Transcript MOST OF HISTORY: THE FIRST HUMANS - NCRESA

WHG Era 2 – Early Civilizations and
Cultures and the Emergence of
Pastoral Peoples, 4000 to 1000 BCE
Part Two
WHGCEs Middle School Series
Session 7. Craig Benjamin
Which were the first
dynasties in early
China?
How did Indian and
Chinese history
unfold between 4000
and 1000 BCE?
Why is geography
so important to
early Indian
history?
W2.1 Early Civilizations and Early
Pastoral Societies
Analyze early Eastern Hemisphere civilizations and pastoral
societies
• During this era early civilizations and pastoral societies
emerged. Many of the world’s most fundamental institutions,
discoveries, inventions, and techniques appeared. Pastoral
societies developed the herding of animals as a primary food
source that enabled them to inhabit the semi-arid steppes of
Eurasia and Africa.
• This era introduces students to one of the most enduring
themes in history: the dynamic interplay, between herding
and agrarian societies involving both conflict and mutual
dependence.
Analyze early Eastern Hemisphere
civilizations and pastoral societies contd.
7 – W2.1.1 Development of human language, oral and written,
and its relationship to the development of culture
- verbal vocalizations
- standardization of physical (rock, bird) and abstract (love, fear)
words
- pictographs to abstract writing (governmental administration,
laws, codes, history and artistic expressions)
7 – W2.1.2 Use historical and modern maps and other sources to
locate, describe, and analyze major river systems and discuss
the ways these physical settings supported permanent
settlements, and development of early civilizations
- Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (Done in Session 6)
- Nile River (Done in Session 6)
- Yangtze River (This Session)
- Indus River (This Session)
Analyze early Eastern Hemisphere
civilizations and pastoral societies contd.
7 – W2.1.3 Examine early civilizations to describe their
common features (ways of governing, stable food supply,
economic and social structures, use of resources and
technology, division of labor and forms of communication)
7 – W2.1.4 Define the concept of cultural diffusion and how
it resulted in the spread of ideas and technology from one
region to another (e.g., plants, crops, plow, wheel, bronze
metallurgy)
7 – W2.1.5 Describe pastoralism and explain how the
climate and geography of Central Asia were linked to the
rise of pastoral societies on the steppes.
Agrarian Civilization, c. 1,000 BCE
Part One: The Geographical
and Cultural Background to
Indian Civilization
• ‘Greater India’ shaped like a diamond jutting
southwards into the Indian Ocean
• N. India and Pakistan hemmed in by the highest
mountain ranges on Earth - Himalayas and Karakoram
– divide subcontinent from the rest of Asia
• Across a very few passes through these mountains
(like the Khojack, Khyber and Khunjerab) a series of
migrating peoples, armies, traders, merchants and
travelers came to shape Indian history
• India also dominated by two
other distinct geographical
regions:
1. In the north is the ‘Great
Plain’ (or Hindustan – ‘land
of the Indus peoples’) –
stretches from the Indus
Valley to the Bay of Bengal
• Contains the vast river
systems of the Indus and
Ganges
2. In the south (separated by the
Vindhya Mountains) is a
semi-arid plateau known as
the Deccan (‘southland’)
Deccan Plateau from Space
Hindustan
and the
Deccan
India Topography
Indian Climate
• Climate governed by winds:
- Dry northeast monsoon
winds of winter (which blow
down from the arid heart of
Central Asia)
- Wet southwest monsoon
winds of summer (which
blow up from the Indian and
Arabian Seas)
• Most rain falls in the summer
and autumn, brought in by
winds from the Arabian Sea
• Western Ghats receive heavy
summer rains - one of the
wettest places on earth
• The Deccan is very dry
Monsoon rains in Calcutta
www.bbc.co.uk
The arid Deccan Plateau
www.nationalgeographic.com
Languages and
Ethnicity
• Two major language groups:
- Indo-European peoples in the north (Aryan migrants who
arrived in India during the 2nd millennium BCE)
- Dravidians in the south (original occupants of India before
the Aryan invasions)
• Despite this linguistic and ethnic division, between 1500 BCE
and 300 CE the adoption of Hindu religion gave all of India
an cultural unity, similar to that achieved in Europe by
Christianity
Early History
• Archaeology shows that humans lived in India during the
Paleolithic Era as foragers
• By 7000 BCE agriculture was practiced in the Indus Valley,
spreading to the south
• By 3000 BCE Dravidians had established agricultural
communities all over India
• Crops grown were wheat barley and cotton; domesticated
animals included cattle, sheep and goats
• Successful agriculture meant increased populations and the
emergence of towns,
cities and states
• The earliest urban civilization was
that of the Harappans,
in the Indus Valley
Part Two:
The Indus Civilization
(c2500-1500 BCE)
• Indus Valley consists of rich upper alluvial plain called the
Punjab (‘land of five waters’) and a drier lower Indus region
called Sind (sindhu = river)
• From Sind come the terms Hindu and India
• Indus draws its waters from snow melt in the Hindu Kush and
Himalayas
• Carries huge quantities of silt that are deposited lower down the
valley
• Today a series of dams has tamed the Indus, but for most of
history it was subject to regular, often devastating floods
Early Indus History
•
•
•
•
Rise of civilization in the Indus Valley duplicated what happened along Tigris,
Euphrates and Nile rivers
Early agrarian communities emerged on the hilly flanks of the rivers
Sowed wheat and barley in September, and harvested in the spring; also grew cotton
and dyed it (a textile industry?)
