West Civ

Question 1

Hominid

Answer 1

A member of a biological group including human beings and related species that walk upright.

Question 2

Neolithic Age

Answer 2

A prehistoric period that began about 8000 B.C. and in some areas ended as early as 3000 B.C., during which people learned to polish stone tools, make pottery, grow crops, and raise animals - also called the New Stone Age.

Question 3

Technology

Answer 3

The way in which people apply knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet their needs.

Question 4

Neolithic Revolution

Answer 4

The major change in human life caused by the beginnings of farming - that is, by people’s shift from food gathering to food producing.

Question 5

Specialization

Answer 5

The development of skills in a particular kind of work, such as trading or record keeping.

Question 6

Artisan

Answer 6

A skilled worker, such as a weaver or a potter, who makes goods by hand.

Question 7

Cuneiform

Answer 7

A system of writing with wedge-shaped symbols, invented by the Sumerians.

Question 8

Hunter-Gatherer

Answer 8

A member of a nomadic group whose food supply depends on hunting animals and collecting plant foods.

Question 9

Domestication

Answer 9

The taming of animals for human use.

Question 10

Artifact

Answer 10

A human-made object, such as a tool, weapon, or piece of jewelry.

Question 11

Culture

Answer 11

A people’s unique way of life, as shown by its tools, customs, arts, and ideas.

Question 12

Paleolithic Age

Answer 12

Paleolithic Age
A prehistoric period that lasted from about 2,500,000 to 8000 B.C., during which people made use of crude stone tools and weapons - also called the Old Stone Age.

Question 13

Homo Sapiens

Answer 13

The biological species to which modern human beings belong.

Question 14

Nomad

Answer 14

A member of a group that has no permanent home, wandering from place to place in search of food and water.

Question 15

Slash - and - Burn Farming

Answer 15

A farming method in which people clear fields by cutting and burning trees and grasses, the ashes of which serve to fertilize the soil.

Question 16

Civilization

Answer 16

A form of culture characterized by cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology.

Question 17

Institution

Answer 17

A long-lasting pattern of organization in a community.

Question 18

Scribe

Answer 18

One of the professional record keepers in early civilizations.

Question 19

Bronze Age

Answer 19

A period in human history, beginning around 3000 B.C. in some areas, during which people began using bronze, rather than copper or stone, to fashion tools and weapons.

Question 20

Barter

Answer 20

A form of trade in which people exchange goods and services without the use of money.

Question 21

Ziggurat

Answer 21

A tiered, pyramid-shaped structure that formed part of a Sumerian temple.

Question 22

Fertile Crescent

Answer 22

An arc of rich farmland in Southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.

Question 23

Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Answer 23

rivers of the Fertile Crescent that frame the Mesopotamian Civilization

Question 24

Mesopotamia

Answer 24

region of Fertile Crescent where the first civilization arose and first empire arose

Question 25

City-state

Answer 25

A city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit.

Question 26

Dynasty

Answer 26

A series of rulers from a single family

Question 27

Cultural diffusion

Answer 27

The spreading of ideas or products from one culture to another.

Question 28

Polytheism

Answer 28

A belief in many gods.

Question 29

Empire

Answer 29

A political unit in which a number of peoples or countries are controlled by a single ruler.

Question 30

Hammurabi

Answer 30

Babylonian emperor who created the first written set of laws

Question 31

Babylon

Answer 31

city in Mesopotamia that became an important capital

Question 32

Delta

Answer 32

A marshy region formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of a river.

Question 33

Narmer

Answer 33

pharaoh given credit for uniting Upper and Lower Egypt

Question 34

Pharaoh

Answer 34

A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader.

Question 35

Theocracy

Answer 35

A government in which the ruler is views as a divine figure.

Question 36

Pyramid

Answer 36

A massive structure with a rectangular base and four triangular sides, like those that were built in Egypt as burial places for Old Kingdom pharaohs.

Question 37

Mummification

Answer 37

A process of embalming and drying corpses to prevent them from decaying.

Question 38

Hieroglyphics

Answer 38

An ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds.

Question 39

Papyrus

Answer 39

A tall reed that grows in the Nile delta, used by the ancient Egyptians to make a paper-like material for writing on.

Question 40

Nile River

Answer 40

river whose regular flood cycles helped build Egyptian civilization

Question 41

Indus River

Answer 41

river of northwest India that helped give rise to the Harappan Indus Valley civilization

Question 42

According to Jared Diamond, what are the three major elements that separate the world’s “haves” from the “have nots”?

Answer 42

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Question 43

Jared Diamond refers to the people of New Guinea as “among the world’s most culturally diverse and adaptable people in the world”, yet they have much less than modern Americans.Diamond has developed a theory about what has caused these huge discrepancies among different countries, and he says it boils down to geographic luck. Give several examples from the film to support Diamond’s theory.

Answer 43

Frequently on the move, Hunter gatherers, Lived in temporary homes, Various crops

Question 44

For thousands of years, people have been cultivating crops. Describe the process used to domesticate crops and create plants that yielded bigger, tastier harvests.

Answer 44

People would choose certain times in the year to plan and bugger seeded plants which provided better taste.

Question 45

According to Diamond, livestock also plays a significant role in a civilization’s ability to
become rich and powerful. How did the domestication of animals help people? Give several examples.

Answer 45

If you domesticate cows then you can have the meat and also the milk from the cow. Cows could also provide leather for clothing and protection. Also having animals to eat up the rest of the grass that was left helped them with a place to grow and the animals produced fertilizer for the land.

Question 46

List the animals that can be domesticated and where they can be found.

Answer 46

Goats- Mid East
Sheep- Mid East
Cows- Europe
Horses- Europe
Pigs- New Guinea

Question 47

Looking at the list of animals and locations from question 5, discuss how Diamond’s theory about geographic luck applies here.

Answer 47

His theory applied here because ultimately the domestication increased productivity and helped the people eat and farm.

Question 48

How did the movement of the early civilizations of the Fertile Crescent (Middle East) further support Diamond’s idea that geography played a key role in the success of a civilization?

Answer 48

It supported it because in the area that the fertile crescent was, when animals or food got dry or dehydrated they could have them to Asia and Europe.

Question 49

Do you agree with Jared Diamond when he says of a civilization’s ability to gain power,
wealth, and strength, “…what’s far more important is the hand that people have been dealt, the raw materials they’ve had at their disposal.” Why or why not?

Answer 49

I believe this because no matter where you are located, if you don’t have any recourse then you will not survive. It is like having an A in a class but not having any knowledge in anything that class has taught, it’s pointless.