Western Civilization Unit 1 review Flashcards
Australopithecines Traits
Brain size:500cm³ found in Southern and Eastern Africa
Australopithecines Achievements
First to walk upright
Homo Habilis Traits
Brain size:700cm ³ found in east Africa
Homo Habilis Achievements
First to make stone tools
Homo erectus Traits
Brain size:1,000cm ³, found in Europe, Africa and Asia
Homo erectus Achievements
First to migrate from Africa
Neanderthals Traits
1,450cm³, found in Europe and Southwest Asia
Neanderthals Achievements
First to have ritual burials
Cro-Magnons Traits
Brain size:1,400cm³, found in Europe
Cro-Magnons Achievements
First fully modern human
What is the Old Stone Age
Paleolithic Age
What is the New Stone Age
Neolithic Age
How long was the Paleolithic Age
2.5 Million BC - 8,000 BC
How long was the Neolithic Age
8,000 BC - 3,000 BC
What are the Neolithic Age achievements
polish stone tools,
make pottery, grow crops, and raise animals.
What are the Paleolithic Age achievements
The invention of tools
Mastery over fire
The development of language
What are the Neolithic Age achievements
Polish stone tools
Make pottery
Grow crops
Raise animals
Who were the Leakey’s and Donald Johnson? Why were their discoveries of hominid footprints and “Lucy” important?
Anthropologists study human cultures and their development. Archaeologist study human culture in the times of cave men. Paleontologists study what happened with the dinosaurs and everything in prehistory. Leakey’s and Donald Johnson discoveries were important. The discovery of the hominid footprints and Lucy impact what we know about science and history forever.
Artifact
They hint how people dressed, what they did, or how they worshiped
Culture
The unique way of life Hominids- humans or creatures that walk upright
Paleolithic Age
The earlier part of the Stone age
Neolithic Age
The later and more advanced part of the Stone Age
Technology
Ways of applying knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet their needs
Homo sapiens
The species name for modern humans
Which advance by a hominid group do you think was the most significant?
I think the hominid’s finding out how to walk upright was most significant because that allowed them to travel distances more easy, and they were able to spot threatening animals, and carry food and children. Also the hominids developed the opposable thumb, that helped them make tools and pick things up easie
What clues do bones and artifacts give about early peoples?
Bones reveals their looks/body, food diseases, and life span. Artifacts reveals about their dresses, work, and how they worshiped.
What were the major achievements in human history during the Old Stone Age?
The advancing in tools, mastery over fire, the development of language, polishing stone tools,
making pottery, growing crops, and raising animals
How did Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons differ from earlier peoples?
The Cro-Magnons studied animals and had superior hunts. The Neanderthals cut up and skin their prey, they fashioned stone blades, scrapers, and other tools, while living in the subarctic regions of Europe.
Pre-History
The period of time before written records
Paleolithic
(Old Stone Age), the earliest prehistoric age
Hunter Gatherer
Humans were parts of migratory groups, which hunted, fished, and harvested foods.
Neolithic
(New Stone Age), was marked by advanced tool making and the beginnings of agriculture
Fertile Crescent
a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq together with the southeastern fringe of Turkey and the western fringes of Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt.
Describe the Impact of the Agricultural Evolution
A shift from itinerant hunting and gathering to more permanent settlements centered on agriculture (beginning in southwestern Asia)
Populations rose due to increased ability to care for young children
Hierachies appeared in village life
The status of women were confined more to domestic duties
Invention of the wheel and plow made it possible to produce enough food for storage
Villagers were polytheism, worshipped multiple gods, human and animal gods.
Identify the 5 characteristics of Civilization
Specialized Workers Record Keeping Advanced Technology Advanced Cities Complex Institutions
Specialized Workers
Merchants Soldiers Priests Potters Scribes: Record keepers Teachers Metal Workers Government Officials Farmers Weavers
Record Keeping
Cuneiform tablets-records of business transactions, historical events, customs, and traditions
Advanced Technology: By around 3,000 BC
The wheel, the plow, and the sail boat probably in daily use
Advanced Technology
By around 3,000 BC
The wheel, the plow, and the sail boat probably in daily use
Bronze weapons and body armor that gave Sumerians a military advantage over their enemies
Advanced Cities
Uruk: Population of about 50,000, which doubled in 2 centuries
Lagash: Population of about 10,000 to 50,000
Umma: Population of about 10,000 to 50,000
Complex Institutions
Formal Governments with officials and laws
Priests with both religious and political power
A rigorous education system for training of scribes
How did hunter gatherers use technology to improve their chances of survival?
