Transcript Period 1: Technological & Environmental Changes

PERIOD 1:
TECHNOLOGICAL &
ENVIRONMENTAL
CHANGES
To 600 BCE
BIG GEOGRAPHY & THE
PEOPLING OF EARTH
Key
Concept
#1
PALEOLITHIC MIGRATION
 During the Paleolithic Era, hunter-gatherer (HG) tribes gradually
migrated from East Africa (origin) to Eurasia, Australia, and the
Americas
 200,000BCE humans originated out of Africa; Out of Africa theory
claims humans then left 60,000BCE
 So, who are these bands of hunter-gatherers?  mobile, egalitarian,
small, based on kinship
PALEOLITHIC MIGRATION
 During the Paleolithic Era, hunter-gatherer (HG) tribes
gradually migrated from East Africa (origin) to Eurasia,
Australia, and the Americas
 HGs adapt: adapted to their environments
 Through controlled use of fire  protection from predators/climate
(as far back as 800,000BCE in Fertile Crescent)
 Through use of man made tools
 Not all HGs were self-sufficient  exchanged people, ideas,
goods
 Original Affluent Society Theory --> HGs worked less and had
more free time than we do now --> much easier lives
STONE AGE
Stone Age --> 2m-2000BCE: period in which
tools were made from non-metallic (stone)
substances (others? --> bone, skin, wood)
 Paleolithic (Old Stone Age)--> period of the Stone Age
associated with the evolution of humans: to 8000BCE
 Neolithic (New Stone Age) --> period of the Stone Age
associated with the ancient Agricultural Revolution:
8000BCE-2000BCE
FOOD: GATHERING TO PRODUCING
Around 8000BCE the Neolithic Revolution(s)
occurred, leading to new and more complex
economic and social systems.
 Farming was discovered (not invented)… but why?
 Possibly a response to climatic change, (the
first) 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/Huang He Valley, Papua New Guinea,
Mesoamerica, and the Andes.
FOOD: GATHERING TO PRODUCING
 Around 8000BCE the Neolithic Revolution occurred, leading to
new and more complex economic and social systems.
 Farming was discovered (not invented)… but why?
 Possibly a response to climatic change, (the first) 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/Huang He Valley, Papua New Guinea, Mesoamerica, and the Andes .
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTIONS
 The Agricultural Revolutions
 Food-gathering to food production that occurred 8000BCE2000BCE (Neolithic)
 Not a single event, but a series of separate transformations in
different parts of the world (independently)
 First occurred in the Middle East;----- shifting cultivation
(swidden agriculture): leaving fields fallow to regain nutrients
 Animal Domestication --> first? dog; why animals? --> track
game, provide meat/milk/fiber/energy; fertilizer; Americas (1) v
Old World (14);
FOOD: GATHERING TO PRODUCING
 Around 8000BCE the Neolithic Revolution occurred,
leading to new and more complex economic and
social systems.
 Pastoralism (migratory humans herding migratory animals)
developed at various sites in the grasslands of Afro-Eurasia.
 Pastoralists were important agents for diffusing new
ideas/technology
FOOD: GATHERING TO PRODUCING
 Around 8000BCE the Neolithic Revolution occurred, leading to
new and more complex economic and social systems.
 What was domesticated, and where?
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Mesopotamia (also known as the "Fertile Crescent") - wheat, goats;
SE Asia - rice;
Mesoamerica - corn ("maize");
Sub-Saharan Africa - yams, cattle;
Andes - potatoes
FOOD: GATHERING TO PRODUCING
 Around 8000BCE the Neolithic Revolution
occurred, leading to new and more complex
economic and social systems.
 Agricultural communities had to work cooperatively to
clear land and create the water control systems
needed for crop production.
 Irrigation! --> Humans manipulated the environment to
aid in the production of foodstuffs (the items just
mentioned above)… How did they do this specifically? -->
wells; qanats
 The amount of water that could be supplied directly
affected the size of the settlement
 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.
QANAT
FOOD CHANGE: SOCIAL AFFECTS
Gathers (G) v Producers (P)
 P work harder for longer periods of time (modern
studies) why? guard land, guide herds to pastures,
clear/cultivate lands
 Less nutritious diet for P, but less likely to starve
 P more exposure to diseases aka death
 P organized in lineages or clans, acted together to
promote common interests (matrilineal v patrilineal)
--> ancestor veneration?
SOCIOECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
 So how exactly did agriculture/ pastoralism transform human
societies?
