Unit+1-+Oultine


 * Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations,**
 * to c. 600 B.C.E. (You all may edit and add things here to help create a collaborative study guide...I've given a few examples below in blue. You may add as many details to a particular concept as you want. For example, where I gave the Mandate of Heaven example, there are other things you can mention there. Please add your initials after your entry. Lastly, if you make the entry blue, it will be easier for us to see what has been added ) **

The term //Big Geography// draws attention to the global nature of world history. Throughout the Paleolithic period, humans migrated from Africa to Eurasia, Australia and the Americas. Early humans were mobile and creative in adapting to different geographical settings from savanna to desert to Ice Age tundra. By making an analogy with modern hunter-forager societies, anthropologists infer that these bands were relatively egalitarian. Humans also developed varied and sophisticated technologies.
 * Key Concept 1.1. Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth **

-Humans were nomadic and there was no private property. Men and women had equal roles in society with everyone just working to survive. - R E

-They lived in small bands of approx. 20-40 people. They were likely to leave weak or sick ones behind. -DS -During times of low water level, were able to travel easily between bodies of water like Bering Strait connecting Siberia and Alaska. -JAG
 * I. Archeological evidence indicates that during the Paleolithic era, hunting foraging**
 * bands of humans gradually migrated from their origin in East Africa to**
 * Eurasia, Australia and the Americas, adapting their technology and cultures to**
 * new climate regions.**

A. Humans used fire in new ways: to aid hunting and foraging, to protect against predators and to adapt to cold environments.

-By cooking their food, early humans were able to release more calories in the food they ate, while also doing much of the work of their stomachs. This allowed for a large majority of energy to go the development of their already evolving mental capacity. - JAG -Developing fire allowed for greater adaptation to colder climates, also. -JAG

B. Humans developed a wider range of tools specially adapted to different Environments from tropics to tundra

-They also learned to make warmer clothing and housing using resources such as animal skins. -D.K.

In response to warming climates at the end of the last Ice Age, from about 10,000 years ago, some groups adapted to the environment in new ways, while others remained hunter-foragers. Settled agriculture appeared in several different parts of the world. The switch to agriculture created a more reliable, but not necessarily more diversified, food supply. Agriculturalists also had a massive impact on the environment through intensive cultivation of selected plants to the exclusion of others, through the construction of irrigation systems, and through the use of domesticated animals for food and for labor. Populations increased; family groups gave way to village life, and later, to urban life with all its complexity. Patriarchy and forced labor systems developed, giving elite men concentrated power over most of the other people in their societies.
 * Key Concept 1.2. The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural **
 * Societies **

Pastoralism emerged in parts of Africa and Eurasia. Pastoral peoples domesticated animals and led their herds around grazing ranges. Like agriculturalists, pastoralists tended to be more socially stratified than hunter-foragers. Because pastoralists were mobile, they rarely accumulated large amounts of material possessions, which would have been a hindrance when they changed grazing areas. The pastoralists’ mobility allowed them to become an important conduit for technological change as they interacted with settled populations.


 * I. Beginning about 10,000 years ago, the Neolithic Revolution *and/or transition* (SR) led to the**
 * development of new and more complex economic and social systems.**

A. Possibly as a response to climatic change, permanent agricultural villages emerged first in the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Agriculture emerged at different times in Mesopotamia, the Nile River Valley and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indus River Valley, the Yellow River or Huang He Valley, Papua New Guinea, Mesoamerica and the Andes. -Agricultural practices were expanded as trade occurred between different regions of the world; spread certain types of food. -JAG

B. Pastoralism developed at various sites in the grasslands of Afro-Eurasia. -Pastoralists tended to over-graze, which led to the destruction grassland areas. -JAG

C. Different crops or animals were domesticated in the various core regions, depending on available local flora and fauna.

-Earliest evidence of agriculture was the cultivation of wheat. -J.K.

D. Agricultural communities had to work cooperatively to clear land and create the water control systems needed for crop production.

-They used slash-and-burn cultivation which caused farmers to move frequently.-Lauren Otto

-The farmers had to frequently move because the soil lost fertility after only a few years of farming. -D.K.

-To create such systems required long hours of hard physical labor, which exceeded the amount of time and effort used by hunter/gathers to obtain the necessities. -JAG

E. These agricultural practices drastically impacted environmental diversity. Pastoralists also affected the environment by grazing large numbers of animals on fragile grasslands, leading to erosion when overgrazed.

-Agricultural practices were fairly new in the early ages, which meant that much of the practices were based on trial and error, leading them to overgraze and later cause erosion -JAG


 * II. Agriculture and pastoralism began to transform human societies.**

A. Pastoralism and agriculture led to more reliable and abundant food supplies, which increased the population.

-Population went from 14 million in 3000 B.C.E. to 100 million by 500 B.C.E.. -J.K.

B. Surpluses of food and other goods led to specialization of labor, including new classes of artisans and warriors, and the development of elites. -In India, this division of labor was taken to a new extreme with the development of the caste system.--PJG -The caste system was divided even more with the creation of subcastes called jatis. A persons jati depends on their occupation.-Lauren Otto - Social mobility under these Jatis were often achieved by the group as a whole, it was a complex system that was constatnly evolving, for example the addtion of the class "The Untouchables" which even had certain Jatis in itself- SR -Mesopotamia had several stratified classes: ruling elites, priests, free commoners, dependent clients (peasants), and slaves C. Technological innovations led to improvements in agricultural production, trade and transportation, including pottery, plows, woven textiles, metallurgy, wheels and wheeled vehicles.

D. In both pastoralist and agrarian societies, elite groups accumulated wealth, creating more hierarchical social structures and promoting patriarchal forms of social organization.

