wes civ Flashcards
Artifact
Human-made objects, such as tools and jewelry. They hint at how people dressed, worked, and worshipped.
Culture
people’s unique way of life; learned through media, family, friends, government, religious institutions, school, and workplace
Paleolithic Age
- lasted from 2.5 million to 8000 b.c.
- it was the earlier and longer part of the Stone Age
- also known as the Old Stone Age
Neolithic Age
- lasted from 8000 b.c. to 3000 b.c.
- people learned to polish stone tools, make pottery, grow crops, and raise animals
Technology
ways of applying knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet their needs
Homo sapiens
the species name for modern humans; means “wise men” because they had much larger brains
Nomads
highly mobile people who moved from place to place foraging, or searching, for new sources of food
Hunter-gatherers
Nomadic groups whose food supply depends on hunting animals and collecting plant foods
Neolithic Revolution
also known as the agricultural revolution; the far-reaching changes in human life resulting from the beginnings of farming
Slash-and-burn farming
groups cut trees or grasses and burned them to clear a field
Domestication
the taming of animals
Civilization
a complex culture with five characteristics: advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, advanced technology
Specialization
the development of skills in a specific kind of work
Artisans
skilled workers who make goods by hand
Institution
a long-lasting pattern of organization in a community; and example is government
Scribes
professional record keepers
Cuneiform
a system of writing invented by Sumerian scribes
Bronze Age
the time when people began using bronze to fashion tools and weapons
Barter
the way of trading goods and services without money
Ziggurat
a massive, tiered, structure that towers of the city off ur
Fertile Crescent
the curved shaped and richness of the land of Mesopotamia led people to call it the fertile crescent
Mesopotamia
land in the Fertile Crescent facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain
City-State
a city and the surrounding area it controlled
Dynasty
a series of rulers from a single family
Cultural Diffusion
the process of which a new idea or a product spreads from one culture to another
Polytheism
the belief in more than one god
Empire
brings together several peoples, nations, or previously independent states under control of one ruler
Hammurabi
a ruler who created the first system of laws
Delta
a broad, marshy, triangular area of land formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of the river
Narmer
the king who united lower and upper Egypt
Pharaohs
Egyptians god-kings
Theocracy
the type of government in which rule is based on religious authority
Pyramid
and immense structure for the resting place after death
Mummification
royal and elite Egyptian bodies were preserved by this
Hieroglyphics
the earliest form of writing that uses picture to represent each letter
Papyrus
Egyptians used these reeds to make a better writing surface. They grew in the marshy delta
What are the three major elements that separate the world’s “haves” and “have nots”
Guns, germs, and steel
