CHAPTER 1The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

World Civilization: The Global ExperienceFifth Edition

Stearns/Adas/Schwartz/Gilbert

Copyright 2007, Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman

Chapter 1: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

Stearns et al., World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th Edition Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman, Copyright 2007

I. Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers

II. The Neolithic Revolution - 8000 to 3500 B.C.E.

III. The First Towns: Seedbeds of Civilization

Chapter 1: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

Stearns et al., World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th Edition Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman, Copyright 2007

Introduction: definitions of civilization

Elements: urban monumental building writing specialized occupations

Connotation v. denotation

I. Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers

Homo sapiens by 10,000 B.C.E.

Larger brain

Tools, weapons

A. Paleolithic Culture

Developments by 12,000 B.C.E.

Hunting-gathering

Art

Spread to Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas

The Spread of Human Populations, c. 10,000 B.C.E.

Chapter 1: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

Stearns et al., World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th Edition Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman, Copyright 2007

I. Human Life in the Era of Hunters and Gatherers

B. Human Society and Daily Life at the End of the Paleolithic Age

Variety

Bands of hunter-gatherersAgricultural settlements

Gender division of labor

Men: hunting, fishing, defense

Women: gathering, making medicine

C. Settling Down: Dead Ends and Transitions Central Russia

c. 18,000 to 10,000 B.C.E.

Hunting mammoths, gathering wild plantsTradingSocial stratificationEventually disappeared

Natufian Complex

Jordan River Valley, 10,500 to 8000 B.C.E. Barley, wheatHunting-gatheringMore densely populatedBuildingSociety: stratified, matrilineal, and matrilocalAbandoned after 9000 B.C.E.

Chapter 1: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

Stearns et al., World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th Edition Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman, Copyright 2007

II. The Neolithic Revolution - 8000 to 3500 B.C.E.

Sedentary agricultureAnimals domesticatedDevelopment of towns

Causes?

Climatic shifts

A. The Domestication of Plants and Animals

Plants

Slow development

Animals from 12,000 B.C.E.: dogs, sheep, goats, pigs

The Spread of Agriculture

Chapter 1: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

Stearns et al., World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th Edition Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman, Copyright 2007

II. The Neolithic Revolution - 8000 to 3500 B.C.E.

B. The Spread of the Neolithic Revolution

Hunting-and-gathering persists

Pastoralism

Sub-Saharan AfricaRoot and tree crops

Northern China

Millet

RiceSoutheast Asia, to China, India, islands

Mesoamerica, Peru

Maize, manioc, sweet potatoes

Chapter 1: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

Stearns et al., World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th Edition Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman, Copyright 2007

II. The Neolithic Revolution - 8000 to 3500 B.C.E.

C. The Transformation of Material LifePopulation

Preneolithic5-8 million

By 4000 B.C.E., 60 or 70 million

D. Social Differentiation

Specialized occupationsRegional exchange of goodsCommunal ownershipWomen lose political and economic roles

Chapter 1: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

Stearns et al., World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th Edition Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman, Copyright 2007

III. The First Towns: Seedbeds of Civilization

A. Jericho

Jordan RiverUrbanized by 7000 B.C.E. Cultivation of wheat, barleyAlso hunting, tradingBuilding

Wall and ditchBrick houses

Plaster hearthsStone mills

Rule by elite

B. Çatal Hüyük

c. 7000 B.C.E., southern TurkeyLarge complexAgriculture, commerceShrines

Chapter 1: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization

Stearns et al., World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th Edition Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman, Copyright 2007

III. The First Towns: Seedbeds of Civilization

C. The 4th Millennium B.C.E.

Innovations

Plow, wheelCopper and stone > bronzeStates

Larger, centralized

Trade networks

Writing facilitates trade, holding power, cultural exchange