PART I: THE ORIGINS OF CIVILIZATION

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PART ITHE ORIGINS OF CIVILIZATION
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PART I

• Paleolithic Age
• Humans had spread around globe
• Humans were hunter-gatherers
• Life style could not support large numbers
• Man makes tools of stone, bone
• Began around 9,000 BCE
• Rise of agriculture
• Culture becomes increasingly complex

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RISE OF NEOLITHIC

• Areas where Neolithic cultures arose
• Harsh environments
• Water shortages
• Few reliable sources of foodstuffs
• Causes of the Neolithic Revolution
• Development, spread of agriculture
• Domestication of animals
• Improvement of technology

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ASPECTS OF NEOLITHIC AGE

• Effects of Neolithic Age
• Sedentary culture develops
• Surplus of food leads to increased populations
• Rise of differentiated occupations
• Complex cultures
• Gender relations change
• Humans begin to change environment
• Communicable diseases become common

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PALEOLITHIC vs. NEOLITHIC

• Many resist sedentarism
• Pastoralists
• Hunter-Gatherers survive until 20th century
• Development uneven across regions
• Change often slow
• Indigenous development vs. diffusion

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CIVILIZATIONS 1ST PHASE

• Five major centers beginning around 4,500 BCE
• Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (Mesopotamia)
• Nile River Valley
• Indus River Valley
• Northern China (Huang He)
• Central America
• Civilizations arose in few areas, spread out
• Often arose around control of water
• Called hydraulic (Hydro water) civilizations
• Irrigation, flood control at center of power,
  changes
• Ancient period lasts generally to 1000 BCE

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THE CULTURE OF CIVILIZATION

• Permanent Institutions
• Religious Theocracies, priesthoods, polytheism
• Political Monarchy, aristocracy, militaries
• Social Rise of classes
• Gender Patriarchy
• Trade and Commerce
• Systems of Record Keeping
• Intellectual Traditions
• Arts, Architecture
• Literatures

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WIDER CONTACTS

• Each civilization had particular patterns
• Effects of Geography
• Either facilitated, hindered communication
• Strengthened, weakened local culture
• Contacts
• War, Trade, Diseases
• Nomads
• Migration

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PROBLEMS OF WORLD HISTORY

• Role of technology, effects on environment
• Comparisons between civilizations
• Importance of early heritages
• How much did ancient influence later cultures
• How much is later, indigenous development
• When did ancient period end?
• Can we compare ancient, modern eras?