Parti
The Origins of Civilization
Summary. The fırst human beings appeared över two million years ago, with majör
stages in physical development ending about 140,000 years ago. They discovered tool
using and improving and thus were able to move away from hunting and gathering
practices to form larger groups. The key markers for the origins of human societies are
the beginnings of agriculture, about 9000 B.C.E., and the achievement of the societies
that followed. By 1000 B.C.E. several civilizations were ready for more elaborate
political and cultural forms.
The Neolithic Revolution. Humans had spread vvidely long before agriculture was
invented. Their hunting and gathering techniques kept them in small bands.* Agriculture
made larger systems possible. but it brought disadvantages. Relationships between men
and women altered, and unfavorable changes occurred in the physical environment.
Thousands of years passed as new political forms and technologies developed. The
dispersion of the species ensured that the development of agriculture happened in
different places at different times.
Civilization's First Phase: The River Valleys. By 2000 B.C.E. fıve majör civilizations
had developed: Mesopotamia, Egypt, northwestern India, northern China, and central
America. They had limited contact with each other. The five were the pioneers in
generating elements common to later civilizations. The early civilizations ended or
paused around 1000 B.C.E., a date marking a move to a more mature phase of
civilization.
Issues for Interpretation: Problems in Analyzing Early World History. The focus in
studying early societies is on the emergence of developing separate civilized traditions as
people inceased their mastery över nature. Technology and culture help to explain
change and the characteristics of a civilization. Comparison betvveen the differing
civilizations broadens this knovvledge, as does the question of borrowing betvveen groups.
The precedents established during this first period in world history allow us to ask .
questions valid for later historical periods.
Chapter 1
The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization
CHAPTER SUMMARY
From 12,000 to 8,000 B.C.E. changes in human organization and food production
prepared the way the emergence of the fırst civilized societies. Neolithic development of
agriculture was the fırst truly revolutionary change in human history. The fırst farmers
were able to remake environments to süit their needs and to produce surpluses allowing
for the support of specialized elites in agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing. The
combination of factors usually resulted in urban settlements marked by complex social
stratificatiori based upon birth, sex, and occupation.
Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers. By 10,000 B.C.E., Homo sapiens,
one of several humanlike species, was present in ali continents except Antarctica. Moşt
supported themselves through hunting and gathering, slowly developing the physical.
traits, larger brains, and erect posture allovving hand evolution that assisted them to
master many differing environments.
Paleolithic Culture. By 12,000 B.C.E. Homo sapiens was stili similar in development to
rival human species. Fundamental discoveries included the better use of fire, thus
increasing the range of edible foods. language development, ever more complex tool
production, and artistic and ritual creativity.
The Spread of Human Culture. Fire and tools, plus the effects of climatic change,
allowed the human species to spread widely. By around 12,000 B.C.E. they had moved
from Africa into Europe. Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
Human Society and Daily Life at the End of the Old Stone Age. Most individuals
were members of small bands of hunters and gatherers constantly moving in pursuit of
game and plants; some groups established long-enduring settlements where they resided
for much of the year. Population density was very low since extensive land areas were
necessary to support groupings that probably numbered no more than 20 to 30 men,
women, and children. Life expectancy was about 20 years, with high mortality rates for
women in labor and children. Multiple pregnancies were necessary for survival. in a
gender division of labor, males hunted, fished, and protected the band. Women's roles"
were equally important; they gathered vital food supplies and herbal medicines. Limited
technological advances kept the scattered bands living in precarious life-styles. A few
humans established continuing settlements in which they experimented with strategıes
for survival related to their particular environment. The efforts produced the
domestication of plants and animals. Only such groups proved capable of producing
civilizations.
