Ch+1+Outline

Chapter 1: FROM THE ORIGINS OF AGRICULTURE TO THE FIRST RIVER-VALLY CIVILIZATIONS, 8000-1500 BCE **-civilization**- an indefinite term often used to denote more complex societies but sometimes used by anthropologists to describe any group of people sharing a set of cultural traits -traits include: -cities as administration -a political system based on defined territory rather than kinship -many people engaged in specialized, non-food-producing activities -status distinctions based largely on wealth accumulation -monumental building -system for keeping permanent records -long distance trade -refined interest in art and science =__ Before Civilization __= -(1940) founded first human artistic creativity in caverns of Lascaux, SW France = __ -culture-socially transmitted patterns of action and expression __ = = __ -material objects (dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts) + nonmaterial values (belief and language) __ = -**history**- study of past events and changes in the development, transmission, and the transformation of cultural practices

// Food Gathering and Stone Technology //
-tool-making appeared 2 million years ago -**Stone Age**- historical period characterized by the tool production from stone and other nonmetallic substances. Followed in some places by the Bronze Age and more generally by the Iron Age. (lasted until 4000 years ago) -early humans lived primarily off of meat -**Paleolithic**- (Old Stone Age) Stone Age’s period associated with evolution of humans. Predates Neolithic period [lasted until 10,000 years ago, 3000 years after end of last Ice Age (long periods when glaciers covered much of N. America, Europe, and Asia)] -**Neolithic**- (New Stone Age) Stone Age period associated with the ancient Agricultural Revolution. Follows Paleolithic period -**foragers**- hunting and food-gathering peoples -modern: Kalahari Desert of S. Africa and Ituri Forest of Central Africa -fire set 1 million to 1.5 million years ago, cooking appeared 12,500 years ago -women gathered, cooked, and cared for child while men hunted -bands migrated and collected seasonally ripening plants -built seasonal camps -foundation’s science: gatherers learned when local plants were edible and ripe as well as their purposes/ hunters learned game animals’ habit/ experiments with techniques using plant and animal material for clothing, twine, and construction -(32,000 years ago) cave paintings in Europe and N. Africa -drawn animals included oxen, reindeer, and horses (hunting) -Vallen Pont-d’ Arc, S. France had caves featuring rhinoceros, panthers, bears, owls and hyena (not hunting animals) -**Agricultural Revolutions**- change from food gathering to food production that occurred between ca. 8000-2000 BCE -animals domestication and agriculture -(8000 BCE) Middle East domesticated emmer wheat and barley and cultivation of grains and pulses -main crop became wheat and barley with domesticated animals like sheep, goats, and cattle -crops and techniques exchange between regions -(8000 BCE during wet period) E. Sahara showed N. Africa’s remain of food -(5000 CE when Sahara dried) Saharan farmers moved to Nile Valley (annual flood provided water) -(6000 BCE) Greece cultivated wheat and barley -(4000 BCE) light soiled plains developed in C. Europe and along Danube River -S. Sahara’s raifall favored grains (sorghums, millets, and teff) -Middle Eastern yams were early domestic crop -(maybe as early as 10,000/ 5000 BCE) rice originated from s. China, northern half of SE Asia,, or N. India -(2000 BCE) India cultivated hyacinth, beans, green grains, and black grams -(3000 BCE) maize in Mexico and Peru developed potatoes and quinoa -tropical Mesoamerica grew tomatoes, peppers, squash, and potatoes -(1500 BCE) S. America’s tropical forests grew manioc -manioc and maize spread to Caribbean -first domesticated animal was the dog -domesticated animals provided meat, milk, wool, and energy -(3000 BCE) cattle in N. Africa or Middle East, donkey in N. Africa, China’s water buffalo, India’s humped-back Zebu cattle in India, horses and two humped camels in C. Asia, Arabia’s one humped camel, SE. Asia’s chickens, llamas in Americas -pastorialism- lifestyle dependent on large herds of grazing livestock. Predominate in arid regions -(2500 BCE) pastorialists replaced Saharan farmers who migrated S. -(3500) beer in Middle East -**Holocene**- (9000 BCE) geological era since end of Great Ice Age about 11,000 years ago