 Consistently, more abundant food supplies  leads to  increase in
population
 In turn, the surplus of food allowed for specialization of labor
 With more food than could be consumed, not all humans had to
contribute to the hunting and harvesting food. So what did they do with
this extra free time? They began to work on other things of course!
 New social stratification (egalitarian no more!) --> Humans focused on
being warriors, artisans, traders, rulers...
SOCIOECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
 Technological innovations led to improvements in agricultural
production, trade, and transportation.
 Pottery, plows, woven textiles, metallurgy, and wheeled vehicles
 Elite groups accumulated wealth
 Creating more hierarchical social structures and promoting patriarchal
(father rules family, running society) forms of social organization.
THE FIRST (6)
CIVILIZATIONS
KEY
CONCEPT
#2
FIRST OF ALL, WHAT IS A CIVILIZATION?
 Epic of Gilgamesh (2000BCE)
 Defines civilization as the people of ancient Mesopotamia (present-day
Iraq) understood it:
 Gilgamesh (king) sends temple prostitute to tame Enkidu (wild man, symbolic of
HG), taming = civilizing in that eat cooked food, wear clothes, drink beer, bathe,
worship gods in temple city center
 Characteristics of Civilization
1. Cities as administrative centers (control/govern outside
territories)
2. Political system no longer based on kinship (blood-lines)
3. Specialization of labor (made possible by surplus of food!)
4. Social stratification occurs (think: patriarchy in, egalitarianism is
out) in which case money is power
5. Monumental building occurs (think: pyramids, ziggurats, urban
planning, irrigation)
6. System for keeping permanent records (writing systems )
7. Long-distance trade ---- major advances in science and the arts
1. MESOPOTAMIA
Mesopotamia
 Translated, it means “Land between the rivers" (Euphrates & Tigris)
 This reflects the significance of the rivers to their way of life
 Located in what we now call the "Fertile Crescent“
 “First plants and animal domestication here at ~8000BCE
 Lugal
 “Big men”
 3000BCE, originally army leaders became secular leaders
 City-states absorbed others, created large territorial states (i.e. Akkadian
state 2350BCE and Ur Dynasty (2112BCE)
 Sumerians
 ~5000BCE; responsible for irrigation tech; cuneiform (written language)
 Cities evolved from villages; city -state--> self-governing urban centers and
the agricultural territories they controlled; those from city could labor in
field OR specialize in other areas of occupation
 Irrigation = Dams--> why build them? --> to raise river level thereby causing
water to flow down canals to the fields
1. MESOPOTAMIA
 Old Babylonian State
 King Hammurabi (1792-1750BCE)
 Mesopotamian kings not normally seen as divine (in
Egypt they were)
 Code of Hammurabi
 Provided judges with punitive measures through
illustrative examples
 Reflected 3 social divisions
1. The free, landowning class, which included royalty,
high-ranking officials, warriors, priests, merchants,
artisans/shopkeepers
2. Dependent farmers and artisans
3. Slaves, employed in domestic service --- penalties
for crimes depended on the class of the offender,
growing more severe in 2nd and 3rd classes)
1. MESOPOTAMIA
Social Inequality
 Slavery not huge at this time in Mesopotamia
 If there were slaves, they were often POWs or nomads
 Women
 W/ downfall of HG, egalitarianism also fell
 Heavy physical labor of food production (male-based) elevated status
of man against woman
 Food production increased ability to feed more mouths, that became
primary role of women
 In Mesopotamian society they could still work, own property, just role
in society is diminished
1. MESOPOTAMIA
Mesopotamian Culture
 Written history - written by male scribes,
trained professionals who applied their reading
and writing skills to tasks of administration
(almost entire population was illiterate ) lengthy
training required, worked for government, could
read hieroglyphics or other forms of writing
 Religious:
 Anthromorphic: Gods seen as like humans in form
and conduct
 Polytheistic: believed in multiple gods
 Ziggurat --> a massive pyramidal stepped tower
made of mud bricks; function is unknown; Ziggurat of
Ur-Nammu, ~2100BCE
 Amulets --> small charms meant to protect the
bearer from evil - show widespread belief in magic
among the common people, despite the omnipresent
temples within the city centers
2. EGYPT
Egypt
 Between 5000BCE-3000BCE HG migrated from former mild/wet
climate that is now the Sahara Desert, settling down into
sedentary lifestyles along the Nile River
 Upper Egypt (south) to Lower Egypt (north)
 Herodotus (Greek traveler, called the Father of History) called
Egypt the "Gift of the Nile”… Why?