Settling Down: Dead Ends and Transitions. in central Russia, about 18,000 to 10,000
B.C.E., meat gained from successful hunting of slow woolly mammoths, along with wild
plant food, allovved a more sedentary life-style. The residents traded with distant peoples
and social stratifıcation was demonstrated in burial customs. The society disappeared for
unknown reasons. The more sophisticated Natufıan complex, comprised of many densely
populated settlements, flourished in the Jordan river valley between 10,500 and 8000
B.C.E. Itwasbaseduponthecultivationofwildbarleyandwheat. Natufıan society
developed advanced agricultural and building techniques and was stratifîed, matrilineal,
and matrilocal. After 9000 B.C.E., climatic change caused site abandonment. Some of
the population retumed to hunting and gathering; others domesticated wild grains.
A Precarious Existence. By the late Paleolithic homo sapiens lived in tiny, scattered
bands. Life was harsh and individuals were at the mercy of nature and disease. Their few
tools and vveapons left them dependent on the habits of migrating animals. The few
humans living in permanrent settlements were more secure, but stili endured precarious
lifestyles.
Agriculture and the Origins of Civilization: The Neolithic Revolution. Between 8000
and 3500 B.C.E., a majör change occurred which fundamentally altered human history.
Climatic shifts associated with the close of the last Ice Age forced migration of game
animals and changed wild crop distribution. Hunting bands moved to favorable
environments, possibly leading to greater productivity, as in the Natufian complex, and
population growth. During the process known as the Neolithic revolution, humans built
upon their hunting and gathering experience to master sedentary agriculture and animal
domestication. The surpluses produced allowed urban development and the appearance
of the first civilizations.
The Domestication of Plants and Animals. People had long observed wild plants as
they gathered their daily needs. Hunters and gatherers either experimented with wild
seeds or accidentally discovered domestication. Önce learned, the practice developed
very slowly as people combined the new ideas with their old techniques. Along the way
different animals - dogs, sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle - were tamed from about 12,000
B.C.E.
The Spread of the Neolithic Revolution. Hunting and gathering societies persisted as
sedentary agricultural societies developed. Animal domestication led to pastoralisin in
semi-arid regions Pastoral peoples posed the most serious challenge to agricultural
societies. Later they were the basis for the great Mongol empire. The agriculturists
spread their production techniques for grain crops and fibers from the Middle East to
Asia, Europe, and northern Afnca. Africans south of the Sahara evolved independently,
developing root and tree crops. in northern China millet cultivation spread eastward and
southward. Rice, first cultivated in southeast Asia, spread to China, India, and the
southeast Asian islands. Mesoamerica and Peru developed maize (corn), manioc, and
svveet potatoes for their hemisphere.
The Transformation of Human Life. Sedentary humans, with their plants and animals,
transformed their immediate environments and allovved a great grovvth in populatipns.
Their labors marked a great turning point in history. Villages became the dominant
feature of human habitation. A sudden surge in invention produced berter agricultural
implements and techniques of seed selection, planting, and fertilization. Later came
irrigation systems.
Social Differentiation. Surplus production allovved the development of specialized
occupations, including political and religious elites. Within settlements larger
populations, more elaborate housing, community ritual centers, berter places for food
storage, pottery, and fortifıcations increased societal complexity. Regional products were
exchanged with other peoples. Class distinctions remained minimal, and leadership and
property were communal. Women lost ground to men in social and economic matters.
Analysis: The Idea of Civilization in World Historical Perspective. The word
civilization was coined by the Romans to distinguish betvveen themselves - an urban-
based civilization - and others, supposedly inferior, who lived on the fringes of their
empire. The Greeks earlier had made a similar division.; so did the Chinese and Aztecs.
Europeans during the 17th and 18th centuries revived the perceived difference betvveen
civilized and barbarian societies. Later, racist ideologies awarded Europeans primacy of
place. The 20th century has seen the facting of racist thinking, but ethnocentrism stili
plays a harmful role in defıning what is regarded as civilized.
The First Towns: Seedbeds of Civilization. By 7000 B.C.E. agriculture was capable of
supporting population centers numbering in the thousands. Two of the earliest
settlements in the Neolithic transformation were at Jerico and Çatal Huyuk. Their
inhabitants possessed occupational specialization, created political and religious elites,
participated in large-scale commerce, and developed specialized crafts.
