Period 1: Technological and
Environmental Transformations
to c. 600 BCE
Some Key Terms to Know
 Neolithic Revolution
 Invention of agriculture
 Pastoralism
 Herders; Raising of
domesticated animals
 Slash and Burn
 Using ashes from burned
forests as fertilizer
 Animism
 Seeing gods in nature
(i.e.worship the sun)
 Ideographic writing
 Symbols = concepts (i.e.
Chinese writing)
 Catal Huyuk
 Neolithic village > Turkey
Key Concept: The Development &
Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral
& Urban Societies
 Societies to Civilizations
 Shared features
 Agricultural surpluses
 Specialized Labor
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Cities
Political Bureaucracies
Armies
Religious Hierarchies
Social Hierarchies
Long-distance trading/economic exchanges
I. Core and Foundational
Civilizations
Civilization
Location
Mesopotamia
Tigris-Euphrates River Valley
Egypt
Nile River Valley
Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa
Indus River Valley
Shang
Yellow River (Huang He) Valley
Olmecs
Mesoamerica
Chavin
Andean South America
II. First States Emerge
 Powerful systems of rule
 Mobilized surplus labor & resources
 Ruler
 Thought to be “divine”
 Supported by military
 Best situated States
 Greater resources>more surplus food>more population
 Mesopotamia; Babylonia; Nile Valley
 Weapons> Iron; Compound Bows
 New Transportation> Chariots; Horseback Riding
III. Culture: Laws, Language,
Literature, Religion, Myths,
Monuments
Sculpture
Also painting, wall decorations, weaving
Record Keeping
 Cuneiform > Summerians
 Hieroglyphics > Egypt
 Pictographs > Olmecs, Chinese (Ideographic)
 Alphabets > Phoenicians
Monotheism
 Jews
 Influenced by Babylonian civilization
 Settled near the Mediterranean
 God’s special contract with His “chosen people”
Legal Codes
Code of Hammurabi
Trade Expansion
Egypt > Nubia, Kush, Ethiopia
Mesopotamia > Indus River Valley (Harrapa)