// Life in Neolithic Communities //
-farmers had reliable food supply but diet was les various and nutritious than foragers -dependable food supply stored between harvests -Europe’s farming pop. increased from 50 to 100 -kinship and marriages tied farming communities together -foragers religion centered to center on sacred groves, springs, and wild animals -**megalith**- structures and complexes of very large stones constructed for ceremonial and religion purposes in Neolithic times -(5000 BCE) complex in Egyptian desert and England’s Stonehenge (2000 BCE, marked position of sun and celestial bodies at key points of the year) -Middle Eastern Juricho has round mud brick shelters in 8000 BCE converted into reteangular rooms with plastered walls and stonewall for city protection millennium later -M.E. Catal Huyuk had plastered mud brick rooms w/o city walls -trade included obsidian -economy based on agriculture of barely, emmer wheat, legumes and other veggies -one religious shrine for every two houses -(6400 BCE) metalworking with copper and lead =__ Mesopotamia __= -**Babylon**- Mesopotamia’s largest and most important city. Particular eminence as the capital of the Amorite king Hammurabi in 18th century BCD and Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 6th century BCE // Settled Agriculture in an Unstable Landscape // -Mesopotamia centered between Euphrates and Tigris Rivers -inconvenient spring floods -(8000 BCE) first domestication of plants and animals in :Fertile Crescent of N. Syria and SE. Anatolia -(5000 BCE) agriculture reached Mesopotamia -Mesopotamia used irrigation (artificial provision of water to crops) -barley as ceral crop -fish as dietary staple -**Sumerians**- people who dominated S. Mesopotamia through end of 3rd millennium BCE -created framework of Mesopotamia’s civilization -**Semitic**- family of related languages long spoken across parts of W. Asia and N. Africa -included Hebrew, Aramaic, and Phoenician -(2000 BCE) political dominance

// Cities, Kings, and Trade //
-small villages merged with main village to form urban center -dependent on food production surplus -**city-state**- small independent state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding agricultural territory. Political form in early Mesopotamia, Archaic and Classical Greece, Pheonicia, and early Italy -irrigation networks, canals, and dikes built -(3000 BCE) emergence of lugal (king) -assumed responsibility for temple upkeeping and building as well as proper ritual performances -temple in city’s center -king’s power grew at priesthood’s expense -“Epic of Gilgamesh” stating Gilgamesh’s construction of city walls -(2350 BCE) Sargon, ruler of Akkad, united cities under one king and capital -he and successors gave land to loyal soildiers -adapted Sumerian’s cuneiform system of writing -(2230 BCE) Akkadian state collapsed -**Hammurabi**- Amorite ruler of Babylon (r. 1792-1759 BCE). Conquered many city states in S. and N. Mesopotamia and best known for code of laws, inscribed on black stone pillar, illustrating principles to be used in legal cases -exchange of wood, metals, and stone for wool, cloth, barley, and vegetable oil -merchangts worked for palace or temple for financial support

// Mesopotamia Society //
-(18th century BCE) Law Code of Hammurabi divides social classes -free landowning class- royalty, high-ranking officials, warriors, priests, merchants and some artisans and shopkeepers -dependent farmers and artisans for rural work force -slaves (many were POW) for domestic service -peasant’s mud brick and reed shelters were weak and they were illiterate -**scribe**- in the govts of many ancient societies, a professional position reserved for men who had undergone the lengthy training required to be able to read and write using cuneiforms, hieroglyphics, or other early cumbersome writing system -women lost social standing and freedom during agriculture spread -owned property, maintained control of dowry, and engaged in trade while some worked outside -men dominated political life -woman’s lives of remaining at home and wearing veils in public influenced Islamic traditions

// Gods, Priests, and Temples //
-Sumerian gods embodied nature forces and were anthropomorphic -Sumerian Nippur as religious center -priests responsible for rituals -**ziggurat**- massive pyramidal stepped tower made of mudbricks. Associated with religious complexes in ancient Mesopotamian cities, but function’s unknown. -**amulets**- small charm meant to protect the bearer from evil. Found frequently in Mesopotamia and Egypt, reflects common people’s religious practices

// Technology and Science //
-**cuneiform**- system of writing in wedge-shaped symbols representing words or syllables. Originated in Mesopotamia and used initially for Sumerian and Akkadian. Adapted to represent W. Asia’s languages -(1200 BCE) donkeys as overland caravans -imported ore containing copper, tin, and arsenic for stone tool improvements -clay used for mud bricks -base-60 number system (origin of modern seconds and minutes) where numbers were expressed as fraction or multiples of 60

