Big Era Three
Farming and the Emergence
of Complex Societies
10,000 – 1,000 BCE.
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Join us for
the world tour!
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I know what
you’re
thinking!
STOP!
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Farming and
complex societies?
Where did they
come from?
I thought
we were still
hunting and
gathering!
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…and changes
have always
been—and still
are—part of
human history.
Farming and
complex
societies are the
result of
CHANGE…
Let’s look for
a minute at
the changes
that took
place in Big
Era Two.
You DO
remember
Big Era
Two, don’t
you?
Big Eras 3-9
Big Era 1
Big Era 2
200k yrs ago
10k years ago
Today
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Big Era Two is the
era that covers
the period from
200,000 to
10,000 years ago.
Big Era Two was
fraught
with change.
Shall we do
a
quick
review?
Big Eras 3-9
Big Era 1
Big Era 2
200k yrs ago
10k years ago
Today
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You will
probably recall
that life
200,000 years
ago looked
something like
this.
Homo erectus doing lunch
Big Era 1
Big Eras 3-9
Human Origins
Big Era 2
200k yrs ago
10k years ago
Today
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10,000 years ago at
the close of Big Era
Two, life looked more
like this:
Homo sapiens at home
Big Era 1
Big Eras 3-9
Human Origins
Big Era 2
200k yrs ago
10k years ago
Today
8
Notice any
changes?
Homo erectus – 200,000 years ago
Homo sapiens – 10,000 years ago
Would you say
there were:
(a) No changes?
(b) Some changes?
(c) Lots of changes?
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If you said
there were
“(c) Lots of
changes,” you
were obviously
paying
attention during
Big Era Two.
If, on the other
hand, you chose
“(a) No
changes” or “(b)
Some changes,”
you must have
been out with
the flu during
Big Era Two.
(Hope you are
feeling better!).
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Hints
So, we will go with
“(c) Lots of
changes” in Big
Era Two, right?
Do you recall
any of them?
So, it’s
antelope
burgers
tonight, right?
Boomerang
Americas
Are these
going to be
on the
test?
Before moving
on, jot them
down.
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Check your answers below:
Changes that occurred by the end of Big Era 2
(Beginning of Big Era 3)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
End of Big Era Two
(Beginning of
Big Era 3)
Homo sapiens appear.
Language develops.
Habitats expand.
Technology multiplies.
Wall painting and
sculpture are created.
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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Keeping those changes
in mind, let’s look
at life all the way at the
end of Big Era Three, that
is, about 1,000 BCE.
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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Notice any
Differences?
Quite a few,
Huh?
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So, how did we
get from…
HERE
to
HERE?
Jot down some
notes on what
events you think
might have
taken place
between 10,000
and 1,000 BCE.
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One of the major changes is
reflected in this frieze on a
wall in Mesopotamia (today
Iraq) :
which reflects the
DOMESTICATION of…
animals
and plants
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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Domestication of plants and animals
was a monumental change.
Have you ‘herd’
about pastoralism?
It resulted in the new way of
living we know as
FARMING
(AGRICULTURE)…
…which included both
PASTORALISM
(herding sheep, goats, cattle,
horses, and camels),
and…
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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Crop-growing
(cultivating domesticated
plants),
and…
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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the development of…
FARMING
COMMUNITIES
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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Eastern North America
China
Fertile Crescent
Mesoamerica
West
Africa
Nile valley
Ethiopia
Andes
New Guinea
Amazonia
Between about 12,000 and 1,000 BCE, farming
appeared INDEPENDENTLY in a number of places,
possibly in all of the places marked in red on the map.
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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Prior to farming,
population size in any
one area was limited
by the availability of wild
game, grain, berries,
seeds, and nuts.
Farming and the large,
relatively dependable
crops it provides
allowed for…
POPULATION
INTENSIFICATION
That means
population increases
in certain areas.
Population in those
areas became both
larger and denser.
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At the same time,
farmers in some
places were, in spite
of population growth,
able to produce
SURPLUS food.
What does
SURPLUS
FOOD
PRODUCTION
mean for a
society?
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SURPLUS FOOD
PRODUCTION…
…means that not
everyone has to grow
food or tend animals.
They can take on other
tasks. They can
specialize in some nonfarming task.
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This is called…
Job Specialization.
Men and women may
become:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Weavers
Stone Masons
Potters
Priests
Scribes
Traders
Army officers
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So, let’s have a
quick review of that
last sequence of
events.
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Domestication of Plants and Animals
Farming
Population
Intensification
Surplus Food
Specialization
Complex Society,
also known as
CIVILIZATION
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
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Civilizations have a number
of elements in common.
You might want
to make a note
of these as we
go along.
Hint, hint!
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Civilization
Did you catch
that term?
Can you
define
it?
Remember it.
Write it down.
Answer: A civilization is a complex society.
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Elements of civilization include:
1) Cities
Mohenjo Daro
It’s the
law
2) Central governments
And Law codes
Pharaohs
Hammurabi’s
Law Code
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Elements of Civilization include:
1) Cities
2) Central governments
and law codes
Can you identify
the society
represented
by each of these two
writing samples?
3) Writing and
record keeping
4) Highly organized religions
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Elements of Civilization include:
1) Cities
2) Central Governments
and law codes
3) Writing and
record keeping
5) Specialized Jobs
4) Highly organized
religion
Full-time monk
6) Social Classes
Assyrian slaves
In Egypt
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Elements of Civilization include:
1) Cities
2) Central governments
and law codes
3) Writing and
record keeping
7) Complex
Technologies
4) Highly organized
religion
Chariot
5) Specialized jobs
6) Social classes
Bronze Sword
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So, have you
been paying
attention
or doing a bit of
day dreaming?
Can you list
some of the
elements of a
civilization?
Let’s
check!
Clue:
There were 7!
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Check your answers below:
Good job if your list includes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Cities
Central governments and law codes
Writing and record-keeping
Specialized jobs
Social classes
Complex technologies
Highly organized religions
Good job,
huh?
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By 3,000 BCE, societies in Southwest Asia and Egypt
were developing elements of complex societies.
Are we
supposed
to be taking
notes on this?
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
3,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
36
By the end of Big
Era Three, about
1000 BCE, there
were several wellestablished
civilizations in
Afroeurasia.
There were
also two new
ones in the
Americas.
At least two civilizations in
Afroeurasia, the Minoan in the
Mediterranean region and the
Harappan in the Indus River valley
had already come and gone.
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Now, looking back
over Big Era Three,
let’s review the major
changes.
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
38
Domestication of Plants and Animals
Farming
Population
Intensification
Surplus Food
Specialization
Complex Society,
also known as
CIVILIZATION
Big Eras 4-9
Big Era 2
Big Era 3
10,000 years ago
1,000 years ago
Today
39
That translates into:
Farmers
Herders
Cities
Central governments
Armies
Monumental buildings
Written language
Social hierarchies
Complex belief systems
In 10,000 BCE none of these existed in the world. By 1,000 BCE they all did.
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Not only has life changed
culturally and
technologically, but also
the rate of change has
accelerated.
Letters and
envelopes
Writing
Irrigation
Copper
smelting Walled cities
Temple building
.
Dogs, sheep. goats, horses, wheat, rice,
chiles, potatoes—all domesticated
Pottery
Plow farming
360-degree circle
Sailing technology
Language
Chariots
Big
Eras
4-9
Bow & arrow
Calendars
Art
Big Era 2
200k yrs ago
Alphabet
Law Codes
Regular trade routes
Big Era 1
Pyramids
Wheel
BE3
10k years ago
1k years ago
Today
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You may have noticed
that the difference
between the rate of
change in Big Era Two
and in Big Era Three is
enormous.
What factors
do you think
might account
for this
increasing rate
of change?
Make a few
notes and
discuss this
question with
your teacher
and fellow
students.
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As you move on to
Big Era Four (1,200
BCE to 500 AD),
keep your eye on the
rate of change. Does
it keep increasing?
Level off? Slow
down?
Do the factors you
have identified as
affecting the rate of
change in Big Era
Two and Big Era
Three still apply?
Come to think of it, things
changed REALLY fast In
the 20th century. I wonder
what the rate of change is
going to be like in the 21st
century?
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Well, that’s all for
Big Era Three, but
don’t go away.
Hang on to
your notes and
stay tuned
for…
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Big Era Four!
Coming SOON
to a classroom
near you.
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