The Neolithic Revolution and River Valley Civilizations
This unit talks about the start of civilization and early human life. In the Paleolithic Period, the Cro-Magnon people were hunters and gatherers. In this Periodization of time, they used sticks, stones, and bones as their weapons. After the Neolithic Revolution, people started to farm food such as barley and corn. As a result from this, people started living near a source of water to keep farming. From this, the first early river valley civilizations emerged in Africa , The Middle East, India, and China. In each of these new civilizations, a different form of government emerged in each one.
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Paleolithic and Neolithic RevolutionsIn the Paleolithic period the people were nomadic and hunted animals with spears made out of sticks, stone, and bones. The men usually hunted animals throughout the day, while the women gathered small herbs and berries. The women were responsible for feeding the men and take care of the children. Once the Neolithic Revolution occurred, people started to have more food to feed for themselves. They also started to specialize in different tasks and jobs due to having more free time. People started to settle permanently near rivers and made irrigation systems for their agriculture. The domestication of plants and animals also occurred during the Neolithic Revolution in which helped make their lives easier.
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Characteristics of CivilizationsFrom the emergence of The Stone Age, people stopped being nomadic and began to settle down permanently in an area. They began to make their lives more advanced and from this, emerged the first complex societies. The three main characteristics of these complex societies, or civilizations, are; food surplus, large towns with some type of government, and people being specialized in different jobs. The first major civilizations had all these characteristics, in which started a whole new era.
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Geography effects on the first civilizationsThe four major river valley civilizations were; Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Ancient China, and Ancient India. The rivers that each civilization settle by are; The Nile River, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Huang River, and The Indus River. The Nile river in Egypt was the only source of water that the Egyptians had. The river got its water from the mountain peaks in which the snow there melted. Each year, there would be a yearly flood in which helped bring silt to the soil. Mesopotamia also had the benefits of the yearly flood, as well as the Indus River and the Huang River.
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Vocab:
Periodization: The action of separating different periods of time in history, and categorizing them.
Specialization: when people choose to do different jobs for a specific task.
Irrigation: Making the land fertile with water to help make it ready to grow crops.
Domestication: The act of making nature to best fit the needs of humans.
Complex Society: A society that has a developed structure.
Periodization: The action of separating different periods of time in history, and categorizing them.
Specialization: when people choose to do different jobs for a specific task.
Irrigation: Making the land fertile with water to help make it ready to grow crops.
Domestication: The act of making nature to best fit the needs of humans.
Complex Society: A society that has a developed structure.