Transcript World History

World History
Chapter 1: Prehistory – 300 B.C.
Section 1
 Understanding Our Past
Geography and History
 Geography
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Study of people, their environment and the resources
available to them
 Five themes that show the relationship between
geography and human history
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Location
 Relative
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Where one place is located in relation another place
 Exact
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Location
Location
Determined by latitude and longitude
Example: Seoul, South Korea is located at 37ºN, 127ºE
Geography and History (Con’t)
 Place
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The physical features and human characteristics of
that location
 Human-Environment Interaction
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How humans have been shaped by the
environment and vice versa
 Movement

The movement of people, goods and ideas
 Trade
is a major example
Geography and History (Con’t)
 Region
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Division of the world based on different
characteristics
 Missouri
is in the Region called the Midwest,
or Breadbasket
 Iraq is located in the Region called the Middle
East
How Do We Know?
 Prehistory

Long period of time before the invention of
writing systems
 History
passed on by stories
 Anthropology
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Origins and development of people and
their societies
How Do We Know? (Con’t)
 Archaeology

Find and analyze the material remains of humans
and animals
 Artifacts
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Objects made by human beings
Tools, weapons, pottery, etc.
Today, Archaeologist have traced the development
of technology
They also use modern technology to study and
interpret their findings
How Do We Know? (Con’t)
 Geologist

Study the rocks to help determine the age of
artifacts and conditions on earth at that time
 Historians
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Study how people lived in the past
They study artifacts and especially written
documents
Desire to understand the questions… Who? What?
Where? When? And most importantly… Why?
Section 2
 The Dawn of History
The Old Stone Age
 Also known as the Paleolithic Age
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2 million B.C. to 10,000 B.C.
 African Beginnings
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Oldest humanlike bones found in Africa
Theory suggest life started in Africa
The Old Stone Age (Con’t)
 Hunters and Food Gathers
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Paleolithic people were nomads
 Moving
place to place as they followed game
animals and ripening fruit
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Used very primitive weapons
Eventually developed spoken language
Lived through ice ages
 Development
of glaciers throughout earth
Early Religious Beliefs
 Use of animism
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Belief the world is full of spirits and forces
that reside in animals, objects and dreams
 Eventually people began burying their
dead
The Neolithic Agricultural
Revolution
 Development of the New Stone Age
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Learned to farm around 11,000 B.C.
Some people moved away from being nomadic
Also began domesticating animals
 The population began to explode
 No greater change in population would happen
again till around 1700’s A.D.
 Development of wealth with the growth of
individual’s personal property
New Technology
 Development of:

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Calendars
Use of oxen or water buffalos to plow
Better, more smooth tools
Weaving of clothing begins
 Technologies were not the same in all parts of
the world
 Neolithic period led to the creation of civilizations
Section 3
 Beginnings of Civilizations
The Rise of Cities
 Civilization

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Complex, highly organized social order
First began developing along River Valleys
 River Valley Civilizations (RVC)
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Tigris and Euphrates in Middle East
Nile River in Egypt
Indus River in India
Yellow River in China
The Rise of Cities (Con’t)
 Common conditions:
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Rivers flooded annually
Animals flock to rivers
Regular water supply and for of
transportation
 Development of walls, temples, palaces,
etc.
Features of Civilization
 Cities
 Organized Government
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Started out ruled by elders or priest
Then powerful rulers took and claimed
power from Gods
Became more complex as laws, taxes and
systems of defense developed
Features of Civilization (Con’t)
 Complex Religions
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Most were polytheistic
 Believed
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in many Gods
Used ceremonies like construction of temples and
sacrifices to appease the God’s
 Job specialization
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Development of artisans, or skilled craft workers
No longer could one person specializes in all crafts
Features of Civilization (Con’t)
 Social Classes
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Ranking based on jobs
 Priest
normally top and slaves lowest
 Arts and Architecture
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Expressed the beliefs and values of the
people
Normally beautiful temples, statues etc.
Features of Civilization (Con’t)
 Public Works
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Irrigation systems
Roads
Bridges
Defensive walls
 Writing
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Earliest writings were pictograms
 Drawings
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representing objects
Only scribes learned to read
Spread of Civilization
 Developed into city-states
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A political unit that included a city and its
surrounding lands
 Power struggles help build empires
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A group of states or territories under one
ruler
 Nomads continued their way of life,
many on steppes
Civilizations and Change
 Environments greatly changed human
life in these civilizations
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Droughts
Floods
Volcanic eruptions
 Could be human caused
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Over farming
Overuse of resources
Civilizations and Change
(Con’t)
 Development of Cultural Diffusion
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Spread of ideas, customs and technologies
from one people to another
Trade the biggest reason for cultural
diffusion
Warfare caused forceful cultural diffusion
many times