Part I Terms

Question 1

Paleolithic Age

Answer 1

The Old Stone Age ending in 12,000 BC, typified by use of crude stone tools and hunting and gathering for subsistence.

Question 2

Homo sapiens sapiens

Answer 2

The humanoid species that emerged as most successful at the end of the Paleolithic period.

Question 3

Neolithic Age

Answer 3

The New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 BC; period in which the adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animals accomplished.

Question 4

Mesolithic Age

Answer 4

The Middle Stone Age, in which the human ability to fashion stone tools and other implements improved greatly.

Question 5

Neolithic Revolution

Answer 5

The succession of technological innovations and changes in human organization that led to the development of agriculture, 8500-3500 BC.

Question 6

Hunting and Gathering

Answer 6

The original human economy, ultimately eclipsed by agriculture; groups hunt for meat and forage for grains, nuts, and berries.

Question 7

Catal Huyuk

Answer 7

[Cha-tal HOY-ewk] Early urban culture based on sedentary agriculture; located in modern southern Turkey; was larger in population than Jericho, had greater degree of social stratification.

Question 8

Bronze Age

Answer 8

From about 4000 BC, when bronze tools were first introduced in the Middle East, to about 1500 BC, when it began to be replaced by iron.

Question 9

Nomads

Answer 9

Cattle and sheep-herding societies normally found on the fringes of civilized societies; commonly referred to as “barbarian.”

Question 10

Civilization

Answer 10

Societies distinguished by reliance on sedentary agriculture, ability to produce food surpluses, and the existence of nonfarming elites, as well as merchant and manufacturing groups.

Question 11

Mesopotamia

Answer 11

Literally “between the rivers;” the civilizations that arose in the alluvial plain of the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys.

Question 12

Sumerians

Answer 12

The people who migrated into Mesopotamia around 4000 BC and created the first civilization within the region, organizing the area into city-states.

Question 13

Cuneiform

Answer 13

A form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge-shaped stylus and clay tablets.

Question 14

Ziggurats

Answer 14

Massive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple complexes.

Question 15

City-state

Answer 15

A form of political organization typical of Mesopotamian civilizations, consisting of agricultural hinterlands ruled by an urban-based king.

Question 16

Babylonians

Answer 16

Unified all of Mesopotamia around 1800 BC, but their empire collapsed due to foreign invasion around 1600 BC.

Question 17

Hammurabi

Answer 17

The most important ruler of the Babylonian empire who was responsible for the codification of law. (1792-1750 BC)

Question 18

Pharaoh

Answer 18

The title of kings in ancient Egypt.

Question 19

Pyramids

Answer 19

Monumental architecture typical of Old Kingdom Egypt; used as burial sites for pharaohs.

Question 20

Kush

Answer 20

An African state that developed along the upper reaches of the Nile around 1000 BC; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries.

Question 21

Indus River

Answer 21

River sources in the Himalayas to the mouth of the Arabian Sea; the location of the Harappan civilization.

Question 22

Harappa

Answer 22

Along with Mohenjodaro, a major urban complex of the Harappan civilization laid out in a grid pattern.

Question 23

Aryans

Answer 23

Indo-European nomadic pastoralists who replaced Harappan civilization, a militarized society.

Question 24

Vedas

Answer 24

Aryan hymns originally transmitted orally but written down in sacred books from the sixth century BC.

Question 25

Mahabharata

Answer 25

An Indian epic of war, princely honor, love, and social duty written down in the last centuries BC, previously handed down in oral form.

Question 26

Ramayana

Answer 26

One of the greatest epic tales from classical India; traces the adventures of King Rama and his wife, Sita; written 4th to 2nd centuries BC.

Question 27

Upanishads

Answer 27

Later books of the Vedas; contained sophisticated and sublime philosophical ideas; utilized by Brahmans to restore religious authority.

Question 28

Yellow River

Answer 28

Also known as the Huanghe; site of the development of sedentary agriculture in China.

Question 29

Ideographs

Answer 29

Pictographic characters grouped together to create new concepts; typical of Chinese writing.

Question 30

Shang

Answer 30

First Chinese dynasty for which archeological evidence exists; capital located in Ordos bulge of the Huanghe, flourished 1600 to 1046 BC.

Question 31

Olmecs

Answer 31

People of a cultural tradition that arose at San Lorenzo and La Venta in Mexico around 1200 BC; featured irrigated agriculture, urbanism, elaborate religion, and the beginnings of calendrical and writing systems.

Question 32

Chavin de Huantar

Answer 32

Chavin culture appeared in the highlands of the Andes between 1800 and 1200 BC; typified by ceremonial centers with large stone buildings; greatest ceremonial center was Chavin de Huantar; characterized by artistic motifs.

Question 33

Phoenicians

Answer 33

Sea-faring civilization located on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean; established colonies throughout the mediterranean.

Question 34

Monotheism

Answer 34

The exclusive worship of a single god; introduced by the Jews into Western civilization.