Roots of Complexity: The Origins of Civilization

Question 1

What is important about Göbekli Tepe, Turkey?

Answer 1

11,500 BP; starting to see evidence of inequality in the archaeological record. No evidence of agriculture, no water source, no housing. Oval constructions and carved monoliths. When the people left, they filled in the site.

Question 2

What do researchers suggest about Göbekli Tepe, Turkey?

Answer 2

1. The buildings are temples and not houses
2. The site was not a settlement
3. The site was a ritual center for hunter-gatherers

Question 3

What is important about Çatalhöyük, Turkey?

Answer 3

9 000 BP, evidence of domesticated wheat and sheep. Site became famous due to the large size and wall paintings within the houses. No evidence of public buildings, site used for around 1,200 years and had 2000 houses. Used the roofs as streets; evidence of bull symbolism. The ‘Seated Women’ is a clay structure dating to 8,000 BP.

Question 4

What are the key points of Çatalhöyük, Turkey?

Answer 4

1. Consists of a settlement and a cemetery
   a. Evidence of skeletal remains
   b. The cemetery is not located in a separate place, the remains are under each floor (each room), not a central location
2. No roads
3. Bull symbolism
4. Evidence of wild animals plus domesticated plants and sheep
5. Conservation issues

Question 5

What are the centers of the Olmec?

Answer 5

San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes.

Question 6

What are the Olmec heads?

Answer 6

Dated to 3,400 BP - heads carved out of basalt boulders. Considered to be the first American monuments, they are found in three different locations.

Question 7

What is the Olmec culture?

Answer 7

Been around from 3400-2400 BP, one of Mesoamerica’s earliest civilizations, scholars previously emphasized the role of maize but now a mixed subsistence model has been suggested

Question 8

What is important about Caral, Peru?

Answer 8

South America’s oldest settlement; 4600 BP (older than Olmec). They had irrigation canals, built large pyramids and plazas. Their structures had limited art work and there was little evidence of motifs or designs. The preservation of textiles were very good, and helped determine some of the building methods. Found within a lot of structures were shicra. They had no pottery. There is evidence of different levels of society - builders, farmers, ect.

Question 9

What are Shirca?

Answer 9

Woven fibres found within structures in Caral, Peru. The shirca was filled with stones and used to build with, and helped date the site.

Question 10

What is important about Chivin, Peru?

Answer 10

Dated to 2900-2200 BP, had Chavin iconography that included animals such as the Caman . The Caman are small crocodiles not found locally, so indicates the migration of a group of people from one part into another - Brazil/Amazon. The site is located in the Peruvian Andes.

Question 11

The Stonehenge is accounted to the:
Neolithic
Mesolithic
Palaeolithic

Answer 11

Neolithic. John Aubrey (1640) attributed it to the druids, Inigo Jone (1725) attributed it to the Romans,

Question 12

Where is the Stonehenge?

Answer 12

Salisbury Plain, England. Avenue to River Anon.

Question 13

What is a Henge?

Answer 13

A circular earthwork ditch, it was the first thing constructed at Stonehenge.

Question 14

When is Stonehenge dated to?

Answer 14

5000 BP - the henge was constructed (110m in diameter)

4600 BP - bluestones were brought from Wales and the Trilithons were erected (lintel on top).

Question 15

Why is the Stonehenge evidence of the rise of complexity?

Answer 15

Because there needed to be a small group of leaders to organize, carry out tasks, and so on. Shows levels of society.

Question 16

What is the Stonehenge made out of?

Answer 16

Sarsen (local sand stone blocks) and bluestones (from Preseli Hills, Wales, approximately 250 km away).

Question 17

Is there any significance to the alignment of Stonehenge?

Answer 17

The only connection scholars allow is to the Summer solstice sunrise, where the heel stone and middle of Stonehenge match up with the summer solstice sun.

Question 18

What is Durington Walls?

Answer 18

A settlement 3km NE of Stonehenge that is believed to be connected to Stonehenge. People are believed to have lived in Durrington Walls, and a Woodhenge was constructed there. Avenue to Rive Anon.

Question 19

What is the connection of Durrington Walls and Stonehenge?

Answer 19

Woodhenge was for the living, Stonehenge for the dead (ancestors, cremated remains were found there).

Question 20

What is important about Carnac, France?

Answer 20

Well known for stone alignment in rows, with thousands of mostly local stones. It is at least as old as Stonehenge, possibly older. There is no standard size to the stones. No clue what it means.

Question 21

What is Bluestonehenge?

Answer 21

Located near Stonehenge, original placement of the Wales bluestones. Dated to 3000 BC.