CLASSICAL
PERIPHERIES:
EMERGING AREAS
ON THE BORDERS
OF CLASSICAL
CIVILIZATIONS
THE CLASSIC WORLD
NOMADIC SOCIETY AND ECONOMY
• Nomadic peoples
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Pastoral nomads
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Clans from common ancestors, with related languages
• Central Asia's steppes
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Good for grazing, little rain, few rivers
Nomads and their animals; few settlements
• Nomads drove their herds in migratory cycles
• Lived mostly on animal products
• Produced millet, pottery, leather goods, iron
• Nomads and settled peoples
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A love, hate relationship of war and trade
Trade, exchange: Nomads maintained caravan routes
Exchanged horses for finished goods including silk
• Fluidity of classes, gender in nomadic society
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Two social classes: nobles and commoners
Patriarchal society but women accorded many rights, privileges
• Religions
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Mostly shamanistic
Diviners influence forces of nature, interpret it
• Political and Military organization
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Autonomous clans and tribes
Organized confederation of tribes
Loyalty to higher, stronger lord but generally autonomous
Outstanding cavalry forces
THE NOMAD’S WORLD
CENTRAL ASIA 2000 – 1000 BCE
INDO-EUROPEANS
• Obscure pastoral nomads
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Central Eurasian pastoral
Lived in area around
Northern Black Sea
Northern Caspian Sea
• Language
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Is basis of Indo-European languages
Now spoken on every continent
Spoken by over ½ of world’s people
Spread throughout Eurasia
Left no written records
Deeds remembered orally and written down later
• Often called chariot peoples
• Migration split culture into different branches
• Hittites were first in “Western” History
PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN
• Groups
• Indo-Europeans
• Indo-Iranians
• Indo-Aryans
• Chariot Peoples
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Domesticated horse
Developed metallurgy technologies
Created chariots, archery, cavalry
Herded sheep, horses, cattle
INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES AND GROUPS
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Linguists cannot date divergence of branches
Vocabulary included
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Mother-Father
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Mutter-Vater (German)
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Matar-Patar (Sanskrit)
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Madre-Padre (Spanish)
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Mater-Pater (Latin)
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God
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Dyas (Sky God – Aryans/Sanskrit)
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Zeus (Greek)
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Deus (God – Latin)
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Dios, Dieu (God – Spanish, French)
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Dream
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Soma – God of Dreams, Sanskrit
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Sonar – Dream, Spanish
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Fire, Combust
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Agni – God of Fire, Sanskrit
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Ignite – Explode, combust, English
FIRST MIGRATIONS
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c. 4500 BCE
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c. 4000 BCE
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Indo-Europeans bury leaders in artificial hills with all belongings
Anatolian migration begins
c. 3500 BCE
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First Indo-European cultures north of Caspian Sea
Sub-division into tribes with distinct cultures
Early chariots, stone idols, stone circles
Domestication of the horse
Animal husbandry, permanent settlements, hill forts
Subsisting on agriculture and fishing, along rivers.
Beginning of Bronze Age
c. 3000 BCE
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Indo-Europeans extend across entire steppe north of Black Sea to China
Migration begins into Europe from the Volga to the Rhine River
Rise of distinct, individualized cultures with distinct languages
Anatolian (Hittite) and Tocharian (in Xingjian Province)
Loose contact spreads technology
SPREAD OF THE INDO-EUROPEANS
Red—settling up to ca. 2500 BCE
Orange—settling up to ca. 1000 BCE
SPREAD OF THE CHARIOT & HORSE
BREAK-UP AND SPREAD
• c. 2500 BCE
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Rise of distinct proto-languages due to geographic separation and physical geography
Proto-Greek is spoken in Balkans
Proto-Indo-Iranian is spoken North of the Caspian Sea
Bronze Age reaches Europe
• c. 2000 BCE
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Chariot is invented in its modern form
Chariot leads to split, spread of Iranians, Indo-Aryans over Central Asia, Northern India, Iran
Anatolian splits into Hittite and lesser languages
• c. 1500 BCE
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Proto-Germanic and Proto-Celts emerge in Central Europe, Scandinavia
Proto-Celts become masters of bronze technology
Proto-Italians migrate into Italian peninsula
Rise of the Rig Veda and Vedic Culture in the Indus-Ganges River Valley
Mycenaean civilization arises in Peloponnesian Peninsula.
• c. 1000 to 500 BCE
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Celts spread throughout Western Europe; Germanic culture arises in Scandinavia
Vedic Age gives way to Brahamanism and Upanishads
Medes and Persians establish Achaeamenid Empire in Southwest Asia
Zoroaster arises in Iran and composes the Gathas; Homeric epics written in Greece
Genesis of Italic and Greek alphabets
Thracian, Illyrian, Dacian languages arise in Balkans; Hittite goes extinct
EURASIAN MIGRATIONS
MIGRATIONS INTO EUROPE
LATER MIGRATIONS
• In Europe
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Celts to Iberia, British Isles c. 750 BCE
Scythians, Sarmatians c. 500 BCE along Black Sea
Germans 100 – 600 CE in Central, Western Europe
Slavs 300 – 700 CE from Eastern to SE, Central Europe
Scandinavian (Vikings) 600 – 900 CE along rivers, coasts
• In Central Asia
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Shang to China, c. 1500 BCE
Bactrians to Persia, Afganistan 250 BCE
Parthians to Persia 250 BCE
Tocarians/Kushans to Afghanistan 100 BCE
Sakas (Indo-Scythians) to Afghanistan, India 100 CE
SCYTHIANS & SARMATIANS
THE CELTS
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Celts
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History
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Civilization at Ancient Bronze Age similar to Mycenae Greece
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Organized into clans, tribes ruled by kings and druids
Polytheistic, deified nature: priests = druids
Strong tradition of bards, story tellers, ballads, heroes, saints
Rome and the Celts
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Romans conquered Celts, Romanized Celts
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Some cities but generally fortified hill sites
Grew wheat and barley and kept sheep, cattle and some pigs
Developed crafts, strong artistic tradition; pottery
Controlled salt deposits as source of trade
Strong trade with Mediterranean, Greeks, Etruscans
Developed Iron technologies around 1000 BCE
Structures and hierarchies
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Arose in Alps, Central Europe 1200 BCE
Settled in France, Spain, Britain, Ireland
Migrated into Italy, Balkans, Greece, Turkey around 1000 BCE
Paul’s Letter to the Galatians = Celt tribe of Turkey
Strong tradition of warfare, raids
Caesar conquered Gaul; later emperors added Britain
Organized Celtic lands into provinces, built cities
Blended Celtic-Latin culture: Assimilation
Exterminated Druid priests as they opposed Rome
Ireland, Scotland retained independence
Christianity reached Celts by 3rd century CE
Irish Christianity never effected by collapse of Rome
CELTIC MIGRATIONS
CELTIC WORLD
CELTS
BECAME
Treveri
Helveti
Parisi
Veneti
Regni
Iceni
Caledones
Celtiberi
AND
LATER
Irish
Welsh
Scots
Britons
Cornish
Manx
THE GERMANS
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Early Bronze Age History
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Original Homeland = Sweden
• Migrated into Germany, Denmark
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Sometimes allies, slaves of Celts
later established independence of Celts
• Settled 2/3 of Europe
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Germans and Romans
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Eastern Europe, Central Europe, steppes of Ukraine
Pushed up to Rhine, Danube border
With defeat of Celts, Germans became threat to Rome
Germans were stronger than Celts, defied Romans
In 1st century, defeated Romans, remained independent
Romans erected elaborate defense systems against Germans
Late 3rd century: Germans become Roman mercenaries
Late 4th century: Germans allowed to settle in Roman empire
Society
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Agrarian society: small villages, fortified areas; some trade
Strong tribes, loyalty to warlords; raiding very important
• Two classes: nobility and commoners; both owned land
• Women had many rights in Germanic society
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Religion was a militaristic bloody polytheism
Christianity and Germans
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Missionaries moved, settled amongst Germans
St. Ulfias converts Germans to Arian Christianity
THE GERMAN WORLD
Teutons
Became
Goths
Visigoths
Ostrogoths
Vandals
Franks
Burgundians
Suevi
Alans
Angles
Saxons
Jutes
Lombards
Norsemen
Germans
Austrian
Dutch
Flemish
English
Swiss
Swedes
Danes
Norwegians
Icelanders
GERMANIC MIGRATIONS
The Volkerwanderung
THE EARLY SLAVIC MIGRATIONS
Slavs were
Originally
Part of the
German
World.
The tribes
were allied.
When the
Germans
Moved
West, Slavs
Were ruled
First by
Huns and
Later
Independent.
They filled
Hun and
German
vacuum.
SLAVIC MIGRATIONS
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Homeland: Pripet Marshes (Belarus)
400 – 650 CE
• Come to dominate Central, Eastern Europe
• Filled in for exiting Germans
• Spread across Carpathians
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650 – 750 CE
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Spread into Southeast Europe, Balkans
Byzantines too weak to prevent
Bulgars (Turks) adopt Slavic customs
Spread across Northern European Plain
LATE INDO-EUROPEAN STEPPE PEOPLES IN CENTRAL ASIA
BORDERS OF CHINA
• Relative Location
• Korea, Vietnam borders of China
• Japan located off coast of East Asia
• Physical Characteristics
• Korea, Vietnam
• Mountainous, cut by river valleys
• Population located on plains
• Japan
• Volcanic islands, very mountainous
• Deep valleys with plains
• Demography
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Peoples related to Chinese
Populace generally heavy on plains
Rice was principal crop
Cities exist but rarer than China
• Cities: centers of Chinese culture
• Countryside: resistant to Sinification
THE CONFUCIAN WORLD
YUE, YUEH: WHO ARE THEY?
• Yangzi and South
• China: Two cultural hearths where agriculture arose
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Yellow River were clearly Chinese or Han
The peoples south of the Yangzi were not Chinese
Rice, yams cultivated; pig, water buffalo, chicken domesticated
Strong aquaculture and use of sea-borne technologies
• 1st Wave: Voluntary migration to Taiwan, Philippines
• The Yue and the Chinese
• Ancient Chinese name for peoples south of Yangzi
• Chinese identify 100 different peoples
• Qin and Han push control south
• Increasingly brought under Chinese influence – language, customs
• Ethnic Chinese settled throughout area
• People forced to migrate to hills, leave area
• Second Wave: Westward into hills of Sichuan
• Third Wave: Southward into Vietnam
MIGRATION IN EAST AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA
Conquests by Qin and Han armies plus
Pressure from Han peasants migrating
To south began the migrations.
MALAYO-POLYNESIANS
• Theories for Origin
• They migrated from Taiwan, Philippines
• They migrated from New Guinea
• They migrated from Yunnan down Mekong
• Dates
• Hard to define
• Thought to be have begun around 2000 BCE
• Migration Pressures
• Over-population
• Technology allowed ease of sailing, navigation
• Areas Settled
• Indonesia, Philippines, Malay Peninsula, South Vietnam
• Madagascar, New Zealand, Hawaii
• New Guinea, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia
MAPPING THEIR MOVEMENT
THE POLYNESIANS: OCEANIC NOMADS
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Polynesians
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Originated in New Guinea
Developed shifting agriculture, portable agriculture
• Farm one area intensively, move on
• Raised banana, taro, sweet potato, fish, pigs, chickens
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Sailing Technology
• Double hulled canoes; central platform with sail
• Use stars, winds, wave patterns, air/sea patterns, islands, atolls, birds
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Migrated across island chains in boats
• By 1500 BCE settled Madagascar; by 300 CE Easter Island
• By 500 CE settled Polynesia, Micronesia, Hawaii
• By 1000 CE settled New Zealand – totally different climate
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Social Structures
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Migration needed to avoid overpopulation
• Depleted resources, shortages, environmental degradation, conflict
• Eastern Island was example of this problem
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Hamlet and villages
• Hamlets on volcanic islands, up to 5 houses; often one family
• Villages on larger islands, up to 30 houses; often an important chief, king
• Society organized by extended families, clans
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Many taboos or prohibitions, laws regulating societies
