyramids
Geometry
Advances in medicine and
surgery
Nile
River
Sahara
Desert
Indus River Valley
2500 BC – 1500 BC
Harappan culture
 Well planned cities
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Grid pattern
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Modern plumbing

Built on mud brick platforms
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Larger cities

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Protected against seasonal floods
Houses built of baked brick
Smaller towns

Houses built of sun-dried mud brick
Aryan Migration
 pastoral  depended on their cattle
 warriors  horse-drawn chariots
Varna (Social Hierarchy)
Brahmins
Kshatriyas
Vaishyas
Shudras
Pariahs [Harijan]  Untouchables
Shang China
1600 BC – 1027 BC
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Yellow River Valley
Bronze, jade, stone, bone and ceramic artifacts
Advanced culture
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Divinations
Religion
Astronomy
Calendar
Art
Medicine
Shang China
1600 BC – 1122 BC

Religion
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Human as well as animal sacrifices
Regarded their land as only civilized land
and called it Zhongguo (Middle Kingdom)
Lack of contact with foreigners led to
belief in:

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Strong sense of identity
Superiority
Center of earth
Sole source of civilization
Zhou China
1122 BC – 256 BC

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Bronze, jade, silver, gold
Mandate of Heaven
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Veneration of ancestors

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Power to rule came from heaven
Power could be removed if ruler
not just
All must honor family responsibilities
Period ended with
Era of Warring States
Mesoamerica and
Andean South America
2900 BC – 1400 BC

Mesoamerica
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Maize, chili peppers, avocados, beans
Pottery
Stone bowls
Beads
Waddle and daub structures
No draft animals
Mesoamerica and
Andean South America
3500 BC – 1400 BC

Andes
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Textiles technology
Sophisticated government
Religion
Lacked ceramics
Largely without art
Most impressive achievement was
monumental architecture
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Large platform mounds
Sunken circular plazas
Civilization
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Cities that served as administrative centers
Political system based on control or defined
territory rather than on connections of kinship
Significant number of people engaged in
specialized, non-food-producing activities
Status distinctions, usually linked to
accumulation of substantial wealth by some
groups
Monumental building
System for keeping permanent records
Long distance trade
Major advances in science and arts

Richard W. Bulliet
Classical India
Mauryan Empire (320 BCE-320 CE)

Chandragupta
Unified northern India after
Alexander the Great withdrew
 Set up efficient bureaucracy


Asoka (grandson)
Dedicated life to Buddha
 Continued bureaucracy
 Hospitals, roads

Gupta Empire (320-647 CE)
Chandra Gupta I
Bureaucracy
Allowed local
government in south
Social Structure

Patriarchal
Women were legally minors
 Women under control of fathers,
husbands and sons


Caste system continued
International Trade Routes
Items Traded
spices
gold & ivory
Gupta
Art
Greatly influenced
Southeast Asian art & architecture.
Gupta Achievements
500 healing
plants identified
1000 diseases
classified
Printed
medicinal guides
Plastic
Surgery
Kalidasa
Literature
Medicine
Inoculations
C-sections
performed
Decimal
System
Gupta
India
Mathematics
Concept
of Zero
PI = 3.1416
Solar
Calendar
Astronomy
The earth
is round
Classical China
Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty
 Shi
Huangdi
 Legalist rule 
Bureaucratic,
centralized
control
 Military expansion
 Book burnings -->
targeted Confucianists
 Buried protestors alive!

(221-206 BCE)
Terra Cotta
Army
Great Wall
Han Dynasty

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
(202 BCE-220 CE)
Strong, centralized bureaucracy
Extended Great Wall
Roads (including Silk Road), canals
Emperor Wu Di (141-87 BCE)
 Public
schools
 Colonized
Manchuria,
Korea, &
Vietnam
 Civil service
system
Chang’an
The Han Capital
Han Artifacts
Imperial
Seal
Han Ceramic
House
Han – Roman Empire
Connection
Trade Routes of the Ancient World
Classical Greece
Early History
(3000 BCE-750 BCE)

Minoans
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Hellenes
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Crete
Seafaring merchants
Sophisticated civilization
Merged with native Greeks
Dark Age
Homer
Geographic
Influence

Mountains
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Insufficient farmland
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Founded colonies on Mediterranean
coast
Location

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Independent city-states
Peninsula in Mediterranean
Exchange of culture/trade
Deep harbors

Numerous good harbors on its
irregular coastline
City-States

Athens
 Democratic,

leading city-state
Sparta
 Aristocratic/military

Corinth
 Trading

city-state
center
United by language, culture and
fear of Persians
Alexander the Great
(336-323 BCE)
Taught by Aristotle
 Conquered Persian
Empire
 Created
Hellenistic
culture
 Died suddenly
at 33

Athenian Contributions
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Theater, poetry and historical writing
Science and math
Architecture and sculpture
Philosophy

Socrates
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Plato
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Individual
Group
Aristotle

World
Classical Rome
Ancient Rome
(1500 BCE-500 BCE)

1500BC-Latins
crossed Alps
 Founded
Rome
 Conquered by Etruscans

New Romans
 Roads,
walls, & buildings
 Metal weapons
Republic
500-27 BCE

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Social aristocracy
 Patricians
 Plebeians
Senate
Conquered Mediterranean world
 Italian Peninsula and west
 Client states
Spread Greek culture
Began to end with assassination of
Julius Caesar in 44 BCE
Empire
27 BCE-476 CE

Octavian (Augustus)

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Spread Greco-Roman civilization

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Law, language, historical writing
Trade, industry, science, architecture
Diocletian

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Began Pax Romana
Divided Empire
Constantine


Reunited empire
Converted to Christianity
Germanic Invasion

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Germans allowed to settle
Huns pushed more Germans in
476 CE—last Roman emperor
Classical
Mesoamerica
Maya (1800 BCE-800 BCE)

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Led by ruler-priests
Only known fully developed written
language of time/area
Art, architecture
Writing, math, astronomy, calendar
Cultural diffusion across Mesoamerica
Chavin (900 BCE-200 BCE)

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Pottery
Metalwork (including gold and
silver)
Religion promoted fertility

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Built temples
Used hallucinogens
Trade
Why civilizations fall
 External
 War
 Natural
disaster
 Disease
 Internal
 Overpopulation
 Economic
problems
 Social
disruption
 Political
struggles
How do civilizations
collapse?

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Population size and density decrease
dramatically
Society tends to become less politically
centralized
Less investment is made in things such as
architecture, art, and literature
Trade and other economic activities are
greatly diminished
The flow of information among people
slows
The ruling elites may change, but usually
the working classes tend to remain and
provide continuity
Is it possible to prevent collapse?

Every society must:
 answer basic biological needs of its members:
food, drink, shelter, and medical care.
 provide for production and distribution of goods
and services (perhaps through division of labor,
rules concerning property and trade, or ideas
about role of work).
 provide for reproduction of new members and
consider laws and issues related to reproduction
(regulation, marriageable age, number of
children, and so on).
 provide for training (education, apprenticeship,
passing on of values) of individuals so that they
can become functioning adults in society.
 provide for maintenance of internal and external
order (laws, courts, police, wars, diplomacy). Thuman
and Bennet
 provide meaning and motivation to its members.
Unit 1—
Foundations
8000 BCE
to 600 CE