Unit 1 Foundations Overview

Unit 1: Foundations 8000 BCE to 600 CE

Prehistory
Prehistoric or Prehistory refers to the time before the advancement of writing.

Paleolithic Era
Paleolithic Era also means Old Stone Age .
The Paleolithic or Old Stone Age began 2 million years ago.

Humans during this period found shelter in caves.
Cave paintings left behind.
Purpose? Lascaux caves (France) 32,000 years ago Paleolithic Era

Paleolithic Era
Homo Sapiens during this period:
Were Nomads
Were Hunter-Gatherers
Lived in clans
The first to make simple tools and weapons .
Created cave art
Mastered the use of Fire .
Developed a language

Neolithic Era 8000 BCE – 3000 BCE Paleolithic Era 2,000,000 BCE – 8000 BCE

AP World History begins at about 8,000 BC when village life began in the New Stone Age. . . Also known as the Neolithic Revolution . NEW STONE AGE

A TOTALLY new way of living:
From
Hunter-Gatherers to Agriculture

Neolithic Era
Neolithic Era means the new stone age .
Homo sapiens sapiens during this period:
Developed agriculture
Domesticated animals
Used advanced tools like spears
Developed weaving skills

The Agricultural Revolution
8,000 BCE – 5,000 BCE
Agriculture developed independently in different parts of the world.
SLASH-AND-BURN Farming
Middle East India Central America China Southeast Asia 8,000 BCE 7,000 BCE 6,500 BCE 6,000 BCE 5,000 BCE

The Agricultural Revolution
The Neolithic Age is sometimes called the Agricultural Age
Some Nomads turned into Farmers
They learned to domesticate (tame) animals
They learned to farm their food

INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE
Mesopotamians first to engage in agriculture
Around 8000 BCE
Cereal crops
Wheat
Barley
Herd animals
Sheep
Goats
Woman probably first farmer
Grain-collecting then noticed that stored wild grain could be grown on purpose

Agriculture changed how people lived
Agriculture (Farming)
Growth of Cities
Division of Labor (Specialization)
Trade
Writing and Mathematics

Nomadic vs. Agricultural Societies
Hunter/Gatherers vs. Farmers
More Free Time vs. Constant Work
Temporary Shelter vs. Long-term Homes
Small Groups vs. Larger Groups
Public Land vs. Private Land

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES
Originally ruled by council of elders
Authority moved to single leader
Close-knit society
Communal granaries, ovens, and fields
Private property limited to personal possessions

POSSESSIONS
Needs of agriculture and stability
Clay pottery
Woven baskets
Woolen and linen clothing
Sophisticated tools and weapons
Plow

RESULTS OF AGRICULTURE
Required intensification of group organization
Neolithic farmers lived in settlements
Population from 150 (Jarmo) to 2000 (Jericho) people.

OUTSIDE CONTACTS
Neolithic communities had similarities
Walls indicate some were fearful
Others were more peaceful
Obsidian and turquoise in Jericho from several 100’s of miles away
Either gifts or received in trade
Jericho

Thus…Civilization Began – But Whose Definition?
18th Century European
Civilized vs. primitive
White vs. everyone else

What contributes to the Development of a Civilization?
Specialization of labor is the key
If everyone has to farm to have enough food, a great civilization won’t develop.
If there is a surplus of food, others are free to build, invent, create tools, create art, and build institutions.

What does it mean to be civilized?
Historians have determined 6- 9 characteristics of civilization:
Cities as administrative centers
Political System based on territory
Job specialization
Social classes
Monumental Building
Writing/Record Keeping
Long-distance trade
Advances in science and art
Complex religions

Cities formed along a River!
Rivers provided:
water supply
transportation
food supply from animals
Rivers provided challenges:
flooding
irrigation
Required organized, mass labor
Construction and repair of canals and irrigation ditches
Euphrates River

Organized Central Governments
Central authority needed to control:
Labor
Storage of grain
Dispersion of foodstuffs among population
Early governments first led by priests
Later controlled by warrior chiefs or kings

Organized Central Governments
Governments became more complex as new responsibilities arose such as:
tax collecting
law making
handling public works projects
organizing systems of defense

Complex Religions
Generally polytheistic
Many gods represented natural forces
Others controlled human activities
Priests and worshippers tried to gain gods’ favor through complex rituals and sacrifice
Directed by unquestionable ruling class of priests
King regarded as a god or as a god’s agent

Complex Religions
Temples often built to honor specific gods and goddesses
Egyptian temple Mesopotamian ziggurat Mayan temple

Social Classes
People ranked according to their profession
Egyptian social structure
Chief
Priests
Nobles
Wealthy merchants
Artisans
Peasants/farmers
Slaves

Priestly class is part of the beginning of social differentiation
Class structure based on specialization of labor
Generated class differences
Priests (“We talk to god, you don’t.)
Aristocrats/warriors (“We have weapons, you don’t.”)
Common people (“I guess we work...?”)
Slaves (“Uh, oh!!!”)
Social Classes

Job Specialization and the Arts
Artisans specialized in various jobs, such as:
Bricklayers
Blacksmiths
Production of luxuries (Items Not Related to Survival)
Metal technology

