Key Concept 1.1. Big Geography and
the Peopling of the Earth
The term Big Geography draws
attention to the global nature of world
history. Throughout the Paleolithic
period, humans migrated from Africa
to Eurasia, Australia, and the
Americas.- see Made every day video
Early humans were mobile and creative in adapting to different geographical settings
from savanna to desert to Ice Age tundra. By making an analogy with modern
hunterforager societies, anthropologists infer that these bands were relatively
egalitarian. Humans also developed varied and sophisticated technologies.
1. Archeological evidence indicates that during the
Paleolithic era, hunting-foraging bands of humans gradually
migrated from their origin in East Africa to Eurasia, Australia,
and the Americas, adapting their technology and cultures to
new climate regions.
• See history made everyday video
Humans developed a wider range of tools specially adapted to
different environments from tropics to tundra
Economic structures focused on small kinship groups of hunting-foraging bands that
could make what they needed to survive. However, not all groups were self-sufficient;
they exchanged people, ideas, and goods
• Key Concept 1.2. The Neolithic Revolution and Early
Agricultural Societies
• In response to warming climates at the end of the last Ice Age,
from about 10,000 years ago, some groups adapted to the
environment in new ways, while others remained hunterforagers. Settled agriculture appeared in several different
parts of the world. The switch to agriculture created a more
reliable, but not necessarily more diversified, food supply.
Agriculturalists also had a massive impact on the environment
through intensive cultivation of selected plants to the
exclusion of others, through the construction of irrigation
systems, and through the use of domesticated animals for
food and for labor.
• Populations increased; family groups gave way to village life
and, later, to urban life with all its complexity. Patriarchy and
forced labor systems developed, giving elite men
concentrated power over most of the other people in their
societies. Pastoralism emerged in arts of Africa and Eurasia.
Pastoral peoples domesticated animals and led their herds
around grazing ranges. Like agriculturalists, pastoralists
tended to be more socially stratified than hunter-foragers.
Because pastoralists were mobile, they rarely accumulated
large amounts of material possessions, which would have
been a hindrance when they changed grazing areas. The
pastoralists’ mobility allowed them to become an important
conduit for technological change as they interacted with
settled populations.
See crash course agriculture video
• 1. Beginning about 10,000 years ago, the Neolithic
Revolution led to the development of new and more
complex economic and social systems.
• Possibly as a response to climatic change, permanent
agricultural villages emerged first in the lands of the eastern
Mediterranean. Agriculture emerged at different times in
Mesopotamia, the Nile River Valley and Sub-Saharan Africa,
the Indus River Valley, the Yellow River or Huang He Valley,
Papua New Guinea, Mesoamerica, and the Ande.
KEY CONCEPT 1.1: BIG GEOGRAPHY & THE PEOPLING OF THE EARTH
BIG GEOGRAPHY=GLOBAL SCALE OF WORLD HISTORY
BY 10,000 BCE, EVERYWHERE HUMANS ARE NOW; WE WERE THEN
HOMO SAPIENS ORIGINATED IN AFRICA 200,000 YEARS AGO
HOMO SAPIENS LEFT AFRICA ABOUT 60,000 YEARS AGO
o KNOWN AS THE “OUT-OF-AFRICA” THEORY
EARLY HUMANS ADAPTED TO THEIR SURROUNDINGS
o FROM DESERT TO FOREST TO TUNDRA
HUNTER/FORAGER SOCIETIES WERE EGALITARIAN
o EVIDENT FROM THE EGALITARIAN NATURE OF TODAY’s H/F
HUMANS WERE “BEHAVIORALLY MODERN” BEFORE MIGRATION
HUMAN USE OF FIRE
HUMAN USED FIRE IN NEW WAYS HELPED THEM SURVIVE
CONTROLLED HUMAN USE OF FIRE DATES VARY (FROM 500,000 YEARS AGO TO 1.7 MILLION YEARS AGO)
