Download Period 1 Exam Review

Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to c. 600 BCE (5%)
EXAM REVIEW
Key Concept 1.1 Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth
Key Concept 1.2 The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies
Key Concept 1.3 The Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies
ESSENTIAL QUESTION (EQ):
· In what ways was did geography impact the peopling of the Earth?
· What is the significance of the Neolithic Revolution (aka the Agricultural Revolution) to the human
history?
· What systems and institutions did humans develop to deal with the increasing complexity of society?
KEY TERMS & CONCEPTS
Hunting-Foraging Bands
Neolithic Revolutions
River Valley Civilizations
Pastoralism
Urbanization
Early Empires
Animism/Polytheism
Monotheism
IMPORTANT PERIODIZATION
c. 8000 BCE: standard date for the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution in Mesopotamia
but, agriculture developed at other times in other places:
c. 7000 BCE: agriculture developed in East Asia
c. 6000 BCE: agriculture developed in the Nile region
c. 3000 BCE: agriculture developed in Andean South America
IMPORTANT CIVILIZATIONS
Region
Southwest Asia
East Africa
North Africa
South Asia
East Asia
Americas
Civilization
Mesopotamia, Persia
Bantus
Eygpt, Kush
Indus Valley
Shang
Olmec, Chavin
IMPORTANT MIGRATIONS & TRADE ROUTES
MIGRATIONS
 Southeast Asians across the Pacific (Oceania)
 East Asians to North America continuing to South America
 Central Asians into India, Europe (Indo-Europeans)
 Central Africans to eastern and southern Africa (Bantus)
TRADE AREAS
 Important trade regions: limited regional trade in all areas
 Must-know terms involving trade: barter systems, weapons, belief systems
IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY
Domestication of animals, agriculture. Irrigation, dams wheel, plow, the sail, metalwork, brick-making, the
arch, cities, governments, geometry, algebra, writing, calendars: early developments in Mesopotamia, Egypt,
and China.
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IMPORTANT ART, ARCHITECTURE, AND LITERATURE
Art
Architecture
Cave paintings –
found globally
Religious figurines –
Sun-dried bricks, the arch,
found globally
ziggurats, Assyrian bas reliefs --Mesopotamia
Staturay –
Pyramids – Egypt
Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece
Bronze figurines – China
Cities --- Babylon (Mesopotamia),
Memphis (Egypt), Catal-huyuk
(Turkey), Mohenjo-Daro (India),
Zhengzhou (China), Caral (Peru)
Large stone heads – Mesoamerica
Stonehenge monoliths – England
Literature
Epic of Gilgamesh and the Code of
Hammurabi – Mesopotamia
Book of the Dead – Egypt
Hebrew Scriptures – Eastern
Mediterranaen
Upanishands – South Asia
ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
Type of System
Agricultural societies – cultivate crops
8,000 BCE
Types of technology developed rate
of technological development
domestication of plants and animals
iron tools writing systems constant
development
Pastoral societies – domesticated
animals 8,000 BCE
domestication of horses and camels
Foraging societies – hunting and
gathering 35,000 BCE
baskets for gathering and storing and
hunting tools
Main geographic locations
river valleys in Mesopotamia, Nile
River valley, India, China,
MesoAmerica, Andes
steppes, grasslands, deserts,
mountain ranges
everywhere until sedentary
agricultural societies and then
empires took over the most fertile
areas
COMPARISONS OF EARLY RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS
CULTURE
Cuneiform;
Extensive trade with Egypt and
the Indus Valley
Epic of Gilgamesh
Early use of bronze tools, chariots
MESOPOTAMIA
(developed by 3500
BCE)
Advanced astronomy; math based
on 60
Pessimistic view of world,
perhaps due to irregular,
unpredictable flooding of the
rivers
Polytheism - gods powerful and
often cruel
Kings powerful, but not divine
POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION
City-states and warrior
kings
Hammurabi's Code
Competition among city
states as well as frequent
invasions led to less
political stability than in
Egypt
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Job specialization farmers, metallurgist,
merchants, craftsmen,
political administrators,
priests;
Social classes;
Marriage contracts, veils
for women; women of
upper classes less equal
than lower class
counterparts
Concerned with decorative arts,
shipbuilding, some medical
knowledge
EGYPT(developed
by 3000 BCE)
INDUS VALLEY
(developed by 2500
BCE)
SHANG CHINA
(developed by 1700
BCE)
Less advanced in math and
astronomy than Mesopotamians
Less extensive trade, especially in
earlier eras
Polytheism, with pharaoh as a
god
Optimistic view of life
(regular, controllable flooding of
the river) Strong belief in the
afterlife; Book of the Dead
Hieroglyphics - complex,
pictorial language
Writing system only recently
decipherable
Soapstone seals that indicate trade
with both Mesopotamians and
China
pottery making with bulls and
long-horned cattle a frequent
motif
Small figurines of women
Cruder weapons than
Mesopotamians - stone
arrowheads, no swords
Polytheism - naked man with
horns the primary god; fertility
goddesses
Two cities: Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro
Oracles bones used to
communicate with ancestors
Pattern on bones formed basis for
writing system; writing highly
valued, complex pictorial
language with 3000 characters by
end of dynasty
Uniform written language became
bond among people who spoke
many different languages
Bronze weapons and tools, horsedrawn chariots
Geographical separation from
other civilizations, though
probably traded with the Indus
Valley
Divine kingship - the
pharaoh; highly
centralized, authoritarian
government
Generally stable
government throughout
the 3 kingdoms
Extensive bureaucracy;
pharaoh's power
channeled through
regional governors
Smaller nobility than
Mesopotamia; fewer
merchants
Some social mobility
through the bureaucracy
Priests have high status
(only ones who understand
the complex hieroglyphic
written language)
Women - probably higher
status than in
Mesopotamia; love poetry
indicates some importance
placed on male/female
relationships
One female pharaoh Hatshepsut
Influential wife of pharaoh
- Nefertiti
Assumed to be complex
and thought to be
centralized
Limited information, but
large granaries near the
cities indicate centralized
control
Priests have highest status,
based on position as
intermediaries between
gods and people
Differences in house sizes
indicate strong class
distinctions
Statues reflects reverence
for female reproductive
function
Centralized government,
power in the hands of the
emperor
Government preoccupied
with flood control of the
rivers Job specialization bureaucrats, farmers,
slaves
Social classes - warrior
aristocrats, bureaucrats,
farmers, slaves
Patriarchal society; women
as wives and concubines;
women were sometimes
shamans
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MESO AND
SOUTH AMERICA
(developed by 1200
BCE)
Olmecs in Mesoamerica:
Highly developed astronomy;
used to predict agricultural cycles
and please the gods
Polytheism; religious rituals
important, shamans as healers
Ritual ballgames
Irrigation and drainage canals
Giant carved stone heads;
probably with religious
significance
Olmecs: apparently not
united politically; unusual
for ancient civilizations
Chavin: probably political
unification; public works
operated by reciprocal
labor obligations; had a
capital city
Olmec: craft
specializations; priests
have highest status; most
people were farmers
Chavin: Priests have
highest status; capital city
dominated the hinterlands;
most people were farmers