The Beginnings of Human Society

1
The Beginnings of Human Society

• Chapter 1, Section 3 pgs. 20-24
• The Beginnings of Civilization
• TN SPI 6.4.4, 6.5.5, 6.3.6

2
Objectives

• Find out about the advantages people gained from
  settling down in one place.
• Learn about the growth of early cities.
• Understand how the first civilizations formed and
  spread.

3
Key Terms

• Irrigation supplying land with water through a
  network of canals
• Surplus more than is needed
• Artisan a worker who is skilled at crafting
  items by hand
• Civilization a society with cities, a central
  government, job specialization, and social
  classes
• Social Class a group of people with similar
  backgrounds, incomes, and ways of living

4
Advantages of a Settled Life

• Farming was much harder work than hunting and
  gathering, but it had far greater rewards.
• Farming provided a year-round food supply.
• People could settle in one place.
• Surplus food could be stored for use at another
  time.
• A food surplus allowed parents to have
• a larger family.

5
World Population

• Larger families brought rapid world population
  growth.
• Scientist estimate that about 10,000 years ago,
  world population was 5 million people.
• This is about the number of people living in the
  state of Minnesota today.
• By 7,000 years ago, after many people had settled
  into the farming life, the worlds population was
  around 20 million people.

6
Farming and Irrigation

• Supplying crops with water was a huge part of a
  farmers life.
• Farmers built a system of irrigation canals to
  supply water to crops.
• Irrigation canals were built by long lines of
  workers.
• Workers would load baskets with dirt, then carry
  the baskets and dump the dirt near the river
  forming a dam.
• - The dam would hold back spring floodwaters
  which could be released during the dry season.

7
Early Villages and Towns

• With food surpluses, people did not have to spend
  all of their day producing food.
• Artisans made items such as baskets, leather
  goods, tools, pottery, and cloth.
• An artisan is a skilled worker who makes things
  by hand.

8
The Growth of Cities

• Cities formed in areas with rich soil, a
  dependable water source, and materials to use in
  building.
• Early cities formed
• Nile River in Egypt
• Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq
• Indus River in Pakistan
• Huang River in China

9
The Growth of Cities

• Cities were larger than farming villages.
• Often there were large public buildings,
  buildings to store surplus food, places of
  worship, and markets.
• Cities had workers with a wide variety of
  occupations. Most worked at a craft.
• As the population of cities grew, governments
  formed to keep order in a society and provide
  services.
• Governments also settled disputes and managed
  public building and irrigation
• projects.

10
Civilizations

• Over time, New Stone Age societies grew into
  civilizations.
• A civilization is a society that has cities, a
  central government run by official leaders, and
  workers who specialize in various jobs.
• Writing, art, and architecture also characterize
  a civilization.

11
Bronze Age

• By 6600 B.C. artisans in Asia and Europe learned
  that by melting rock the copper could be
  separated from the rock.
• They also learned that by adding tin to the
  copper, bronze was formed.
• Because bronze is much harder than copper, it
  could be used to make more durable and lasting
  items.
• Examples included weapons, tools, helmets, and
  shields.

12
Wheel and Axle

• Around 3500 B.C., some civilizations had
  developed a simple but amazing invention the
  wheel and axle.
• This invention allowed artisans and traders to
  take items such as pottery, tools, weapons,
  baskets, cloth, and spices to faraway cities.
• With the wheel and axle, trade goods could be
  loaded onto carts and transported farther.

13
Merchant Ships

• Trade also occurred with the use of merchant
  ships carrying goods across seas and rivers.
• Different cultures came into contact with one
  another.
• New tools and ideas spread from one society to
  another.

14
Social Classes Develop

• Growing trade brought fortune and prosperity.
  Social classes developed in early societies.
• A social class is a group of people having
  similar backgrounds, incomes, and ways of living.

15
King most powerful person
Priests and religious leaders
Nobles government and military leaders
Artisans, Traders, Merchants
Common workers and farmers
Slaves