WIDESPREAD USE OF HUMAN CONTROL OF FIRE IS ACCEPTED TO HAVE OCCURRED AROUND 125,000 YEARS AGO
MOST ACCEPTED EARLIEST SITE WAS NEARLY 800,000 YEARS AGO IN ISRAEL
FIRESITES HAVE EVIDENCE OF DIFFERENT MEATS (FROM BIRDS TO RHINOS) & PLANTS (FROM OATS TO GRAPES)
HUMAN USE OF FIRE ALLOWED THEM TO ADAPT TO A WIDE RANGE OF CLIMATES/BIOMES/TEMPERATURES
HUMAN USE OF TOOLS
HOMO ERECTUS (& LATER SAPIEN) USED TOOLS TO ADAPT
THE FIRST TOOL USING HOMINIDS WERE AUSTRALOPITHECUS AFARENSIS (AKA LUCY’s PEOPLE) IN ETHIOPIA
HUMANIDS CARVED MEAT OFF OF BONES, EXTRACTED MARROW, & GENERAL BUTCHERY
o MEAT CONSUMPTION DROVE EARLY TOOL USE
HUNTER/FORAGERS SURVIVED IN SMALL KINSHIP BANDS
SMALL BANDS WERE BASED ON FAMILY/KINSHIP TIES
FULL TIME LEADERS, BUREAUCRATS, ARTISANS, ETC. COULD NOT BE SUPPORTED
MYTH: MEN HUNT/WOMEN FORAGE
o WOMEN & MEN SHARED IN BOTH HUNTING/FORAGING
“ORIGINAL AFFLUENT SOCIETY” THEORY STATES THAT H/G LIVED MUCH EASIER LIVES THAN WE DO
o HUNTER/FORAGERS WORKED MUCH LESS & HAD MORE FREETIME THAN WE DO TODAY
Crash course: indus valley civilization
Crash course ancient mesopotamia
Crash course ancient egypt
Pastoralism developed at various sites in the grasslands of AfroEurasia.
Different crops or animals were domesticated in the various
core regions, depending on available local flora and fauna.
Agricultural communities had to work cooperatively to clear land and
create the water control systemsneeded for crop production.
These agricultural practices drastically impacted environmental diversity.
Pastoralists also affected the environment by grazing large numbers of
animals on fragile grasslands, leading to erosion when overgrazed.
. Agriculture and pastoralism began to transform
human societies.
• Video on history made everyday
Pastoralism and agriculture led to more reliable and abundant
food supplies, which increased the population.
Surpluses of food and other goods led to
specialization of labor, including new classes of
artisans and warriors, and the development of
elites.
Technological innovations led to improvements in agricultural
production, trade, and transportation
Required examples of improvements in agricultural
production, trade, and transportation (Pottery, Plows, Woven
textiles, Metallurgy, Wheels, and wheeled vehicles)
• Video on wheel
In both pastoralist and agrarian societies, elite groups accumulated
wealth, creating more hierarchical social structures and promoting
patriarchal forms of social organization.
• Key Concept 1.3.The Development and Interactions of
Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies
• From about 5,000 years ago, urban societies developed,
laying the foundations for the first civilizations. The term
civilization is normally used to designate large societies
with cities and powerful states. While there were many
differences between civilizations, they also shared
important features. They all produced agricultural
surpluses that permitted significant specialization of
labor. All civilizations contained cities and generated
complex institutions, such as political bureaucracies,
armies, and religious hierarchies.
• hey also featured clearly stratified social hierarchies and
organized long-distance trading relationships. Economic
exchanges intensified within and between civilizations, as well
as with nomadic pastoralists. As populations grew,
competition for surplus resources, especially food, led to
greater social stratification, specialization of labor, increased
trade, more complex systems of government and religion, and
the development of record keeping. As civilizations expanded,
they had to balance their need for more resources with
environmental constraints such as the danger of undermining
soil fertility. Finally, the accumulation of wealth in settled
communities spurred warfare between communities and/or
with pastoralists; this violence drove the development of new
technologies of war and urban defense.
1. Core and foundational civilizations developed in a variety of geographical and
environmental settings where agriculture flourished.
Students should be able to identify the location of all of the following required
examples of core and foundational civilizations (Mesopotamia in the Tigris and
Euphrates River Valleys, Egypt in the Nile River Valley, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa in
the Indus River Valley, Shang in the Yellow River or Huang He Valley, Olmecs in
Mesoamerica, Chavín in Andean South America)
2. The first states emerged within core civilizations.
States were powerful new systems of rule that mobilized surplus labor and resources
over large areas. Early states were often led by a ruler whose source of power was
believed to be divine or had divine support and/or who was supported by the military.
As states grew and competed for land and resources, the more favorably situated — including
the Hittites, who had access to iron— had greater access to resources, produced more surplus
food, and experienced growing populations. These states were able to undertake territorial
expansion and conquer surrounding states.
Early regions of state expansion or empire building were Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and the Nile
Valley. Pastoralists were often the developers and disseminators of new weapons(Compound
Bows, Iron Weapons) and modes of transportation (Chariots,Horseback riding) that transformed
warfare in agrarian civilizations.
MEET THE HITTITES
As states grew and competed for land and resources, the more favorably situated — including the Hittites, who
had access to iron— had greater access to resources, produced more surplus food, and experienced growing
populations. These states were able to undertake territorial expansion and conquer surrounding states.
HITTITE HIGHLIGHTS:
FOUNDED: 1750 BCE?
FOUNDER: PITHANA?
CAPITAL: KUSSARA, LATER HATTUSHA
LANGUAGE: HITTITE
RELIGION: POLYTHEISTIC
NEIGHBORS: EGYPT, ASSYRIA, TROY, BABYLON
MAJOR CAMEO: THE BIBLE (GENESIS 10)
CLAIM TO FAME: IRON & CHARIOTS
It wasn't until around the time of 2000 B.C. that the Indo-European speaking Hittites started to appear in the northern
part of Asia Minor, a very fertile region in which a crucial element appeared. This key element was iron. About 350 years later
around 1650 B.C. the Hittites started building an empire. As time went on they ended up expanding into more of Asia Minor,
seized northern Syria from the Egyptians, and expanded into northern Mesopotamia, where they conquered the Babylonians.
While conquering the Babylonians the Hittites gained a lot of important knowledge that would later help them to
improve their empire. The Hittites were not as advanced as the great people of Mesopotamia, but with the knowledge that was
gained the Hittite culture began to flourish. The Hittites began to extract iron from ore. By doing this they figured out how to
make tools and weapons out of iron. They would heat the iron until it was red-hot and then pound out the impurities and then
plunge it into cold water to harden it; thus allowing the edges to become stronger and sharper than the usual bronze or copper
weapons. This is one of the key discoveries that made the Hittites such a famous civilization. Now with the technology of making
iron tools and weapons, this allowed the Hittite Military to arm more people at a very lesser expense. The Hittites were very
warlike people, noted for their intense ferocity.
The use of iron tools and weapons was a very important discovery in which the Hittites tried to keep as few people as
possible from knowing about it. But this was a very hard task to carry out. As there empire collapsed around 1200 B.C. the
ironsmiths migrated to other parts of the country. This new knowledge began to spread into Asia, Africa, and Europe, thus
ushering the Iron Age.
The Hittites adopted Old Babylonian laws, but these laws were greatly modified. These laws were far more merciful
than the laws of the Old Babylonians, perhaps because the Hittites were less concerned about maintaining a rigid central authority.
Unlike the Babylonian laws there only a handful of crimes in which were under the category of capital crimes.