They made special tools, such as spears to kill their prey from greater distances, and made digging sticks to gather fruits, berries, and plants easier
What types of art did the Paleolithic people create?
They created necklaces that were made up of seashells, lion teeth, and bear claws
People ground mammoth tusks into polished beads
Carved small realistic sculptures of animals that inhabited their world
Cave paintings were created on all continents
The best-known of these are the paintings on the walls and ceilings of European caves, mainly in France and Spain.
Early artists drew lifelike images of wild animals
Cave artists made colored paints from charcoal, mud, and animal blood.
In Africa, early artists engraved pictures on rocks or painted scenes in caves or rock shelters
In Australia, they created paintings on large rocks
What factors led to the agricultural revolution?
The change in climate, rising temperatures worldwide provided longer growing seasons and drier land for cultivating wild grasses.
How did farming develop and spread worldwide?
About 10,000 years ago, when some of the women may have scattered seeds near a
regular campsite, they returned the next season, and may have found new crops growing
What were some of the cultural achievements of Neolithic villagers?
Neolithic people in many parts of the world independently developed agriculture. Within a few thousand years, people in many other regions, especially in fertile river valleys, turned to farming.
What problems did early villagers face?
Some of the problems they faced included floods, fires, drought, diseases such as malaria, and jealous neighbors and roving nomadic bands that might attack and loot a wealthy village.
Explain how stone age peoples used slash-and-burn farming and the domestication of animals to produce a steady source of food.
People used slash and burn farming to easily make a fertilized field to use for about 1 or 2 years, and then they’d do the same thing to another field, but leaving that old field behind, to then regrow for another group to use. In order to have domesticated animals, they needed run the herd of animals into their territory and slowly tame them, to become a steady source of food.
Nomad
Were highly mobile people who moved from place to place foraging, or searching, for new sources of food
Hunter Gatherer
People whose food supply depends on hunting animals and collecting plant foods (Nomadic People did this)
Neolithic Revolution
(Agricultural Revolution), the shift from food gathering to food producing culture represents one of the great breakthroughs in history
Slash-and-burn-farming
A practice which they cut trees or grasses and burned them to clear a field, the ashes fertilized the soil, and after a year or 2, they would move to another area of land, and after several years, trees and grasses grew back
Domestication
(Domestication), taming of animals, such as horses, dogs, goats, and pigs, it was a small step into keeping them as a constant source of food and gradually tame them
Which effect of the development of agriculture was the most significant?
The change in climate, rising temperatures worldwide provided longer growing seasons and drier land for cultivating wild grasses
How did Cro-Magnon’s new tools make survival easier?
Cro-Magnons’ crafted special specific tools, such as spears that enabled them to kill animals at greater distances, and digging sticks which helped food gatherers pry plants loose at the roots
What factors played a role in the origins of agriculture?
The change in climate, rising temperatures worldwide provided longer growing seasons and drier land for cultivating wild grasses, a rich supply of grain helped support a small population boom, and as populations slowly rose, hunter gatherers felt pressure to find new food sources, so farming offered a steady source of food.
What were the first crops grown in the Americas?
The first crops grown in America and Mexico were corn, beans, and squash.
Civilization
A complex culture with five characteristics: advance cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and 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
Scribes
professional record keepers
Cuneiform
system of writing
Bronze age
refers to the time when people began using bronze, rather than copper and stone, to fashion tools and weapons
Barter
trading goods and services without money
Zigguart
pyramid shaped monument
Advanced Cities: Ur
Ur had about 30,000 people
They had complex building, such as the temple that were made out of mud bricks
Specialized Workers: Ur
They had people who worked in the fields, artisans, metalworkers, potters, merchants, and scribes
These people all worked specifically in their job which makes a specialized worker
Complex Institutions: Ur
This pyramid-shaped monument is called a ziggurat (ZIHG•uh•RAT), which means “mountain of god.” On the exterior of the ziggurat, a flight of perhaps 100 mud-brick stairs leads to the top
At the peak, priests conduct rituals to worship the city god who looms over Ur. Every day, priests climb these stairs. They often drag a goat or sheep to sacrifice
The temple also houses storage areas for grains, woven fabrics, and gem offerings to the city’s god
Record Keeping: Ur
The government documented tax collections, the passage of laws, and the storage of grain
Priests had a way of keeping track of the important calendar and rituals
Merchants had a way to record accounts of debts and payments
Sumerian’s used the system of cuneiform, that had pictographs-symbols
Advanced Technology
Outside the mud-brick walls surrounding Ur, ox-driven plows cultivate the fields.
