AP World HistoryEarly Civilizations in India, China, and Oceania

Period One: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to 600 BCE

Key Concept 1.3: The Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral and Urban Societies

Themes: _____________

I Geography of IndiaA) India is so large that it is often called a subcontinent.

B) Its main mountain ranges are the Hindu Kush & Himalayas. Mt Everest, the tallest mountain in the world

is part of the Himalayas.C) India’s main rivers are the Indus and Ganges.D) In southern India is the Deccan Plateau. It is

extremely hot and dry.E) India depends on monsoons: seasonal winds that

bring rain. The monsoons are necessary to farm on the dry Deccan Plateau, but they also bring a risk of floods.

Indian Monsoons

II Indus River Valley Civilizations2500 – 1500 BCE

A) Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were “twin” cities that developed in the Indus River Valley by 2500 BCE.

B) Both were planned cities; the buildings and streets were laid out on a grid.

C) Both were polytheistic.D) Both had a system of writing that

is still undeciphered.E) Both had bronze tools, and a

plumbing system!F) 1500 BCE Aryans conquered the

Indus River Valley.

Harappa Granary

Harappa Public Well

Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro

Indus River Valley Writing

III Geography of China

A) China has many natural barriersPacific Ocean (West) Himalayan Mountains (Southwest)Gobi Desert (North).

*These barriers led to China being isolated*

B) China’s main rivers are- Xi- Huang - Yangtze (Yellow)

Hukou Falls, Part of the Yellow River

China built dikes, dams and irrigation canals to better control

their rivers.

C) China grows rice in the south, due to a warmer and wetter climate.

Terraced Farming: Chinese rice farmers cut steps into the mountains. This way, the water will be better distributed.

D) China grows wheat in the north, due to a colder and drier climate.

Farmers prepare to irrigate the wheat fields.

IV Shang Dynasty 1650 – 1027 BCEA) The Shang developed a civilization near the Yellow

River.B) Army of 30,000 soldiers C) Produced bronze tools and weapons, as well as

silk (a delicate fabric made from silkworm cocoons)

D) The Shang were animists

E) Earliest evidence of Chinese writing

Shang Dynasty Oracle Bone

V Zhou Dynasty 1027 – 256 BCEA) 1027 BCE the Zhou

Dynasty conquered the Shang

B) Created a feudal government

C) Produced iron tools and weapons

D) Developed the idea of rulers having the Mandate of Heaven: approval of the gods to rule (divine right).

Zhou Dynasty Continued…D) The Mandate of Heaven was used to explain the Dynastic Cycle.

Zhou Dynasty Burial

The Four Ancient River Valley Civilizations

VI Oceania

Oceania“Oceania is the name for the vast, island-dotted swath of the Pacific that lies beyond maritime Southeast Asia. (Oceania is distinct from Southeast Asia in that the history and culture of Oceania are not strongly linked to the Asian mainland.) Oceania contains thousands of islands, scattered across thousands of miles of ocean. Although civilization (urban life) never emerged among these islands (prior to the modern age), they

were governed by a rich mosaic of non-urban cultures…Oceania can be divided into four main culture areas: Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Each culture area features distinct forms of subsistence, art, religion, and so on. Notably, while hunter-gatherer life (especially

fishing) and agriculture were both practiced in the three island regions, Australia retained a purely hunter-gatherer lifestyle.” –

essentialhumanities.com

The 4 Main Cultural Groups of Oceania

Where did the First Settlers of Oceania Come From?

People living in Near Oceania had highly developed artistic and linguistic abilities, as did those living in Europe at that time. In the western Pacific they also had boats. The technological ability and motivation to cross expanses of water, land and space are characteristic of modern humans. If only a single water crossing had been necessary to get from mainland Asia to Near Oceania, then surely during thousands of generations, a few groups would have made it across somehow. In fact, a minimum of 10 water crossings were required, the longest being 100 km. To make such a journey indicates intent rather than accident. How they crossed is unclear, as no boats have been found. Adzes suitable for hollowing out logs were not yet invented. But giant bamboo, ideal for rafts, grows in the region and people at this time had good knives. Rafts would have had to be big enough to carry a viable breeding population of at least six women and their mates. Large islands, many visible from one to the next, created a ‘voyaging corridor’ from mainland Asia to the end of the Solomons in Near Oceania. The alternating north-west monsoon and south-east trade winds assisted travel back and forth along the corridor. After 20,000 BC, people traded in valuable stone, hunted terrestrial animals, and found the same seafood and edible plants as they migrated from island to island. But to the east, especially beyond New Guinea, there were fewer land animals available for hunting. There is evidence that some marsupials were taken from New Guinea to smaller neighboring islands, where they were subsequently hunted. Trade in stone and the movement of marsupial animals mark an increasing sophistication – people were bringing resources with them rather than travelling to the resources.By 25,000 years ago this first episode of human settlement in the Pacific was complete. The western Pacific then became a training ground for seafarers and navigators. After the climate began to warm some 10,000 years ago, the population grew, methods of plant cultivation were developed, and settlement patterns changed. Settlement of Remote Oceania was about to begin. –teara.govt

Where did the First Settlers of Oceania Come From?

Around 1500 BC a culture known as Lapita (ancestors of the Polynesians, including Māori) appeared in the Bismarck Archipelago in Near Oceania. Recent DNA analysis suggests that they originally came from Island South-East Asia, and that there was some interbreeding with people already living in the Bismarcks. The Lapita were the first people to penetrate Remote Oceania. Between 1200 and 1000 BC they spread rapidly from Melanesia to Fiji and West Polynesia, including Tonga and Samoa. Explorers and settlers travelled across an expanse of the western Pacific in only 5–10 generations. The picture we have is of a fairly small population travelling at speed.When Lapita people migrated from Near Oceania they left behind the disease of malaria. As a result the population increased, providing extra migrants for the voyaging frontier. They established a few permanent villages in each major island group. Some settled, while others journeyed on, but contact continued between communities on different islands. This migration was not driven by overcrowding, as there was land to spare. Rather, it is likely that social factors such as prestige or curiosity were an incentive to find new islands.Lapita people lived in villages on small islands near large ones, or on the coast of larger islands. Some had houses that were built on poles over the water. They did not colonise island groups smaller than about 1,000 sq km – probably for environmental and cultural reasons.As they travelled from island to island they transported plants for cultivation, including taro, yam, breadfruit, banana and coconut. They also took domesticated pigs, dogs and fowls. The Pacific rat was either brought or came as a stowaway on the canoes. As bones of domesticated animals have proved hard to find in the Lapita sites of Fiji and West Polynesia, some researchers think that the earliest Lapita people to reach these eastern islands were foragers rather than gardeners, and that the food plants arrived later.The migrants caught diverse seafood with nets, spears and hooks. The large numbers of native birds and animals on the new islands provided a reliable food supply in the early years, as the people established their economies. But many species, including large flightless birds, a land crocodile and giant iguana lizards, were defenseless against this new human predator, and soon became extinct.The Lapita moved into West Polynesia. It was a long time before people migrated to the smaller islands further east.

Australia Aboriginees

Melanesia and Micronesia

Polynesia

Key Vocabulary Himalayas Mt. Everest Hindu Kush Ganges River Indus River Deccan Plateau Monsoons Harappa Mohenjo-Daro Yangtze (Yellow) River Xi River Huang River Gobi Desert

Terrace Farming Shang Dynasty Zhou Dynasty Oracle Bones Mandate of Heaven Dynastic Cycle Oceania Australia Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia