inbound3383288604151305499 - Perla Ramos

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I. EARLY CIVILIZATIONS 
TOWARD CIVILIZATION (PREHISTORY – 3000 B.C.) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HISTORIANS CALL THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF HUMAN HISTORY THE OLD STONE AGE, 
OR THE PALEOLITHIC AGE. THIS LONG PERIOD DATES FROM THE TIME OF THE FIRST STONE 
TOOL MAKERS TO ABOUT 10,000 B.C. PALEOLITHIC PEOPLE WERE NOMADS, MOVING FROM 
PLACE TO PLACE TO FOLLOW GAME ANIMALS AND SEARCH FOR EDIBLE PLANTS. THEY LIVED 
IN SMALL HUNTING AND GATHERING BANDS OF ABOUT 20 TO 30 PEOPLE. LABOR DIVISION 
WAS BASED ON SEX AND AGE. 
 STONE AGE PEOPLE LEARNED TO ADAPT TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT FOR SURVIVAL. 
MEN AND WOMEN MADE SIMPLE TOOLS AND WEAPONS SUCH AS DIGGING STICKS, SPEARS AND 
AXES. THEY DEVELOPED SPOKEN LANGUAGE WHICH LET THEM TO COOPERATE AS THEY 
WORKED. DURING THE ICE AGES, PEOPLE INVENTED CLOTHING AND LEARNED TO BUILD 
FIRES. 
THE GROWTH OF FARMING-. 
 ABOUT 11,000 YEARS AGO, NOMADIC BANDS MADE A DRAMATIC BREAKTHROUGH; 
THEY LEARNED TO FARM. BY PRODUCING THEIR OWN FOOD, THEY COULD REMAIN IN ONE 
PLACE. THIS CHANGE FROM NOMADIC TO SETTLE FARMING LIFE USHERED IN THE NEW STONE 
AGE, OR NEOLITHIC AGE. NEOLITHIC FARMERS SETTLED IN PERMANENT VILLAGES. 
KEY FACTS: 
• ABOUT 12,000 YEARS AGO, DURING THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD, OR NEW AGE 
STONE, PEOPLE LEARNED TO FARM. 
• BY ABOUT 5,000 YEARS AGO, THE ADVANCES MADE BY EARLY FARMING 
COMMUNITIES LED TO THE RISE OF CIVILIZATIONS. 
• HISTORIANS DEFINE EIGHT BASIC FEATURES COMMON TO MOST EARLY 
CIVILIZATIONS: 
1. CITIES 
2. WELL ORGANIZED CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS (STATES) 
3. COMPLEX RELIGIONS 
4. JOB SPECIALIZATION (LABOR DIVISION) 
5. SOCIAL CLASSES (ELITES, COMMONERS, SLAVES) 
6. ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE (MONUMENTAL WORKS) 
7. PUBLIC WORKS (DITCHES, CANALS, DAMS, ROAD NETWORKS) 
8. WRITING SYSTEMS AND LITERATURE 
 BECAUSE PEOPLE COULD NOW SETTLE IN ONE PLACE, AGRICULTURE LED TO A 
GROWTH IN POPULATION. VILLAGE LIFE ALSO RESHAPED THE ROLES OF WOMEN AND MEN. 
HEADS OF FAMILIES FORMED A COUNCIL OF ELDERS TO MAKE IMPORTANT DECISIONS; OFTEN 
A VILLAGE CHIEF EMERGED. DURING TIMES OF WANT, WARFARE INCREASED AND SOME MEN 
GAINED STATUS AS WARRIORS; THESE WARRIORS HAD POWER OVER BOTH WOMEN AND OTHER 
MEN. THE STATUS OF WOMEN DECLINED, THOUGH THEY DID NOT LOSE ALL THEIR INFLUENCE 
OR RIGHTS. 
 ABOUT 5,000 YEARS AGO, THE ADVANCES MADE BY EARLY FARMING COMMUNITIES 
LED PEOPLE TO A NEW STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT _THE BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATIONS. 
BEGINNINGS OF CIVILIZATIONS-. 
 HISTORIANS DEFINE EIGHT BASIC FEATURES COMMON TO MOST EARLY CIVILIZATIONS: 
1) CITIES, 2) WELL ORGANIZED CENTRAL GOBERNMENTS, 3) COMPLEX RELIGIONS, 4) JOB 
SPECIALIZATION, 5) SOCIAL CLASSES, 6) ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE, 7) PUBLIC WORKS, AND 8) 
WRITING SYSTEMS AND LITERATURE. 
 IN AFRICA AND ASIA, THE FIRST CITIES GREW AFTER FARMERS BEGAN RAISING CROPS 
IN THE FERTILE LANDS ALONG RIVER VALLEYS. RICH SOILS ANS A RELIABLE WATER SOURCE 
ALLOWED FARMERS TO PRODUCE SURPLUS, OR EXTRA, CROPS. THESE SURPLUSES HELPED 
POPULATIONS TO EXPAND. AS POPULATIONS GREW, SOME VILLAGES BECAME CITIES. 
ORGANIZED GOVERNMENTS. THE CHALLENGE OF FARMING IN A RIVER VALLEY 
CONTRIBUTED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CITY GOVERNMENTS. TO CONTROL FLOODING AND 
CHANNEL WATERS TO FIELDS, EARLY FARMERS WORKED TOGETHER. THEY BUILT DIKES, DUG 
CANALS, AND CARVED OUT IRRIGATION DITCHES. 
 SUCH PROJECTS REQUIRED LEADERSHIP AND WELL-ORGANIZED GOVERNMENTS; SOME 
CITY GOVERNMENTS GREW POWERFUL AND COMPLEX. OVER TIME, GOVERNMENT 
BUREAUCRACIES GREW; A BUREAUCRACY IS A SYSTEM OF MANAGING GOVERNMENT 
TRHOUGH DEPARTMENTS RUN BY APPOINTED OFFICIALS. SOCIAL ORGANIZATION ALSO 
BECAME MORE COMPLEX. 
PEOPLE WERE RANKED IN SOCIAL CLASSES ACCORDING TO THEIR JOBS. PRIEST AND 
WARRIORS, THE NOBLES, WERE USUALLY AT THE TOP. NEXT THE WEALTHY MERCHANTS, 
FOLLOWED BY ARTISANS, OR SKILLED CRAFT WORKERS; BELOW THEM STOOD THE VAST 
MAJORITY OF PEOPLE, PEASANTS. SLAVES WERE AT THE LOWEST SOCIAL LEVEL. 
 A CRITICAL NEW SKILL EMERGED _WRITING. PRIEST PROBABLY DEVELOPED WRITING 
IN ORDER TO RECORD THE AMOUNT OF GRAIN COLLECTED OR OTHER INFORMATION. EARLY 
WRITING WAS MADE UP OF PICTOGRAMS, OR SIMPLE DRAWINGS SHOWING THE IDEAS 
REPRESENTED.