Study Flashcards
chapter 1 & 2
Artifact
Human-made objects, such as tools and jewelry
culture
A people’s unique way of life.
Hominids
Humans and other creatures that walk upright, such as australopithecines.
Paleolithic Age
The earlier or longer part of the Stone Age, called the old Stone Age
Neolithic age
The New Stone Age- began 8000 B.C
technology
Ways of applying knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet ones needs
Homo-sapiens
The species name for modern humans- “wise men”
Nomads
Highly mobile people who moved from place to place foraging, or searching, for new sources of food
Hunter- gatherer
Nomadic groups who’s food supply depended on hunting animals and collecting plants
Neolithic revolution
Agricultural revolution; The far reaching changes in human life resulting from the beginnings of farming
Slash and burn farming
The cutting trees or grasses in which they burned; the ashes would fertilize the soil.
Domestication
The taming/ controlling of animals
civilization
A complex culture with advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, advanced tech
Specialization
The development of skills in a specific type of work
Artisans
skilled workers who made goods by hand
Institution
A long lasting pattern of organization in a community
scribes
professional record keepers- invented system of writing called cuneiform
Cuneiform
System of writing creates by Sumerians using pictographs
Bronze Age
Refers to the time when people started using bronze rather then copper of stone
Barter
Trading goods and services without money
Ziggurat
Pyramid shaped monument meaning “mountain of God”
Fertile crescent
curved shaped region containing rich land/ fertile soil
Mesopotamia
Plain facing the Mediterranean Sea- land between the rivers
City State
A city and the surrounding lan it controlled
Dynasty
A series of rulers from a single family
Cultural diffusion
The spreading of new ideas or products from one culture to another
Polytheism
The belief in more than one god
Empire
A set of peoples, nations, or previously independent states under the control of one leader
Hammurabi
Babylonian emperor which created the first set of laws
delta
the fertile region at the beginning of the the nile
narmer
King of Egypt which untied the north and south
pharaohs
The Egyptian god-king
theocracy
government which rule is based on on religious authority
Pyramid
The resting place after in which the god kings would be placed
mummification
embalming and drying of corpses to prevent decaying of the pharaohs
hieroglyphics
system of writing in which they carve pictures
papyrus
reeds which were used to write on
