History Midterm (intro)

Question 1

what is “history”?

Answer 1

the time since there has been writing which can give us access to what people in the past were thinking.

Question 2

what is qualified as “pre-history”?

Answer 2

Before writing was invented

Question 3

who first created writing

Answer 3

Iraq

Question 4

How are historians able to study the past?

Answer 4

Thanks to primary sources (documents)

Question 5

when was writing invented

Answer 5

3400 BCE

Question 6

whats the age of the universe

Answer 6

13.7 billion yrs old

Question 7

how old is the earth

Answer 7

4.5 billion yrs old

Question 8

how long has there been life on earth

Answer 8

3.8 billion yrs

Question 9

when did homosapien’s arrive

Answer 9

200 000 yrs ago

Question 10

when did agriculture begin

Answer 10

10 000 yrs ago

Question 11

when did civilization become

Answer 11

5000 yrs ago

Question 12

what is geographical determinations and give examples

Answer 12

Our physical environment and resources that are available to human groups matter to their development!
-The availability of useful plants and animals.
-There are only a few domesticable animals; cows, horses, pigs, camels, chickens, dogs… and useful plants for agriculture (Wheat, Potatoes, Corn, Rice, Millet, etc…)

Question 13

What orientation makes the travelling of information easier

Answer 13

East-west (eurasia) because you are staying in the same climate

Question 14

what orientation is it harder for info to travel and why

Answer 14

North-South (The Americas) because its harder to travel through changing climates and terrains

Question 15

why do diseases affect human societies differently

Answer 15

agricultural societies with animals were subjected to many more diseases but also developed a resistance to them over generations.

Question 16

where did homosapiens start?

Answer 16

Homo sapiens started in central/Eastern Africa and over a period of several millennia spread to every continent (except Antarctic)

Question 17

what are the main types of lifestyles?

Answer 17

1. Hunting/gathering (foraging)
2. Farming
3. Cities

Question 18

what is the original way of supporting life

Answer 18

Hunting and gathering

Question 19

explain the hunting/gathering lifestyle

Answer 19

• Over time human groups walked far away seeking ressources, ex: edible plants, followed herd animals, etc…
• They lived in relatively small groups (most of the time).
• Societies are relatively egalitarian
• Foragers are nomadic (which means they move around)
• Men and women have similar status but there is a sexual division of labor.
• Usually women are in charge of raising children and in general the family group. -Women are also usually the gatherers of food. (This food is only eaten by the family).
  Men in charge of warfare/inter-group violence, hunting (food is usually shared within the group)

Question 20

explain the farming lifestyle

Answer 20

• instead of gathering resources from nature, attempting to cultivate them.
  –To plant useful plants deliberately.
  –To raise domesticable animals.
• Some groups (very gradually) gave up the foraging lifestyle and became sedentary (stay in one place) farmers and pastoralists.
• This process was made possible by a change in the climate, it became warmer, and the glaciers disappeared from a large part of America and Eurasia.
• Farming won as a lifestyle because farming groups became bigger: more people, bigger armies…
• Farmers settle into villages… and eventually become big enough to be called cities.

Question 21

explain the city lifestyle

Answer 21

• A city is a settlement big enough that some people are strangers.
• The first cities arose in the fertile crescent in the middle east, in the very places where agriculture was first discovered.
• In cities, there is also a diversification of jobs: not everyone is engaged in food prediction…

Question 22

What is a civilization?

Answer 22

A large complex agrarian

Question 23

what are the 6 elements of cities

Answer 23

1. Cities
2. States: gov. (people in charge politically, usually also means there’s an army)
3. Economic inequality (rich/poor)
4. Organized religion
5. Writing
6. Monumental art