Flashcards
What two new things did some humans acquire as they migrated around the world?
1.) New skin tones
2.) Dogs
What year did the Holocene & the Neolithic Era begin?
10,000 BCE
What is another way to describe the Neolithic Era?
The New Stone Age
When the Holocene began ____ & _____ around the world rose.
Temperatures and water levels
The Holocene is the name for the current _________ we are in.
interglacial period
When the Holocene began ____ started to shrink.
glaciers
True or False - When the Holocene began plant and animal populations decreased.
False - they increased! There were more plants and animals everywhere.
What is the name for the new kind of environment that began to form around the world during the Holocene?
River Valley Environments
What are some of the commons features of a River Valley environment?
(Make sure you can list all of them - there are 8.)
- Large river
- Fertile soils
- Wetlands
- Heavy rainfall
- Wild, unpredictable floods
- Warm temperatures year-round
- Large number of easy to hunt animals
- Large number of edible plants
The red shaded areas of this map are where the largest river valleys on the planet are located.
What area of the world is A?
Central America
The red shaded areas of this map are where the largest river valleys on the planet are located.
What area of the world is B?
Western Coast of South America
The red shaded areas of this map are where the largest river valleys on the planet are located.
What area of the world is C?
Egypt
The red shaded areas of this map are where the largest river valleys on the planet are located.
What area of the world is D?
Mesopotamia
The red shaded areas of this map are where the largest river valleys on the planet are located.
What area of the world is E?
Northwest India (in South Asia)
The red shaded areas of this map are where the largest river valleys on the planet are located.
What area of the world is F?
Northern China (in East Asia)
What impact did the increase in the number of plants and animals in the world have on hunter-gatherers?
More food available for them to hunt and gather
What impact did the rise in water levels and disappearance of land bridges have on hunter-gatherers?
Hunter-gatherers in the Americas and Australia get isolated from the rest of the human population.
Why did many hunter-gatherer groups migrate during the Holocene to live in river valley environments?
There was more food and water there than any other kind of environment.
Why did some hunter-gatherer groups NOT migrate during the Holocene to live in river valley environments?
Wild, unpredictable flooding
The discovery of stone houses and permanent ritual sites in river valley environments suggests that early Holocene river valley hunter-gatherers stopped being ____ and started living ______ lifestyles.
The existence of stone houses and permanent ritual sites in river valley environments suggests that hunter-gatherers living in stopped being NOMADIC and started living SEDENTARY lifestyles.
What does the word sedentary mean?
Staying in one place for a long period of time.
What does the word nomadic mean?
Living in no one single location and moving to and from different spots all year long
Why did river valley hunter gatherers not have to be nomadic?
- There were so many animals in river valley environments that there was no need to migrate to find them
- Weather was warm year-round so plants were always growing/available to gather, no need to migrate each season
The discovery of mortar and pestles & stone bowls in river valley environments suggests that early Holocene hunter-gatherers started to …
Bake bread and brew beer
The discovery of stones figurines of humans in river valley environments suggests that early Holocene hunter-gatherers started to practice …
ancestor worship
Did river valley hunter gatherers stop practicing animism?
No! They practiced both animism and ancestor worship.
What probably developed in river valley environments to help determine what would happen to a person’s possessions when they died?
Marriage (the person you were married to & the children you had with them would get that person’s possessions when they died)
The red shaded areas of this map are where the largest river valleys on the planet are located.
What area of the world is G?
The Levant
Altogether - the river valleys of Mesopotamia, The Levant, & Egypt are nicknamed …
The Fertile Crescent
If you community has a few hundred to 1,000 residents, it is considered a …
Village
If you community has a 1,000 to several thousands residents, it is considered a …
Town
Around 8000 BCE, what did river valley hunter-gatherers begin to do to get some of their food?
Farming
In river valley villages/towns hunter-gatherers started to domesticate & raise/grow some of the animals and plants in their river valley. What does domestication mean?
Domestication: bringing something out of the wild and under human control
What are two reasons why river valley hunter-gatherers only farmed for some of their food and not all of it?
1.) Raising/growing all of your own food is a lot of work
2.) River valleys had tons of plants and animals in them — so there was no need to raise/grow food
Around what year did farming practices begin to spread out of river valleys and to other places on the planet?
Around 6000 BCE
As farming practices spread, some became became herders rather than sedentary hunter-gatherer-farmers.
What are three features of the “herding” lifestyle?
1.) Live in small groups and travel with a herd of domesticated animals
2.) Lived as nomads in order to allow their animals to graze on wild grasses
3.) Use their animals for food (meat, milk, blood) and fur/skins
As farming practices spread, animism began to fade and be replaced by …
polytheism
What does it mean to be polytheistic?
To believe in/worship many different gods
What is a “god” / “diety”?
A human-like spirit
What did Neolithic people do to get these gods they believed in to bring good things to their lives?
Rituals (just like they used to do to get animal spirits to bring good things to their lives)
What is the name of the particular set of gods/goddesses that a group of people believe in?
their pantheon
What are myths?
Stories people told/wrote about the activities of gods & humans
Why did Neolithic people create and tell myths about their gods/goddesses?
(2 reasons!)
1.) Explain how the world came to be the ways it is
2.) Teach people lessons about to live well
What five things do myths reveal to historians about Neolithic people?
1.) What parts of nature and/or human nature that were important to those people
2.) Neolithic people believed their gods/goddesses were all related to one another
3.) How Neolithic people believed the world came to be the way it is.
4.) How Neolithic people believed they needed to act in order to live well.
5.) What Neolithic people believe happens to a person when they die
