This document summarizes the key elements and origins of early civilizations. It discusses how the development of agriculture led to surplus production and allowed humans to establish permanent settlements along rivers, where some of the first civilizations developed. These include sites like Çatalhöyük in Turkey, which was a large Neolithic settlement with houses and religious murals but no social classes. The document also notes newer evidence that religious sites like Göbekli Tepe predated cities, challenging prior theories about the development of early human society.

1. Social
Studies for 8th
E.G.B.
Teacher:
Mauricio
Torres
FIRST CIVILIZATIONS

2.  CONCEPT: An advanced society
 Elements:
 Organized government
 Urban development
 Resources
 Large amount of resources bring: Surplus.
 Specialized jobs
 Culture:
 Arts, architecture, literature, media.
 Social Classes
 Religion
REVIEWING: CIVILIZATION

3.  With the development of agriculture,
humanity was now “overproducing”
and thus creating “surplus”.
 With this, our ancestors could now
focus less on everyday survival.
 To reach this level of productivity,
humans settled areas around rivers
and valleys.
 These areas were rich and fertile.
 They had water which is needed to
maintain life.
 This is how traditional economies
developed.
 The civilizations that rose up in
these areas are called River Valley
Civilizations.
BEGINNINGS

4. RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

5.  Çätalhöyük was a very
large settlement from
the Neolithic in what is
modern day Turkey.
 Archaeological finds
show us that there was
a canal that ran in
between the area,
probably used to keep
the soil fertile for
agriculture.
THE FIRST: ÇÄTALHÖYÜK

6.  It was composed of domestic
buildings.
 Estimated population is
8,000.
 Murals have been discovered,
with many religious themes.
 With no distinctive
differences on each house,
archaeologists believe there
were no social classes.
 The first benefits of
agriculture are found, and
even traded items from far
away lands are here.
THE FIRST: ÇÄTALHÖYÜK

7.  They were always in constant change.
 This change usually involved a shift in the environment.
 Environments affect people’s lives:
 Civilizations have always relied on resources.
 If a resource is depleted, they will need to find a need source or
something to replace it.
 Cultural diffusion:
 The spread of ideas, customs and technologies from one people to
another.
 This was usually a product of trade or migration.
 Expansion:
 Villages expanded into city-states (a political unit that included a city
and its surrounding lands and villages).
 The next step, was creating empires, which is a group of territories or
states controlled by one ruler.
WHY DID THESE CIVILIZATIONS
DISAPPEAR?

8.  Cause
 Neolithic people learn to farm > They
settle into communities > They settle in
river valleys > New technologies improve
farming > Food surplus leads to
population growth > First cities are built.
 Effects
 Complex forms of government develop.
 Arts become more elaborate.
 Job specialization leads to classes.
 People invent writing.
 Early civilization create empires.
SUMMARY: CAUSE AND EFFECTS

9.  With the building of
Megaliths such as Göbekli
Tepe, modern day Turkey,
humans began to gather
around permanent areas.
 Göbekli Tepe was an hilltop
sanctuary at the top of a
mountain ridge.
 The importance of the site is
because its shows that
hunter-gatherer societies
could also erect monumental
complexes.
 Experts believed that cities
developed earlier and that
temples came after them.
FIRST CAME THE TEMPLE, THEN CAME
THE CITY

10. We can now say that a civilization is a
complex, highly organized social order.
THEREFORE

11.  Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History. (P. Hall, Ed.)
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, US: Pearson Education INC.
 Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History (Teacher´s
Edition) (1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal, Ed.) Orlando, Florida,
US.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
 Wikipedia. (n.d.). Catal Huyuk. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catal_Huyuk
 Wikipedia. (n.d.). Gobelki Tepe. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe
 Images taken from Google.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY