Download WHAP Period 1 Key Concepts

PERIOD 1: Technological & Environmental Transformations, to c. 600 BCE
Key Concept 1.1. Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth
I.
Archeologists claim that during Paleolithic era, hunter-foragers gradually migrated from East
African origin to Eurasia, Australia, & Americas, adapting to new climates
A. Fire: to aid hunting/foraging, to protect against predators, to adapt to cold environments
B. Developed a wider range of tools specially adapted to different environments
C. Economic structures—small kinship groups that could make what they needed to survive
(relatively egalitarian); not all groups self-sufficient, they exchanged people, ideas, & goods
Key Concept1.2. The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies
I.
II.
Neolithic Revolution
A. Permanent agricultural villages emerged:
1. Mesopotamia
2. Nile & sub-Saharan Africa
3. Indus River valley
4. Yellow (Huang He) River valley
5. Papua-New Guinea
6. Mesoamerica & the Andes
B. Pastoralism developed (more mobile due to need to change grazing areas, but more socially
stratified than hunter-foragers; rarely accumulated large amounts of material possessions;
mobility allowed them to become an important conduit for technological change as they
interacted with settled populations)
C. Domestication of crops & animals
D. Agricultural communities had to work cooperatively (clear land, water systems)
E. Environmental impact of agriculture (including intensive cultivation of certain plants to
exclusion of others, building of irrigation systems, use of domesticated animals for food/labor)
and pastoralism (erosion of overgrazed grasslands)
Agriculture and pastoralism began to transform human societies
A. More reliable and abundant food supplies, which increased the population
B. Surpluses led to specialization of labor and new social classes
C. Technological innovations improved agricultural production, trade, and transportation
a. Pottery
b. Plows
c. Woven textiles
d. Metallurgy
e. Wheels and wheeled vehicles
D. Elites accumulated wealth, creating more hierarchical social structures (forced labor systems
developed) and promoting patriarchy (settled agriculture led to shift in male/female roles).
Key Concept 1.3. The Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral,
and Urban Societies
I.
II.
III.
Civilizations developed in a variety of geographical and environmental settings. Shared features
of most civilizations: agricultural surpluses that permitted specialization of labor, cities, recordkeeping, complex institutions (political bureaucracies, armies, religious hierarchies), stratified
social hierarchies, organized long-distance trading relationships with other civilizations and
nomadic pastoralists.
A. Mesopotamia in the Tigris & Euphrates River Valleys
B. Egypt in the Nile River Valley
C. Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa in the Indus River Valley
D. Shang in the Yellow River or Huang He Valley
E. Olmecs in Mesoamerica
F. Chavín in Andean South America
The first states emerged
A. Definition & characteristics of “states”
1. System of rule that mobilized surplus labor & resources over large areas
2. Rulers—source of power believed to be divine, supported by military
B. States grew and completed.
1. Those with more resources grew & conquered surrounding states
2. Example: Hittites developed iron
C. Examples of state expansion or empire building: Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Nile Valley
D. Pastoralists often developed & spread new weapons & modes of transportation, which
transformed warfare (examples include compound bows, iron weapons; chariots, horseback
riding)
Culture unified states through laws, language, literature, religion, myths, & art
A. Monumental architecture & urban planning (ziggurats, pyramids, temples, defensive walls,
streets/roads, sewage/water systems)
B. Elites promoted arts and artisanship (sculpture, painting, wall decorations, elaborate
weaving)
C. Systems of record keeping (cuneiform, hieroglyphs, pictographs, alphabets, quipu)
D. Legal codes (Code of Hammurabi, Law of Moses)
E. New religious beliefs
1. The Vedic Religion
2. Hebrew monotheism
3. Zoroastrianism
F. Trade expanded from local to regional and trans-regional (Egypt-Nubia, Mesopotamia-Indus)
G. Social and gender hierarchies intensified
H. Literature was also a reflection of culture (Epic of Gilgamesh, Rig Veda, Book of the Dead)