 Nile River
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World's longest river
Bordered mostly by desert, banks of river support lush vegetation
“Black Land v Red Land”: Today 90% of country is nearly inhospitable
Agriculture is entirely dependent on the river (no rain south of delta)
Unlike Tigris/Euphrates --> Nile flooded at exactly the right time for grain
agriculture
 Well-endowed in resources: papyrus (rope, sails, paper); stone;
clay; turquoise/copper; gold
2. EGYPT
 Old Kingdom (2575BCE-2134BCE)
 Middle Kingdom (2040BCE-1640BCE)
 New Kingdom (1532BCE-1070BCE)
 Kingdom flourishing --> officials were appointed on merit (ability)
 Old/Middle - Isolationist (all foreigners were considered enemies);
Nubia - gold;
 Each period of centralized (power resting in the hands of the few)
political power/cultural achievement
 Intermediate Periods took place in-between in which those
characteristics were not present
 Kingdom weak (Intermediate Periods occurred) when officials were
appointed on hereditary-basis (family/blood-lines)
2. EGYPT
 Ruler
 Pharaoh (New Kingdom term): from an Egyptian phrase meaning "palace“
 "Ruler of Two Lands" - Kings of Egypt bore this title to refer to Upper and
Lower; Whole of Egypt was unified early in its history
 Divine Kingship
 From the time of the Old Kingdom Egyptians considered the king to be a god
sent to earth to maintain ma'at (divinely authorized order of the universe)
 To ensure they rejoin the other gods, massive resources were used to construct
royal tombs -> pyramid: a large triangular stone monument used in Egypt and
Nubia as a burial place for the king; largest erected during the Old
 Tools: made of stone (bronze still expensive/rare); had almost
unlimited man power;
 Capitals: Old (Memphis); Middle, New (Thebes) (Valley of the
Kings)
 Commerce --> controlled by government (diff: Mesopotamia -->
urban middle class)
 Literacy --> developed by ~3100BCE; hieroglyphics earliest form of
writing system; picture symbols; hard to learn, only
scribes/administration
2. EGYPT
 Religion
 Polytheistic
 Devotion to magic was strong (especially of those in rural areas)
 Egyptian Book of the Dead
 Present in many excavated tombs, spells/rituals to ensure safe
journey to next life
 Mummification showed their obsession with afterlife
 Pyramids built on edge of desert so as to not take up valuable
agricultural space
 Egypt and Mesopotamia ethnically heterogeneous
3. INDUS RIVER VALLEY
 The Indus Valley Civilization ( 2600BCE-1900BCE)
 Indus River
 Fertile floodplain that flooded 2 times a year
 Just upstream… Punjab Valley  present-day location of where Harappa was!
Punjab Valley is highly contested between India and Pakistan today!
 Best known for two great cities: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
 Earliest settlements; excavation near impossible due to high water table
 Harappa - 35k pop; Mohenjo-Daro much larger
 Both cities…
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Had covered-drain pipes to carry waste away
Urban planning evidence of central authority (gov’t buildings in interior)
Most people in Indus Valley lived in rural villages (same with Egypt)
More metal here than in Egypt/Meso
Undeciphered writing system --> leaves many question marks
Long-distance trade highly evident (seals on coins seen in Mesopotamia)
Tech: irrigation, potter's wheel; mud bricks - building
Downfall: cities abandoned --> ? --> "systems failure" natural disaster
brought down political/social/economic systems
HOW DID THESE CIVILIZATIONS ADAPT?
Think: Human -Environment Interaction piece of SPICE
 “Technology”
 Ancient Greek word techne means skill or specialized knowledge used to transform the
natural environment and human society
 So, it’s not just irrigation, but religious lore, ceremony, and writing systems
 Writing --> Fir st appeared in Mesopotamia ~3300BCE found in chief temple
of Uruk (a city)
 Cuneiform --> a system of wiring in which wedge -shaped symbols represented words or
syllables; so many symbols had to be memorized, so , literacy was restricted to those
who studied it for many years (scribes);
 Used by Sumerians; first used for economic reasons (pictures depicting what as inside
clay balls)
 Wheeled car ts; water channels; boats; donkeys as pack animals for overland
caravans
 Metallurgy --> bronze (stronger and sharper than stone --- more durable than
copper)
 Clay for per sonal carriage; mud bricks primar y building material
 War fare
 At first only able-bodied men who were called up when needed
 Then, in 3000BCE-2000BCE, well-trained and well-paid soldiers
 2000BCE horses enter arena in western Asia, changing the game completely (chariots)
 Math: used base -60 number system (our s today is a base-10 system)
 This is reason for our seconds/minutes we use today
S.P.I.C.E.
1. MESOPOTAMIA
 S: labor for irrigation required large numbers of people; Code of
Hammurabi-> law, punishments, society; st ratification->kings/priests
control most wealth; (1) free (not fundamental, POWs); ag ->women>status lost ->men->valuable irrigation/plowing; writing system ->complex,
requiring scribes
 P: Sumerians fir st people of Mesopotamia, 5000BCE; society of villages
and cities-> mutual interdependence = “city -state” (villages->surplus
food, cities ->protection, market, goods); Lugal-> “big men” 3000BCE,
origin. army leaders became secular leaders i.e. Epic of Gilgamesh (but
tended to be non -secular); city -states absorbed other s, created large
territorial st ates (i.e. Akkadian state 2350BCE and Ur Dynasty (211 2BCE);
“Old Babylonian” state -> est. Hammurabi (Law Code)
 I: cattle-pulled plows by 4000BCE and planter to cultivate barley;
irrigation canals built af ter 3000BCE ( nec. for unpredictable weather)
 C: polytheistic-> anthromorphic; humans ser vants of gods; temples >walled compounds (ziggurat); common people ->little evidence, thought
they believed in m agic, possibly to manipulate gods; writing system
(cuneiform) use of pictures to rep: political, legal, economic, literar y,
religious, and scientific texts
 E: states obtained resources through territorial ex pansion , long-distance
trade; m erchants orig. employed by state/temple, 2000BCE private
merchants occurred; trade carried out through bar ter
2. EGYPT
 S: large number of people required for labor of pyramids;
heterogeneous (light/dark); stratification: (1) king/officials (2)
officials, leaders, priests, artisans, $ farmers (3) peasants,
majority of population (paid taxes, provided labor); women: had
more rights than Mesopotamian women
 P: divine kingship-> regarded as gods who came to earth to ensure
the welfare and prosperity of the people; unified Egyptian state by
3100BCE; bureaucracy important (facilitated land, labor, taxes
villages-kingship; very rural; wanted to acquire resources not
territory
 I: climate good for ag, poor rainfall -> nec. for irrigation; regular
and high flooding; papyrus used for writing; stepped -pyramid tombs
2630BCE; pyramids constructed using lever, pulley, roller
technology; two writing systems ( hieroglyphics)
 C: funeral rites/preser vation of body of dead king very important;
writing used for secular and religious purposes; foreigner = enemy;
religion: polytheistic; temples!; common people believed in magic
and afterlife; science->anatomy via mummy, engineering,
astronomy, mathematics
 E: traded: e: grain, copper, turquoise, gold (Nubia), ivory, animals,
incense; resources often acquired through trade
3. INDUS VALLEY
 S: ?
 P: origins? Sophisticated urban civ? Harappa and Mohenjo -Daro;
2 may have been city -states
 I: sophisticated tech: irrigation (nec. little rainfall); two
harvests/yr; 2 cities surrounded by brick walls, had drainage
systems; potter’s wheel; bronze metallurgy;
 C: identity?; writing system undeciphered;
 E: used metal resources; extensive trade connections (even
Mesopotamia)
4. CHINA
 S: coordinated effort from large people = ag; S elite were warrior
aristocracy; early Z = feudal -like system; women-> subservience;
later Z: large armies of conscripted farmers; late Z concept of
private property (inclu. land); patriarchy rises (Z) justified by
concepts of yin and yang
 P: Shang: warrior aristocracy; heavenly king ruled directly over
core, indirect rule over periphery // Zhou: “ Mandate of Heaven ”;
regional elites gradually gained more power, ruling their territories
as independent states; Z bureaucrats became educated->
admin/advice
 I: resources: timber, stone, metals; bronze metallurgy (S);
chicken/pigs domesticated (S); silk textiles developed (S); S fought
w bronze weapons, rode horse-drawn chariots; Z replaced bronze
w/ iron and steel in combat
 C: writing system developed (S), directly related today; S religion:
polytheistic, but one supreme god ->ancestors of ruler made link
(so, heaven/earth connected legitimacy of rule ) Z religion: inserted
own supreme deity, religion played major role in public/private life;
Z feng shui -> maintain harmony; Z late -> confucianism; daoism
 E: not big traders…
5. NUBIA
 S: Egyptian exploitation of Nubian laborers
 P: Kingdom of Meroe; south-> Kingdom of Kush: metalworking
