Week 6 - Ancient Civilizations - Test 2 Flashcards
Chapter 9
What is a state?
a form of social and political organization that has a formal, central government. Differential access to resources is based on social stratification.
started from competition among chiefdoms. The most powerful chiefdom conquered the others. Archaeologists know now that state formation typically involves one chiefdoms incorporating several others into the emerging state in controls
States may collapse when they fail to keep social and economic order or to protect themselves against outsiders
What were the attributes that distinguished states from earlier forms of society?
Early states arose from compeitino among chiefdoms as the most powerful chiefdoms conquered the other
Early states had productive agricultural economies which supported large and dense populations
Early states used tribute and taxation to accumulate at a central place or treasury
States are stratified into social classes
Early states had imposing public buildings and monumental architecture (temples)
Early states had record keeping
what are 3 key factors in interacting to promote state formation?
environmental, circumscription, population increase and warfare.
what were early threats to states?
invation, disease, famine, drought, soil exhaustin, erosion and build up of irrigation salts
What is social stratification?
Division of society into classes
What is chiefdom?
societies in which relations among villages as well as among individuals are unequal
A form of sociopolitical organization intermediate between the tribe and the state; kin-based with differential access to resources and a permanent political structure. A ranked society in which relations among villages as well as among individuals are unequal, with smaller villages under the authority of leaders in larger villages; has a two-level settlement hierarchy.
What is hydraulic agriculture?
Water-based - manage systems of irrigation, drainage and flood control. It can feed more people while requiring more labor, irrigated agriculture sustains and fuels population growth which in turn promotes expansion of the system.
use of fluid power to operate machinery, control implements and perform various tasks on a farm.
What is stratification?
The arrangement or classification of something into different groupes
what is metallurgy?
the branch of science and technology concerned with the properties of metals and their production and purification
What is smelting?
process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product.
What is record keeping?
Early states developed some form of record-keeping system, frequently a written script.
What is Cahokia?
largest and most influential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture. Known for its Mounds. (located in Illinois)
what are the main characteristics of state formation in Mesopotamia
First chiefdoms (around 7,000 y.a.)
First states (around 6,000 to 5,500 y.a.)
What are examples of archaeological evidence?
vessels, ceramics, defensive walls surrounding cities, Standard of Ur
What was the beginning of hydraulic agriculture?
The first use of hydraulics in agricultural machinery can be found in the Ferguson Three-Point Hitch tractor. Made in the early 20the century, this tractor would be this hydraulic system that would act as the start of hydraulic technology being used in tractors and a range of agricultural machinery to this day.
What was the main characteristics of state formation in the Americas?
First chiefdoms in Mesoamerica (around 3,000 y.a.)
The Zapotec state
The Inca state
What is the Olmec?
a member of a prehistoric people inhabiting the coast of Veracruz and western Tabasco on the Gulf of Mexico (c.1200–400 BC), who established what was probably the first Meso-American civilization.
What is Zapotec state?
Mesoamerica’s earliest state, which developed in Mexico’s Valley of Oaxaca from a chiefdom by about 100 b.c.e. and lasted until it is overthrown by Spain in the 1500s.
What is at stake in political concentration?
resource management, technology, warfare, consequences
What is resource management?
territory, economic surplus
What is at stake in political concentration with technology?
irrigation, writing, metallurgy - both drive change and bring responses to new challenges
What is the largest mount in Cahokia?
Monks Mound - there are many other mounds
What is warfare?
engagement in or the activities involved in war or conflict.
How did the Mississippian civilization come to be?
The Mississippian Tradition arose after people began devoting greater efforts to growing corn. This provided a surplus of storable food and allowed populations to increase. Settlements tended to concentrate in river valleys, with their good soils and abundant wild foods. Larger communities produced new forms of cooperation and competition.
What are methods of investigation?
use of pottery style, absolute dating, relative dating, horizon markers
What is absolute dating?
process of determining an age on a specified chronology
What is relative dating?
method of determining the relative order of past events.
How did anthropologists study the Mississippian?
They did extensive archaeological digs at various sites specifically the Cahokia Mounts in Illinois where they unearthed artifacts, structures and evidence of daily life.
What are specific examples of Jericho?
The earliest known town , located in what now is Israel, at a well-watered oasis near the Dead Sea
What are specific examples of Catal Huyuk?
located on a river, which deposited rich soil for crops, created a lush environment for animals, and was harnessed for irrigation by 7000 b.p. Over the mound’s 32 acres (12.9 ha), up to 10,000 people once lived in crowded mud-brick houses packed so tightly that residents entered from their roofs.
What are specific examples of Eridu?
Eridu (located in iraq)is one of the earliest settlements in the region, founded c. 5400 BC during the Early Ubaid period, at that time close to the Persian Gulf near the mouth of the Euphrates River though in modern times about 90 miles inland. Excavation has shown that the city was founded on a virgin sand-dune site with no previous habitation.
Eridu is listed as the city of first kings
Ziggurat of Enki is located in Eridu and is the best known and preserved Mesopotamian temple
How do states differ from chiefdoms and what are their main characteristics?
Chiefdoms lack socioeconomic stratification and stratum endogamy
What are the social order of the Mississippians?
Chiefdoms - each consisting of several towns, each town had a chief, families were divided into high and low social ranks
What are evidence of rituals?
Burial mounds and cemeteries, effigy pottery and sculptured tobacco pipes and wooden or copper jacketed wood masks were found in burial contexts.
Elaborate headdresses, ritual weapons and other artifacts were created for ceremonial purposes.
What are the chunkey game?
game of native american origin. Played by rolling disc shaped stones across the ground and throwing spears at them in an attempt to land the spear as close to the stopped stone as possible