Created great architecture and art
monumental architecture
pyramids, ziggurats, big cities
huge temples and associated structures
to fill the needs of a god-oriented state
under the control of the priestly class
Job Specialization and the Arts

Writing
Probably first used by priests
Earliest writing used pictograms
Mesopotamian cuneiform Egyptian hieroglyphs Chinese calligraphy

Writing
Symbols later added to represent words and then sounds
Scribes were specially trained to read, write, and record information
Religion
Trade
Government
Learning became cumulative

UNIQUENESS OF CIVILIZATION
Civilization was not simply next inevitable step from Neolithic Age
Many peoples remained at simple food-raising stage for thousands of years—without developing any sort of civilization
Only five locations developed civilizations entirely on their own
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Indus River Valley
China
Central America and Peru

But What About…?
Easter Island
(Sometime between
500-1500 CE)
Stonehenge
(2000 BCE?)

GEOGRAPHY influenced the development of river valley civilizations.

Role of Climate and Geography in Early Societies
Imagine how early societies may have been affected by climate/geography.
How do you think early peoples responded?
What difference would geography make in the long term development of a society?

Early River Valley Civilizations
Flooding of Tigris and Euphrates unpredictable
No natural barriers
Limited natural resources for making tools or buildings
Environment Mesopotamia Egypt Indus River Valley China
Flooding of the Nile predictable
Nile an easy transportation link between Egypt’s villages
Deserts were natural barriers
Indus flooding unpredictable
Monsoon winds
Mountains, deserts were natural barriers
Huang He flooding unpredictable
Mountains, deserts natural barriers
Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations
Mountains and ocean natural barriers
Warm temperatures and moderate rainfall
Geographically isolated from other ancient civilizations
Mesoamerica & Andes

Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent
Sumer – The Earliest of the River Valley Civilizations
Sumerian Civilization grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Iraq.

Sumerian Writing: cuneiform Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed stylus into a clay tablet.

Ziggurat – Holy Mountain

EGYPT “The Gift of the Nile” Nile River Sahara Desert
Hieroglyphics
Pyramids
Geometry
Advances in medicine and surgery

Indus River Valley 2500 BC – 1500 BC
Harappan culture
Well planned cities
Grid pattern
Modern plumbing
Built on mud brick platforms
Protected against seasonal floods
Larger cities
Houses built of baked brick
Smaller towns
Houses built of sun-dried mud brick

Shang China 1600 BC – 1027 BC
Yellow River Valley
Bronze, jade, stone, bone and ceramic artifacts
Advanced culture
Divinations
Religion
Astronomy
Calendar
Art
Medicine

Shang China 1600 BC – 1122 BC
Religion
Human as well as animal sacrifices
Regarded their land as only civilized land and called it Zhongguo (Middle Kingdom)
Lack of contact with foreigners led to belief in:
Strong sense of identity
Superiority
Center of earth
Sole source of civilization

Zhou China 1122 BC – 256 BC
Bronze, jade, silver, gold
Mandate of Heaven
Power to rule came from heaven
Power could be removed if ruler not just
Veneration of ancestors
All must honor family responsibilities
Period ended with Era of Warring States

Mesoamerica and Andean South America 2900 BC – 1400 BC
Mesoamerica
Maize, chili peppers, avocados, beans
Pottery
Stone bowls
Beads
Waddle and daub structures
No draft animals

Mesoamerica and Andean South America 3500 BC – 1400 BC
Andes
Textiles technology
Sophisticated government
Religion
Lacked ceramics
Largely without art
Most impressive achievement was monumental architecture
Large platform mounds
Sunken circular plazas

Civilization
A civilization is built on what is required of men, not on that which is provided for them.
Antoine De Saint-Exupery 1900-1944, French Writer
Increased means and increased leisure are the two civilizers of man.
Benjamin Disraeli 1804-1881, British Statesman Prime Minister
To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization.
Toynbee, Arnold 1852-1883, British Economic Historian and Reformer

Civilization
Cities that served as administrative centers
Political system based on control or defined territory rather than on connections of kinship
Significant number of people engaged in specialized, non-food-producing activities
Status distinctions, usually linked to accumulation of substantial wealth by some groups
Monumental building
System for keeping permanent records
Long distance trade
Major advances in science and arts

Civilization
"All peoples from small bands of hunters and gatherers to farmers and factory workers live in societies. All societies produce cultures: combinations of the ideas, objects, and patterns of behavior that result from human social interaction. But not all societies and cultures generate the surplus production that permits the levels of specialization, scale, and complexity that distinguish civilizations from other social organizations. All people are capable of building civilizations, but many have lacked the resource base, historical circumstance, or, quite simply, the motivation of doing so.“
Peter Stearns on culture vs. civilization

The Classical Age (500 BCE – 600 CE)
Some civilizations gained enough territory and power (iron weapons, etc) to become an empire.
The rulers of these empires constructed extensive networks of roads and promoted urbanization.
Religious and philosophical systems become more complex.