Division of labor
• Men fished, women worked shore and land
• Coastal Polynesians traded fish for inland products
POLYNESIAN WORLD
KEY
1. Polynesia
2. Hawai‘i
3. New Zealand
4. Easter Island
5. Samoa
6. Fiji
7. Tahiti
OCEANIC NOMADS
MICRO, MELA, POLY-NESIA
Micro = Small Islands
Mela = Black Islands (Volcano)
Poly = Many Islands
EARLY KOREA
• Pre-Historic Korea
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Region had extensive Paleolithic, Neolithic settlements
Evolved into pottery producing societies
Evolved both dry field, wet field production of rice
Practiced elite burial
• Gojoseon
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Claimed to be the first Korean historical state
Founded c. 2300 BCE
People were descendants of Altaic tribes migrating from Manchuria
First capital was Liaoning but later moved to Pyongyang
• Bronze Age Culture to 400 BCE
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Feudal culture became centralized
Agriculture expanded with new crops
• Iron Age Culture
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Warfare in China pushed Chinese refugees into Korea
Refugees brought iron technology into Korea leading to collapse of state
Period saw rise of culture in Southern Peninsula which traded with Japan
• Han China
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Qin and Han conquered Northern Korea, ruled them as four provinces
Fall of Han saw Korea independent with three rival states
Confucianism entered with bureaucracy
EARLY JAPAN
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Ancient Japan
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Earliest inhabitants were nomadic Caucasians (Ainu) from Northeast Asia
Japanese related to Koreans, migrated into islands, pushed Ainu north
Ruled by several dozen states dominate by clans, 1st millennium BCE
Shinto: Ancestor veneration with deification of nature, spirits (kami)
Nara Japan (710-794 C.E.)
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Yamato clan claimed imperial authority
• The imperial court modeled on that of the Tang
• Built a new capital (Nara) in 710 C.E., modeled on Chang'an
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Adopted Confucianism, Buddhism, but maintained Shinto
Heian Japan (794-1185 C.E.)
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Moved to new capital Heian (modern Kyoto) in 794
Japanese emperors as ceremonial figureheads and symbols of authority
• Effective power in the hands of the Fujiwara family, bureaucrats
• Emperor did not rule; lived in splendid isolation along with court elite
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Chinese learning dominated Japanese education, culture
• The Tale of Genji
• Women contributed most to Japanese literature and writing
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Decline of Heian Japan
• Equal-field system failed; Aristocratic clans accumulated lands
• Rivalry between court nobility and landed aristocracy
• Taira and Minamoto, the two most powerful clans, engaged in wars
DAI VIET OR VIETNAM
• Yue People
• Chinese name for Vietnamese
• Settled in Red River Valley
• Subject to Chinese rule until 900 CE
• Vietnamese State
• Many Chinese cultural forms
• But distinctive Vietnamese qualities
• Constant battle with Chinese
• Later State
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Pushed south along coast
Settled Vietnamese peasants to farm rice, raise fish
In early modern era, absorbed Champa
Pushed up Mekong River against Khmer People
THE VIETNAMESE & CHAMPA
• Genetic Markers
• Indicate an origin in South China
• Southern Chinese (Yue, Intermarriage)
• The Thai, Malayo-Polynesians
• Originated as the Yue People of South China
• Came under increasing Chinese presence
• Migration to avoid assimilation
• Moved into Red River Valley
• Tributary to China for 1500 years
• From 500 BCE to 1000 CE were tributary to China
• Around 900 began successful revolt to throw off Chinese
• Vietnamese state expanded
• Expanded south along coast – absorbed related Champa
• Push inland from coast up to highlands
• Champa
• A Malayo-Polynesian state establish in South Vietnam