Along with adopting the laws, the Hittites also adopted many of their gods as well. The Hittites believed that all gods
were legitimate gods. Whenever the Hittites conquered a certain group, they adopt the gods in which that group believed in.
The Assyrians were responsible for the folding of the Hittite Empire. The Assyrians began to move into larger parts of
the Fertile Crescent. Eventually taking over the Hittites. However this empire flourished for about 450 years.
1750 BCE-1180 BCE
3. Culture played a significant role in unifying states through laws,
language, literature, religion, myths, and monumental art.
• Video history made every day
Early civilizations developed monumental architecture and urban planning (Ziggurats,
Pyramids, Temples, Defensive walls, Streets and Roads, Sewage and Water systems)
Elites, both political and religious, promoted arts and artisanship (Sculpture, Painting, Wall
Decorations, Elaborate Weaving)
Systems of record keeping arose independently in all early civilizations and subsequently were
diffused. (Cuneiform, Hieroglyphs, Pictographs,
Video on writing
States developed legal codes, including the Code of
Hammurabi, that reflected existing hierarchies and
facilitated the rule of governments over people.
New religious beliefs developed in this period continued to have strong
influences in later periods. (Vedic Religion, Hebrew Monotheism,
Zoroastrianism)
Trade expanded throughout this period from local to regional and transregional, with
civilizations exchanging goods, cultural ideas, and technology. (Between Egypt and
Nubia, Between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley)
Social and gender hierarchies intensified as states expanded and cities multiplied.
Literature was also a reflection of culture. (Epic of Gilgamesh, Rig Veda, Book of the Dead
KEY CONCEPT 1.3: THE DEVELOPMENT & INTERACTIONS OF EARLY AGRICULTURAL, PASTORAL & URBAN SOCIETIES
ABOUT 5,000 YEARS AGO, “CIVILIZATION” BEGAN IN THE FOLLOWING FOUNDATIONAL AREAS:
KNOW THESE SIX GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS
DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE DELVING DEEP INTO THESE SOCIETIES.
INSTEAD FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING SIMILARITIES:
THESE WERE LARGE, POWERFUL STATES
AGRICULTURAL SURPLUSES ALLOWED SPECIALIZATION
CITIES w/COMPLEX BUREAUCR., RELIGION, ARMIES, etc.
LONG DISTANCE TRADING RELATIONSHIPS
GROWTH HAD TO BE BALANCED AGAINST ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSTRAINTS
WAR (& War Technologies) COINCIDED WITH THE INCREASE OF
WEALTH (both with other Civilizations & Nomads/Pastoralists)
THE
DIVIDES THESE FOUNDATIONAL/CORE CIVILIZATIONS INTO TWO CATEGORIES:
CULTURE POLITICS
ARCHITECTURE
Monumental; Ziggurats, Walls, Roads, Sewers
ELITES & ART
Promoted the arts from Sculpture to Weaving
RECORD KEEPING
Cuneiform, Hieroglyphs, Alphabets, Quipu
LEGAL CODES
Reflected the Hierarchies (see HAMMURABI)
RELIGION
Developed here; huge impact later on
TRADE
LEADERS
Mobilized surplus resources over large areas
Usually DIVINE with support from the Army
COMPETITION FOR RESOURCES
The better your location, the bigger your
society (see Jared Diamond)
Ex. Hittites had a huge Iron deposits
Easier for them to build empires
o Ex. Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Nile
Expanded to include ideas, technology, etc.
PASTORAL INNOVATION
Growth coincided with Empire/state growth
Developed/Disseminated new Weapons and
Transportation methods to use against the
more settled Agrarian Civilizations
SOCIAL/ GENDER HIERARCHY
LITERATURE
Reflected the culture of the authors
PEOPLE TO KNOW
BELOW ARE THE PEOPLE EITHER EXPLICITLY MENTIONED OR
IMPLIED BY THE AP WORLD HISTORY STANDARDS ABOVE.