Social Complexity

Question 1

What happened in the Holocene climactic shift?

Answer 1

Glacier melting that raised water levels and large mammals going extinct, making smaller mammals more prevalent

Question 2

What is the Neolithic Revolution?

Answer 2

Shift from hunting megafauna to broad spectrum foraging that lead to less nomadic lifestyles and the beginning of domestication

Question 3

What is subsistent strategy?

Answer 3

How we meet our needs

Question 4

What are the 4 causes of domestication

Answer 4

1. Climate
2. Environment
3. Population
4. Technology

Question 5

What are the 4 effects of domestication?

Answer 5

1. Display of power and wealth
2. Competition for abundance of resources
3. Introduction of alcohol
4. Sedentism and Settlements

Question 6

What is sedentism?

Answer 6

permanent human habitation through settlements and domestication

Question 7

Consequences of sedentism? Example?

Answer 7

Competitive hierarchical society and nutritional deficiencies. Natufians.

Question 8

2 types of Domestication?

Answer 8

Animal and Plant domestication

Question 9

What is Animal Domestication?

Answer 9

Active capturing and taming of wild animals

Question 10

6 stages of animal domestication

Answer 10

1. Random Hunting
2. Controlled Hunting
3. Herd Following
4. Loose Herding
5. Close Herding
6. Factory Farming

Question 11

Consequences of animal domestication

Answer 11

Docile, social, and higher yield animals were domesticated and eventually became dependent on humans for survival

Question 12

What is plant domestication?

Answer 12

Cultivation - Modifying the environment to make it habitable for a plant

Question 13

What is agriculture?

Answer 13

Systemic modification of the environment to produce max resources

Question 14

3 steps to plant domestication

Answer 14

1. Cultivation
2. Species grows in cultivated area
3. Human intervention through artificial selection

Question 15

Consequences of plant domestication

Answer 15

domesticated plant species become biologically different from their wild forms and become dependent on humans for survival

Question 16

Egalitarian vs Stratification

Answer 16

Egalitarian societies had equal power and wealth, while stratified societies had unequal power and wealth within the population

Question 17

What are complex societies?

Answer 17

Societies with large populations, extensive division of labour, and occupational specialization

Question 18

Forager vs Complex technology

Answer 18

Foragers used easy to obtain materials that were generally easy to use, while complex societies use materials that require production and needs technique to use. Teepee vs Pyramid

Question 19

4 categories of complex societies

Answer 19

1. Bands
2. Tribes
3. Chiefdom
4. States
   increasing in complexity from nomadism

Question 20

List 5 evidence of complex societies

Answer 20

1. Monumental architecture
2. Tombs
3. Residence Patterns
4. Artifact concentration
5. Historical Records

Question 21

5 hypothesis for the origins of complex societies

Answer 21

1. Domestication, sedentism, and production
2. Resource scarcity management
3. Large populations that needed organization
4. Land availability and conflict
5. Warfare and competition