From about 5,000 years ago, urban societies developed, laying the foundations for the first civilizations. The term //civilization// is normally used to designate large societies with cities and powerful states. While there were many differences between civilizations, they also shared important features. They all produced agricultural surpluses that permitted significant specialization of labor. All civilizations contained cities and generated complex institutions, such as political bureaucracies, including armies and religious hierarchies. They also featured clearly stratified social hierarchies and organized long-distance trading relationships. Economic exchanges intensified within and between civilizations, as well as with nomadic pastoralists.
 * Key Concept 1.3. The Development and Interactions of Early **
 * Agricultural, Pastoral and Urban Societies **

-The first large cities were located in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. - R E This area was commonly known as Mesopotamia or "The Land Between the Two Rivers" - SR  -This area was known as the Fertile Crescent for its exceptional soil qualities (due to flooding of rivers). -JAG

As populations grew, competition for surplus resources, especially food, led to greater social stratification, specialization of labor, increased trade, more complex systems of government and religion, and the development of record keeping. As civilizations expanded, they had to balance their need for more resources with environmental constraints such as the danger of undermining soil fertility. Finally, the accumulation of wealth in settled communities spurred warfare between communities and/or with pastoralists; this violence drove the development of new technologies of war and urban defense.

- A Prime example was the conflict between the Aryans and Dravidians, who had very violent encounters which actually led to the term dasa meaning "enemy" and the frequent reference to the god Indra- the god of war - SR -Combination of Aryans and Dravidians led to the Vedic Age, which grew from intermarriage and a combination of the two societies beliefs. -JAG

//NOTE: Students should be able to identify the location of all of the following.// A. Mesopotamia in the Tigris and 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
 * I. Core and foundational civilizations developed in a variety of geographical and**
 * environmental settings where agriculture flourished.**


 * II. The first states emerged within core civilizations.**

A. States were powerful new systems of rule that mobilized surplus labor and resources over large areas. Early states were often led by a ruler whose source of power was believed to be divine or had divine support, and who was supported by the religious hierarchy and professional warriors.

-In China the notion that the ruler had divine support was called the Mandate of Heaven -Mrs. C -If a ruler did not follow the Mandate of Heaven, the people could remove that person from power. -JAG Absolutlely, I think this is also evident with the Pharaohs of Egypt who had aboslute divine power. SR

B. As states grew and competed for land and resources, the more favorably situated — including the Hittites, who had access to iron — had greater access to resources, produced more surplus food and experienced growing populations. These states were able to undertake territorial expansion and conquer surrounding states.

- The Hitties also had the tremendous advantage of Horse drawn chariots- SR

C. Early regions of state expansion or empire building were Mesopotamia and Babylonia — Sumerians, Akkadians and Babylonians — and Egypt and Nubia along the Nile Valley.

-Although perhaps not as early as the Mesopotamian or Egyptian empires, there was a significant period of empire building in China, with the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.--PJG -Each civilization followed a cycle of ruling power in China, with the changes made to the government system making it more efficient. However, as time passed, poorer classes began to dislike heightened taxes, etc., siding with the rebels and ultimately overthrowing the regime. -JAG

D. Pastoralists were often the developers and disseminators of new weapons (such as compound bows or iron weapons) and modes of transportation (such as  chariots or horseback riding) that transformed warfare in agrarian civilizations.


 * III. Culture played a significant role in unifying states through laws, language,**
 * literature, religion, myths and monumental art.**

A. Early civilizations developed monumental architecture and urban planning (such as ziggurats, pyramids, temples, defensive walls, streets and roads, or sewage and water systems).

B. Elites, both political and religious, promoted arts and artisanship (such as sculpture, painting, wall decorations or elaborate weaving).

C. Systems of record keeping (such as cuneiform, hieroglyphs, pictographs, alphabets or quipu) arose independently in all early civilizations. -The writing of some civilizations, including the Harappan, have not yet been diciphered.---PJG -Also many writings of societies have been largely destroyed, whether through warfare or the quality of material it was preserved upon- SR -Mayan script considered to be the most flexible and elaborate of American systems of writing: S.J.  -Many writing forms have evolved into modern day language, such as the Phoenicians leading to Greek, which led to Latin, ultimately Romance Languages. -JAG D. Literature was also a reflection of culture (such as the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” //Rig// //Veda// or //Book of the Dead//).

"Epic of Gilgamesh"- Mesopotamia "Rig Veda"- India "Book of the Dead" Egypt -Mrs. C. "The Torah"- The Hebrews SR  -The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story of a man's search for immortality. By the end, the Gilgamesh realizes that the fate of all human beings is death. -MK

E. New religious beliefs developed in this period continued to have strong influences in later periods, including the Vedic religion, Hebrew monotheism and Zoroastrianism.

-Hebrew monotheism has remained as strongly/widely accepted religious concept in the world today. This religion grew from that of a polytheistic view developed in Mesopotamia and other early religions, having many biblical stories and concepts parallel to stories of these other religions. -JAG

Zoroastrianism??- SR

F. Trade expanded throughout this period, with civilizations exchanging goods, cultural ideas and technology. Trade expanded from local to regional and transregional, including between Egypt and Nubia and between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

G. Social and gender hierarchies intensified as states expanded and cities multiplied.

-When humans were still hunting and gathering, the women and the men were considered equal because they both helped support the group by providing food. -MK Gender hierarchies are evident in Hammurabi's Code. - Mrs. C -The equality of men and women in Egypt was far greater than many of the other early civilizations, allowing for women to own private property, own slaves, and pass down wealth to their children. Furthermore, they were permitted to participate in government as regents to the Pharaoh, rulers in their own right or jointly with a male, or as scribes. This meant that women could have formal education and work for both the government or private parties. -JAG