Origins of World Belief Systems
Polytheism

Hinduism

Judaism

Confucianism

Taoism

Buddhism

Christianity

Islam

The Axial Age (800 BCE – 300 BCE)
At the beginning of the Classical Age several thinkers came along who changed history.

Axial Age Thinkers Confucius Plato Zoroaster Siddhartha Gautama – The Buddha Lao Tzu

Classical Greece

Early History (3000 BCE-750 BCE)
Minoans
Crete
Seafaring merchants
Sophisticated civilization
Mycenaeans
Merged with native Greeks
Dark Age
Homer

Geographic Influence
Mountains
Independent city-states
Insufficient farmland
Founded colonies on Mediterranean coast
Location
Peninsula in Mediterranean
Exchange of culture/trade
Deep harbors
Numerous good harbors on its irregular coastline

City-States
Athens
Democratic, leading city-state
Sparta
Aristocratic/military city-state
Corinth
Trading center
United by language, culture and fear of Persians

Alexander the Great ( 336-323 BCE)
Taught by Aristotle
Conquered Persian Empire
Created Hellenistic culture
Died suddenly at 33

Athenian Contributions
Theater, poetry and historical writing
Science and math
Architecture and sculpture
Philosophy
Socrates
Individual
Plato
Group
Aristotle
World

Classical Rome

Ancient Rome (1500 BCE-500 BCE)
1500BC-Latins crossed Alps
Founded Rome
Conquered by Etruscans
New Romans
Roads, walls, & buildings
Metal weapons

Republic 500-27 BCE
Social aristocracy
Patricians
Plebeians
Senate
Conquered Mediterranean world
Italian Peninsula and west
Client states
Spread Greek culture
Began to end with assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE

Empire 27 BCE-476 CE
Octavian (Augustus)
Began Pax Romana
Spread Greco-Roman civilization
Law, language, historical writing
Trade, industry, science, architecture
Diocletian
Divided Empire
Constantine
Reunited empire
Converted to Christianity

Germanic Invasion
Germans allowed to settle
Huns pushed more Germans in
476 CE—last Roman emperor

Classical China

Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty (221-206 BCE)
Shi Huangdi
Legalist rule 
Bureaucratic, centralized control
Military expansion
Book burnings --> targeted Confucianists
Buried protestors alive!

Terra Cotta Army Great Wall

Strong, centralized bureaucracy
Extended Great Wall
Roads (including Silk Road), canals
Emperor Wu Di (141-87 BCE)
Public schools
Colonized Manchuria, Korea, & Vietnam
Civil service system
Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE)

Han – Roman Empire Connection

Classical India

Mauryan Empire (320 BCE-320 CE)
Chandragupta
Unified northern India after Alexander the Great withdrew
Set up efficient bureaucracy
Asoka (grandson)
Dedicated life to Buddha
Continued bureaucracy
Hospitals, roads

Gupta Empire (320-647 CE)
Chandra Gupta I
Bureaucracy
Allowed local government in south

Social Structure
Patriarchal
Women were legally minors
Women under control of fathers, husbands and sons
Caste system continued

International Trade Routes

Items Traded spices spices gold & ivory gold & ivory rice & wheat horses cotton goods cotton goods silks

Gupta Art Greatly influenced Southeast Asian art & architecture.

Medicine Literature Mathematics Astronomy Printed medicinal guides 1000 diseases classified Plastic Surgery C-sections performed Inoculations 500 healing plants identified Decimal System Concept of Zero PI = 3.1416 Kalidasa Solar Calendar The earth is round Gupta India Gupta Achievements

Classical Mesoamerica

Maya (1800 BCE-800 BCE)
Led by ruler-priests
Only known fully developed written language of time/area
Art, architecture
Writing, math, astronomy, calendar
Cultural diffusion across Mesoamerica

Chavin (900 BCE-200 BCE)
Pottery
Metalwork (including gold and silver)
Religion promoted fertility
Built temples
Used hallucinogens
Trade

Trade Routes of the Ancient World

Silk Routes

Mediterranean Trade Routes

Indian Ocean Trade

Why civilizations fall
External
War
Natural disaster
Disease
Internal
Overpopulation
Economic problems
Social disruption
Political struggles

How do civilizations collapse?
Population size and density decrease dramatically
Society tends to become less politically centralized
Less investment is made in things such as architecture, art, and literature
Trade and other economic activities are greatly diminished
The flow of information among people slows
The ruling elites may change, but usually the working classes tend to remain and provide continuity

Is it possible to prevent collapse?
Every society must:
answer basic biological needs of its members: food, drink, shelter, and medical care.
provide for production and distribution of goods and services (perhaps through division of labor, rules concerning property and trade, or ideas about role of work).
provide for reproduction of new members and consider laws and issues related to reproduction (regulation, marriageable age, number of children, and so on).
provide for training (education, apprenticeship, passing on of values) of individuals so that they can become functioning adults in society.
provide for maintenance of internal and external order (laws, courts, police, wars, diplomacy).
provide meaning and motivation to its members.

Unit 1—Foundations 8000 BCE to 600 CE

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Unit 1 Foundations Overview

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