__ Egypt __
// The Land of Egypt: “Gift of the Nile” // -world longest river, Nile River -divides to form triangular delta about 100 mi from Mediterranean -center of travel and trade -provided irrigation channels and annual floods -“Black Land” for the bleak deserts of mountains, rocks and dunes and “Red Land” for desert -southern part “Upper Egypt” and N. delta “Lower Egypt” -papyrus used for sails, ropes, and paper -clay for mud brick and pottery -copper and turquoise deposits in Sinai desert and gold from Nubia //Divine Kingship// -30 dynasties with “Old”, “Middle”, and “New Kingdoms” -**pharoah**- ancient Egyptian’s central figure. Believed to be an earthly manifestation of the gods, used absolute power to maintain Egypt’s safety and prosperity -**Ma’at**- maintained by pharaoh. Concept of divinely created and maintained order in universe -**pyramids**- large triangular stone monument, used in Egypt and Nubia as a burial place for king. Largest pyramids, built during Old Kingdom near Memphis w/ stone tools and compulsory labor, reflect Egyptian belief that proper and spectacular burial of divine ruler would guarantee continued prosperity of land

// Administration and Communication //
-**Memphis**- capital of Old Kingdom Egypt, near Nile Delta’s head. Early rulers were interred in nearby pyramids. -**Thebes**- Egypt’s capital city and home of ruling dynasties during Middle and New Kingdoms -tax supported palace, bureaucracy and army -government controlled economy and long-distance trade -**hieroglyphics**- writing system in which pictorial symbols represented sounds, syllables, or concepts. Used for ancient Egypt’s official and monumental inscriptions -deciphered through help of Rosetta Stone -**papyrus**- reed that grows along Nile River’s banks in Egypt. Produced coarse, paper-like writing medium used by Egyptians and many other peoples in ancient Mediterranean and ME -monarch appointed or promoted officials based on merits and accomplishment -regarded all foreigners as enemy

// The People of Egypt //
-various physical types -social classes: kings and high ranking officials had high status, wealth and power/ lower-level officials, local leaders, priests, and other professionals/ peasants -slavery had little importance -women subordinated, stayed indoors, own property, inherited from parents, and willed property to whomever they wished -marriage was usually monogamous -women kept dowry even when divorced

// Belief and Knowledge //
-religion originated Nile Valley’s landscape and vision of cosmic order -priests paraded litter carrying shrouded statue and cult items of a deity during festivals -family members made offerings to Bes at home -believed in afterlife -**mummy**- body preserved by chemical processes or special natural circumstances, often in the belief that the deceased will need it again in the afterlife. In ancient Egypt, the bodies of people who could afford mummification underwent a complex process of removing organs, filling body cavities, dehydrating the corpse with natron, and then wrapping the body with linen bandages and enclosing it in a wooden sarchophagus -tomb’s form reflected wealth and status -mathematics development for determination of field dimensions and calculation of agricultural produce quantity owed to state -constructed most accurate calendar with star observation =__ Indus Valley Civilization __=

// Natural Environment //
-1 million acres between w. Pakistan mountains and Thar Desert to east of central Indus Valley -Indus River overflows twice a year -seasonal monsoons in August brings rain from southwest -Sind’s fllodds make 2 crops a year -Hakra River ran parallel to Indus for 25 mi. and supplied water -5 rivers converged at Indus River in Punjab -settlement extended from delta in s. Sind to India’s Kathiawar Peninsula

// Material Culture //
-**Harappa­­**- site of one of the great cities of Indus Valley civilization of 3rd millennium BCE. Located on NW. frontier of the zone of cultivation (modern Pakistan) and may have been a center for the acquisition of raw materials, such as metals and precious stone, from Afghanistan and Iran. -**Mohenjo-Daro**- largest Indus Valley city. Located in extensive flood plain of Indus River in modern Pakistan. Little known about Indus Valley communities’ political institutions but large scale construction at Mohenjo-Daro, the orderly gird of streets, and building materials standardization are evidence of central planning -spoke Dravidian languages -(mid-3rd millennium) population increase and technological advancements -writing system contained +400 signs to represent syllables and words -frequent use of metal -worked with gold, silver, copper, and tin -irrigation, potter’s wheel, and fired bricks in kilns for public buildings -vast trading with access to resources of E. Iran and W. Iran

// Transformation of the Indus Valley Civilization //
//­//-(1900 BCE) abandoned -breakdown of interrelationship of political, social, and economic system -ecological changes as Hakra river dried up and salinization and erosion increased -climate changes -changes in course of river caused by earthquakes -seaports removed -regions lost fertile soil and relocated populations =__ Conclusion __= -domesticated plants and animals settled down foragers and produced sufficient food supply -created opportunities in specializations -kingship became dominant political form in Egypt and Mesopotamia -hierarchy of gods -ethnic diversity -reduced freedom and privilege of Mesopotamian women (2nd century BCE) relates to urbanization and class stratification -higher respect and equality for women in Nile -Yellow River valley in Eastern China emerged after Indus Valley declined