Chapter 2

SIDE NOTES:Paleontologists- study the physical remains and fossils of animals and plantsAnthropologists- study the physical, social, and cultural characteristics of human beingsArchaeologists- study the objects and building left behind by humans.

Definition of a “civilization”

• Webster’s Dictionary: “social organization of high order, marked by advancements in the arts and sciences.”

• Four distinctive features:– An economic system able to make available basic

goods and services– A form of political organization capable of

governing, creating social institutions, enforcing laws, and protecting people from outside threats.

– A moral code, generally in the form of a shared religion

– An intellectual tradition that typically includes a written language and encourages the pursuit of knowledge, science, and the arts.

Stone Age (2.5 millions years ago)

• The most important tools were made out of stone.

• Tools use during the Stone Age was intended to provide shelter, protection (weapons), clothing, and food.

• Early Stone Age (Paleolithic) social groups sustained themselves by hunting and gathering, or foraging many of these societies became mobile or nomadic.

Stone Age (cont.)

• Social organization during the Stone Age was based on the family unit, which took shape during this time. Extended families tended to cluster together, forming clans bound by ties of kinship as well as larger groups such as bands and tribes.

• Stone Age humans worshipped deities and practiced a variety of religious rituals.

• Gender division by labor- because of basic physical differences, various food-gathering tasks and everyday activities tended to be assigned by sex gave rise to a long-standing gender inequality.

The Neolithic Revolution: Pastoralism and Agriculture

• Started around 12,000 years ago, human began to produce their own food (by domesticating animals and plants)

• Because it required great effort and organization, agriculture encouraged closer social ties and the formation of long-lasting settlements.

• The earliest practice of agriculture was in the Middle East. From there, it spread out to other continents.NOTE: North and South Americas also began to practice agriculture during the

same time period.

Neolithic Revolution

Pastoralism(domesticate animals)

Agriculture(cultivation of plants)

Pastoralism +Agriculture

Herding societies

Settled societies

Advancementscivilizations

Primitive forms:

Migratory farming

Slash-and-burn

Sophisticated forms:

Shifting (or swidden) farming

Fertilizing, irrigation, mixing crop types

Effects • When groups stopped wandering, they gathered into

villages and communities with strong social ties and clear-cut rules of government and politics.

• The key ingredient in the development of civilizations: cities.– Offer protection and defense– Serve as point of trade and economic activity– Enable exchange of ideas, information, religious beliefs, and

cultural values.• Another important feature is specialization of labor.

• Technological innovations: wheel, pottery, plow, writing system, metallurgy and metalworking (start to use bronze, then iron)– SIDE NOTES: The Sumerians created the earliest form of

writing system.