and construction; at times practiced matrilineal family system
in ruling dynasty (=powerful queens)
 I: resources: gold, copper; climate = needed irrigation; Egyptian
hieroglyphics, pyramids; reservoirs to catch rainfall
 C: imposition of Egyptian culture during Egypt’s New Kingdom
era
 E: used metal resources to trade with Egypt
 Heavily influenced by Egypt*
6. MESOAMERICA
 S: clan-based system of labor
 P: Olmec and Chavin; C had strong military
 I: O used raised fields to provide ag surplus -> sustain urban
centers; kingship(?); power rested on control of commodities
and religious practices
 C: limited tech; architecture still impressive; O played role in
development of writing and astronomy
 E: trade occurred…
PRIMARY DOCUMENT ANALYSIS: C & C
Mesopotamia
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Divine kingship (P)
Polytheistic (C)
Anthromorphic gods (C)
No after life for common
people (C)
Ramparts/walls burnt brick (I,
S)
Private property (C)
Social order through codified
laws (S)
Slavery – half value (S)
Trade and currency (E)
Social hierarchy:
State/king(gods)->free man>slaves (S)
Men > women (S)
Writing –clay tablets (C)
Egypt
 Divine kingship (P)
 Polytheistic (C)
 Magic; After life for
common people possible
(C)
 Private property (C)
 Canal (I)
 Slavery (S)
 Social hierarchy – scribes
(S)
 Trade (long-distance),
merchants (E)
 Writing - papyrus (C)
PRIMARY DOCUMENT ANALYSIS: C & C
SO, THE SIMILARITIES (ACCORDING TO THESE TEXTS)…
Divine kingship (P)
Polytheistic (C)
Private property (C)
Slavery (S)
Trade (E)
Social hierarchy (S)
Writing (C)
THE DEVELOPMENT &
INTERACTIONS OF EARLY
AGRICULTURAL,
PASTORAL, AND URBAN
SOCIETIES
Key
Concept
#3
BRONZE AGE
Late Bronze Age in Middle East (And
Minoans/Mycenaeans) was a cosmopolitan
era, meaning they had shared lifestyles,
technologies, and culture that had originated
in Mesopotamia and Egypt
Horses
 Domesticated by nomadic peoples in Central Asia
~2000BCE; reached Egypt by way of Zagros
Mountains ~1600BCE
 Greatly increased speed and distance of
communication/trade
BRONZE AGE
 Minoans (Crete)
 ~2000BCE; partook in long-distance trade throughout the Aegean Sea;
influenced the Ancient Greeks; writing system undeciphered; fell to
Mycenaeans ~1450BCE
 Mycenaeans (Greek Islands)
 ~2000BCE; ~1600 made a sudden rise (assimilated Minoan culture
and practices)
 First advanced civilization in Greece, called “Mycenaean” because
Mycenae was the first site excavated
 Used Linear B, an early form of Greek, which used pictorial signs to
represent syllables (Linear B only used for public works accountancy)
 Aggressive, warlike people; often butted heads with Hittites  Troy an
example (~1200BCE)
Bronze
Iron
IRON AGE
Iron Age
Many societies entering in Eastern Hemisphere
~1000BCE; advent of iron technology began at
different times in different parts of the world
Iron became the primary metal for tools and
weapons
 Difference? Harder, sharper edges than bronze (had
to be heated at higher temp.)
IRON AGE
 Hittites (dominant between 1700-1200BCE)
 Developed iron metallurgy ~1500BCE
 Gained wealth from trade in metals and military power
(chariots)
 Fell to unidentified attackers ~1200BCE
 Hyksos
 “Princes of Foreign Lands”: intermarried w Egyptians, used
their language, maintained their institutions and culture
 Uncertain how they came to power; possessed superior
military tech: chariot and composite bow (greater range
and velocity than normal wooden bow)
“DARK AGE”
~1200BCE – Middle East civilizations slip into
“Dark Age” of isolation/decline
 ~1000BCE resurgence occurs  Assyrian Empire
forms w/ unprecedented size and diversity
Lesson in Collapse?
 As each of the civilizations fell about the same time,
for unknown reasons, one thing is clear: They were
civilizations dependent on one another for resources
(trade). Also, it is important to note, they were
cosmopolitan as a result.
Assyrian Empire
 900-600BCE Assyrians of Mesopotamia created the
largest empire the world had yet seen
 Tough farmers provided excellent foot-soldiers, could
deploy 500k at one pt; superior tech-> spears, bows,
chariots, cavalry, iron, towers, battering rams, spies;
campaigns provided tribute/taxes, iron and silver
resources
 King: gods’ earthly representative, church and state
belonged to him
 Mass deportation (~4m) destroyed religious
communities