CH 1: FIRST PEOPLE, FIRST FARMERS Flashcards
Compared to agriculturalists, pastoralists tended to be _____ ______.
less mobile
Where did pastoralism first emerge?
Afro-Eurasia
Compared to hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists tended to be _____ ________.
more socially stratified.
(Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a category. Hierarchy and inequality purely existed in agriculturalist societies)
What is an effect the switch to agriculture had on food supplies?
Food supply became more reliable but not necessarily more diversified.
How did pastoralists change warfare in agriculture civilizations?
By spreading new weapons and modes of transportation.
How did agriculture develop during the Neolithic Revolution?
It was a gradual process, developing independently in different parts of the world.
Ancestor worship, totemism, shamanism, and animism are concepts all associated with
polytheism
The Agricultural Revolution gave birth to
permanent dwellings, domesticated animals, and farming technology
What was most Neolithic technology related to?
farming
In what way might civilization have prompted the development of family and marriage laws?
Civilization produced a new understanding of property.
What did the Neolithic Revolution directly produce?
Division of labor, economic organization, and more complex government.
The first civilizations developed in geographic areas where
agriculture flourished.
What are civilizations?
Large societies with cities and powerful states.
What aspect of agricultural societies led to the development of social class and specialization of labor?
Surpluses of food and other resources.
What is an environmental change that would most likely be associated with a pastoralist society?
Erosion of grassland from overgrazing.
Why was the initial development of long-distance trade important in the Fertile Crescent?
Resources like timber for building and certain minerals were scarce in the river valleys.
Why was the planting of grains and vegetables important for people during the Neolithic Revolution?
It provided a reliable food source throughout the year.
At the end of the last ice age around 10,000 B.C.E., the major change that occurred was
the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture.
What are some common elements of complex societies?
A distinct religious structure, an organized government bureaucracy, and some kind of military force/ institution.
What tools would you expect to find at a Neolithic village?
Pestles, mortars, grindstones,
copper sickles, hoes, flint blades, and arrows.
What describes a religious or spiritual aspect of Paleolithic culture?
A cyclical view of time that emphasized regeneration and disintegration
The Agricultural Revolution occurred independently in various parts of the world between ______ and ______ years ago.
12,000 and 4,000 years ago
What was a feature of society during the Paleolithic era?
Relative egalitarianism
Define egalitarianism.
The doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.
In contrast to the people who migrated to the Americas, the Austronesian migrants to the Pacific islands ____ _____ _____ ____ ____.
brought domesticated animals with them.
What is a chiefdom?
societal groupings governed by a chief who typically relies on generosity, ritual status, or charisma rather than force to win obedience from the people
a complex worldview of Australia’s Aboriginal people that held that current humans live in a vibration or echo of ancestral happenings
Dreamtime
Region sometimes known as Southwest Asia that includes the modern states of Iraq, Syria, Israel/ Palestine, and southern Turkey; the earliest home of agriculture
Fertile Crescent
A ceremonial site compromising 20 circles made up of craved limestone pillars located in southwestern Turkey. The site, which dates to 11, 600 years ago, was built by gathering and hunting peoples who lived at least part of the year in settles villages
Göbekli Tepe
The gradual spread of agricultural techniques without extensive population movement
diffusion
An important Neolithic site in what is now Turkey; dead buried underneath houses, no streets, people moved around on rooftops.
Çatalhüyük
The spread of Bantu-speaking peoples from their homeland in what is now southern Nigeria or Cameroon to most of Africa, in a process that started about 3000 B.C.E. and continued for several millenia
Bantu migration
A Chinese archaeological site where the remains of a significant Neolithic village have been found
Banpo
The earliest and widespread and distinctive culture of North America; named from a particular kind of projectile point
Clovis culture
The last phase of the great human migration that established a human presence in every habitable region of the earth. These people settles the Pacific islands and Madagascar in a series of seaborne migrations that began around 3,500 years ago
Austronesian migrations
The last surviving member of a gathering and hunting group known as the Yahi who lived in northern California. His people were driven into extinction during the second half of the nineteenth century by the intrusion of farming and herding “civilized” societies
Ishi
Dying out of a number of large animal species, including the mammoth and several species of horses and camels, that occurred around 11,000 to 10,000 years ago, at the end of the Ice Age. The extinction may have been caused by excessive hunting or by the changing climate of the era.
Megafaual extinction
Term coined by the scholar Marshal Sahlins in 1972 to describe Paleolithic societies, which he regarded as affluent not because they had so much but because they wanted or needed so little.
“the original affluent society”
affluent: having a great deal of money; wealthy.