People are working barefoot in the irrigation ditches that run between patches of green plants. With stone hoes, the workers widen ditches to carry water into their fields from the reservoir a mile away.
This large-scale irrigation system was developed to provide Ur with food surpluses, which keep the economy thriving
Reflection of the city of Ur
We consider Ur to be the first civilization because they were the first to record all of their information. We base civilizations today off of Ur. They had a lot of characteristics that we are looking for in today’s world. Some similarities are the fact that we want to have the five parts of civilization. Some differences are that the modern world is more technologically advanced than it was in circa 3800 BC.
The city of Ur was considered to be the first civilized city, since they were able to record data, make advances in technologies, and build complex buildings. Some specialized work included, metal workers, farmers, scribes, and artisans. This allowed Ur, to quickly advance in technology because these workers were specialized and trained in those categories. Similarities in today’s cities compared to Ur, is specialized work, complex buildings like the statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and skyscrapers. Differences were also in the technology workers used, today farmers have automated machines that make there job a whole lot easier, while the city of Ur used stone tools and animals.
Identify the region of Sumer and discuss aspects of Sumerian culture.
Southern part of Mesopotamia between Euphrates and Tigris rivers above the Persian Gulf
Explain the impacts of the Agricultural Revolution on the development of Sumerian civilization
They could get settle and create farms (crops and animals), a sustainable food source
With flooding of the rivers unpredictable, how could farmers water their fields during the dry summer months?
Irrigation systems- ditches that carried water to crops
With no natural barriers, how could villagers protect themselves?
Build walls made of mud bricks
With limited natural resources, how could Sumerians get the materials for tools and buildings?
Trade grain, cloth, and tools- for stone tools, wood, and bone
How should the Sumerian city-states
be ruled?
Dynasties; give military leaders power
What could be done to please the gods
and earn their protection in life?
Offer sacrifices, build ziggurats
Fertile Crescent
The arc of land that falls between the Persian gulf and the Mediterranean Sea in southwest Asia
Mesopotamia
It includes the lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain, means “land between the rivers” in Greek
City State
A city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state
Sumer
One of the first city-states in Mesopotamia
City-state
A city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit
Dynasty
A series of ruler from one family
Cultural Diffusion
The process in 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 the control of one ruler.
Which of the problems you listed required the most complex solution?
Food and climate, natural barriers, and limited supplies. Creating irrigation ditches, making mud brick walls, and trading with other groups, are the most complex solutions because they all would take time to develop and get situated.
What were the three environmental challenges to Sumerians?
Unpredictable floods with a dry climate, few natural defenses, and few natural resources
How did the Sumerians view the gods?
The Sumerians believed in 3,000 plus gods to explain everything in nature.
What areas of life did Hammurabi’s Code cover?
The code lists 282 specific laws dealing with everything that affected the community, including family relations, business conduct, and crime.
Hammurabi
A Babylonian King, reigning from c. 1792 BC to c. 1750 BC. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states of Larsa, Eshnunna, and Mari. He ousted Ishme-Dagan I, the king of Assyria, and forced his son Mut-Ashkur to pay tribute, bringing almost all of Mesopotamia under Babylonian rule.
Hammurabi’s Code: The first set of laws that holds people responsible for their actions
Someone who steals from the temple must repay 30 times the cost of the stolen item or be sentenced to death
Describe the historical significance of Hammurabi’s Code
One of the first law codes to place greater emphasis on the physical punishment of the perpetrator rather than compensating the victim
Sumerian law codes, such as the Code of Ur-Nammu, focused on compensating the victim of the crime
It prescribed specific penalties for each crime and is among the first codes to establish the presumption of innocence
Although its penalties are extremely harsh by modern standards, they were intended to limit what a wronged person was permitted to do in retribution
The Code of Hammurabi and the Law of Moses in the Torah contain numerous similarities