Jericho. Jericho, near the Jordan River and an oasis, was an urban center by 7000 B.C.E.
Its economy was based primarily on wheat and barley farming, but both hunting and trade
also were important. Expanding wealth resulted in walled fortifications and an encircling
ditch. Housing, built of improved bricks and containing plaster hearths and stone milis,
became more sophisticated. Religious shrines were present in a later period. The city
was governed by a powerful elite probably associated \vith keepers of the shrines. Vivid
sculpted naturalistic fıgures allow an impression of Jerico's inhabitants.
Çatal Huyuk. Çatal Huyuk, founded around 7000 B.C.E. in southern Turkey, was larger
in size and population than Jericho. it was the most advanced human center of the
Neolithic period. A rich economic base was built on extensive agricultural and
commercial development. Standardized construction patterns suggest the presence of a
powerful ruling elite associated with a priesthood. Well-developed religious shrines
indicate a grovving role for religion in people's lives.
Conclusion: The Watershed of the Fourth Millennium B.C.E. The early sedentary
settlements established patterns for future civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and
Africa. The levels of specialization and political organization present in the towns were
critical to new inventions and techniques appearing in the fourth millennium B.C.E. The
plow increased crop yields; wheeled vehicles eased transport. Bronze replaced copper
and stone in weapon and tool production. Writing in Mesopotamia and other later
civilizations permitted expanded trading networks and enlarged bureaucracies. Ali
allowed the growth of larger nonagricultural populations. The isolation of the
Amerindian peoples prevented the new technology from reaching them. They remained
isolated from the rest of the world until the sixteenth century.
KEY TERMS
hunting and gathering: means of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of
sedentary agriculture; normally typical of band social organization.
civilization: societies with reliance on sedentary agriculture, ability to produce food
surpluses, and existence of nonfarming elites, along with merchant and manufacturing
groups.
Paleolithic. the Old Stone Age ending in 12,000 B.C.E.; typifıed by use of evolving
stone tools and hunting and gathering for subsistence.
Neolithic: the New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; period in which
adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animals
accomplished.
nomads: cattle- and sheep-herding societies normally found on the fringes of civilized
societies; commonly referred to as "barbarian" by civilized societies.
"savages": societies engaged in either hunting and gathering for subsistence or in
migratory cultivation; not as stratified or specialized as civilized and nomadic societies.
culture: combinations of ideas, objects, and patterns of behavior that result from human
social interaction.
Honıo sapiens: the species of humanity that emerged as most successful at the end of the
Paleolithic.
Neanderthals: species of genus honto that disappeared at the end of the Paleolithic.
band: a level of social organization normally consisting of betvveen 20 and 30 people;
nomadic hunters and gatherers; labor divided on a gender basis.
agrarian revolution: occurred betvveen 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; transition from hunting
and gathering to sedentary agriculture.
Natufian complex: preagricultural culture; located in present -day Israel, Jordan, and
Lebanon; practiced collection of wild barley and wheat to supplement game; large
settlement sites.
matriiocal: a culture in which young men upon marriage go to live with the bride's
family.
matrilineal: family descent and inheritance traced through the female line.
pastoralisin: a nomadic agricultural life-style based on herding domesticated animals;
tended to produce independent people capable of challenging sedentary agricultural
societies.
Huanghe or Yellow river basin: site of the development of sedentary agriculture in
China.
Mesoamerica: Mexico and Central America; along with Peru, site of development of
sedentary agriculture in western hemisphere.
Jericho: early walled urban culture based on sedentary agriculture; located in modern
Israel-occupied West Bank near Jordan river.
Çatal Huyuk: early urban culture based on sedentary agriculture; located in modern
southern Turkey; larger in population than Jerico, had greater degree of social
stratification.
Bronze Age: from 4000 to 3000 B.C.E.; increased use of plow, metahvorking;
development of wheeled vehicles, vmting.