The process by which some Paleolithic peoples moved toward permanent settlement in the wake of the last Ice Age. Settlement was marked by increasing storage of food and accumulation of goods as well as growing inequalities in society
Paleolithic settling down
Human societies that rely on domesticated animals rather than plants as the main source of food; nomads lead their animals to seasonal grazing grounds rather than setting permanently in a single location
pastoral societies
A term used to describe the series of technological changes that began about 4000 B.C.E., as people began to develop new uses for their domesticated animals, exploiting a revolutionary new source of power
“secondary products revolution”
In many early societies, a person believed to have the ability to act as a bridge between living humans and supernatural forces, often by means of trances by psychoactive drugs
shaman
psychoactive drug used by Australian Aboriginials
pituri
The wild ancestor of maize
teosinte
In San culture, a nightlong ritual held to activate a human being’s inner spiritual potency to counteract the evil influences of gods and ancestors. The practice was apparently common to the Khoisan people, of whom the Ju/’hoansi are a surviving remnant
trance dance
Paleolithic carvings of the female form, often with exaggerated breasts, buttocks, hips, and stomach, which may have had religious significance
Venus figurines
What was a feature of a chiefdom?
Collecting tribute from commoners but keeping enough to maintain their prestigious positions
What did migrants to Australia and the Pacific Islands use to get to their destinations?
Boats
What role did women plat in agricultural village societies?
Women participated in farming and textile work.
What was a point of departure for migration to the Americas and how did they get there?
Eastern Siberia and believed to have gotten there through land bridges
What is a quality that describes both pastoral and agricultural village societies?
Both possessed relatively egalitarian social structures with few social distinctions.
What is one way Paleolithic humans altered their environment?
They deliberately set fires to encourage to growth of particular plants.
How did the Ice Age affect Paleolithic peoples?
The lower sea levels associated with the Ice Age created land bridges, allowing human beings to travel to many regions on earth.
What is an example of evidence that Paleolithic peoples were shifting from a nomadic way of life to a more settled lifestyle?
Elaborate burial sites
Which of the following is true of both the Paleolithic era and the Age of Agriculture?
A) The prevalence of female imagery
B) The power of priests
C) The modification of the genetic composition of plants
D) The spread of permanent settlements
A) The prevalence of female imagery
How did the north/ south orientation of the Americas affect the unfolding of the Agricultural Revolution in that part of the world?
Crops were slow to spread because they had to adapt to different climatic and vegetation zones
Which of the following was an important development during the Paleolithic period?
A) Humankind created the first alphabet.
B) Humankind migrated to different parts of the world.
C) Humankind established the first civilizations.
D) Humankind developed ironworking technologies.
B) Humankind migrated to different parts of the world.
What is a factor that contributed to the Agricultural Revolution?
A need for additional food
What distinguished the Agricultural Revolution in the Americas from the Agricultural Revolution elsewhere?
The scarcity of animals that could be domesticated
What was the result of the spread of agriculture through diffusion and migration
The spread of language groups
Why could some regions not make the transition to an agricultural way of life?
Environmental conditions were not suitable for farming
Which of the following was a result of the Agricultural Revolution? A) The initial settlement of the earth B) The invention of the plow C) Higher risk of disease and famine D) The decline of trade
C) Higher risk of disease and famine
Why was conflict frequent between pastoral societies and agricultural societies?
Pastoral societies wanted the food crops and manufactured goods by agricultural societies.
What is animal husbandry, and what type of society is it a feature of?
Animal husbandry is the breeding of animals and it is a feature of pastoral societies.
What common feature did pastoral and agricultural societies share?
Organization of society based on kinship
What form of society during the Age of Agriculture is considered to have a distinct element of inequality?
Chiefdoms
What is another name for the Agricultural Revolution?
Neolithic Revolution
What is the earliest evidence of humans in Africa?
The processing of ochre, a clay, in Blombos Cave, South Africa.
Humans in the Paleolithic era already had the knowledge to do which of the following? A) Make pottery B) Harvest wool C) Ride horses D) Make wine
A) Make pottery
Which of the following is the earliest evidence that gathering and hunting peoples were starting to make the transition to agriculture? A) Maize B) Sickles C) Canoes D) Milk
B) Sickles.
A sickle is a farming tool.
The Clovis culture of North America provides evidence of _____ _____ ___ _ ___ ___.
cultural diffusion over a large area.
Which of the following describes a development associated with the migration of Austronesian-speaking peoples throughout the Pacific?
A) The dependence on ice bridges to reach their destinations
B) The emergence of chiefdoms in the regions where they settled
C) The preservation of the ecosystem and natural habitats
D) The egalitarianism of the societies that emerged
B) The emergence of chiefdoms in the regions where they settled
How did Austronesian migrations differ from other early patterns of human movement?
Austronesian migrations were undertaken by people who already carried domesticated plants and animals in their canoes.
Why did some Paleolithic peoples abandon earlier, more nomadic ways and begin to live a more settled life?
- Societies became larger and more complex which made it more difficult to leave a settlement
- Due to improved conditions, it was easier to settle down.
In what ways did agriculture spread? Where and why was it sometimes resisted?
Agriculture spread through diffusion and the slow colonization or migration of peoples. Most people that resisted agriculture lived in areas that could not support farming lifestyles.