Kept cattle, sheep, goats and the world’s first domesticated chickens
Urban Civilization
• As in Mesopotamia and Egypt, agricultural surpluses led to
increased populations, and gradually early agrarian communities
evolved into more complex state-like structures
• The surpluses fed two very large cities – Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro
The Emergence
of the Indus
Civilization
• By 2300 BCE Mohenjo-Daro (in Sind) and Harappa
(in the Punjab) had up to 40,000 inhabitants each
• Civilization reached its peak c. 2000 BCE: tightly
organized urban centers; system of uniform
weights and measures; and pottery
• Harappan society covered much of modern-day
Pakistan and a large part of Northern India – about
502,000 square miles
• Therefore much larger than either Mesopotamia
or Egypt
The
Indus
Civilization
Map
www.bosei.cc-u.tokai
• Mohenjo-daro and Harappa
(400 miles apart) extensively
investigated by archaeologists
Road crews in the 19th century recycled
• Indus River maintained
communications and a uniform bricks for modern road building, leading to
the discovery of the entire civilization
administration and economy
• Well planned cities with
straight streets intersecting at
right angles
• Sophisticated drainage systems
with underground channels
• Two-storey houses constructed
of strong baked bricks
Indus Cities
Harappa www.bufferstock.org
Drainage system
at Harappa
www.voi.org/michael
Indus
Economy
• Economy based on irrigation
agriculture: state collected surpluses through taxes and
stored them in huge granaries
• Venus figurines representing fertility found at Indus
sites, indicating importance of the harvest, and
interstate contacts that existed with the civilizations of
SW Asia (pictured above)
• Evidence that trade was well-organized: regular contacts
with Mesopotamia from as early as the era of Sargon of
Akkad (2300 BCE)
Specialized
Labor and
Trade
www.martinguilfoyle.250x.com
Modern dhow follows the
coast of the Arabian Sea
• Pottery, tools and decorative items produced in Harappa and Mohenjo-daro exported
all over the Indus Valley
• From Persia they imported gold, silver, lead and gems
• With the Mesopotamians (between 2300 and 1750) they traded copper, ivory and
pearls for Sumerian wool, leather and olive oil
• Some trade went by land over the Iranian plateau; but most by sea
on ships following the coastline of the Arabian Sea
Indus Society
• Indus writing script (400
pictographic signs) has
never been deciphered
• Indus stamps depict
naturalistic animals, but also
horned humans, unicorns
and other large figures that
might be gods
• Used bronze smelting to
manufacture tools and
weapons
• Very few weapons
found – perhaps they
were a peaceful people
Social Distinctions
• Wealth of the Indus civilization
encouraged the emergence of
social classes
• Harappan dwellings show that
rich and poor lived very
different lives
• Many poor lived in one room
tenement structures
• But there are also large houses
(2 and 3 stories) with a dozen
rooms and multiple courtyards
• All houses had private
bathrooms with showers and
toilets that drained into the
city sewerage system
Models wearing clothing of Indus
Civilization elites
Harappan Religion
• Religion reflected a strong concern
for fertility
Early depiction of Yogic
• Like other agricultural societies,
Position – Seal from
Harappans venerated gods and
Mohenjo-daro
goddesses associated with procreation
• They had a mother goddess and a horned fertility
god
• Many believe Harappan gods survived the
collapse of the Indus Civilization and were
transformed into the Hindu pantheon (in which
fertility and procreation are also prominent)
www.yogajournal.com
The Decline of the
Indus Civilization
Environmental
Degradation
• Excavations at Mohenjo-daro show that decline set in after c.1900
BCE when earthquakes and floods altered the course of the Indus,
and the climate changed
• Harappans had deforested the Indus valley to clear land for
farming, and for firewood, leading to erosion and a gradual
climate change
• Over half a millennium much of the region became a desert, and
agriculture is impossible there today
• This meant Harappans faced a subsistence crisis from about 1900
• By about 1700 Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had been
abandoned; by 1500 all Indus cities had been abandoned
Aryan Invasions?
• Soon after (from c.1500) as Indus Civilization declined, bands
of Indo-European-speaking migrants from the north began to
move into the Indus Valley from the Iranian Plateau
• Their role (if any) in the collapse of the Indus Civilization
is not clear; by no means was this an organized military
invasion, but a gradual migration, including much
intermarrying with the locals
• The Indo-European invaders are known today as the Aryans
• Rapidly became the dominant group in Pakistan and North
India, but they also assimilated ideas and technologies from
the Indus peoples
• The culture and Vedic religion of these migrants
(cultivated by their priests and religious rulers called
Brahmins) became the foundation for the subsequent
history of India
Indo European Migrations: Map
www.mit.edu/afs/athena
Part 3:
Early Chinese
History
• Early Chinese history follows similar pattern to other parts
of Eurasia
• Humans migrated to East Asia 100,000 years ago - lived as
hunter gatherers
• From 7000 BCE population pressure and semi-sedentism
led to the adoption of agriculture
• Increased resources led to emergence of early states, which
were eventually consolidated into huge civilizations that
rivaled those in West Asia in terms of their size and power
• Our job here is to trace Chinese history from its origins
through to the emergence of the first two dynasties – the Xia
and Shang
Geographical Background
to Chinese History
• China lies in the
eastern part of Asia, on
the west coast of the
Pacific Ocean; it is the
third largest country in
the world
• A total land area of 6
million square miles.
Distance from east to
west is over 3,200 miles,
and from north to
south, over 3,300 miles
• Land border 13,500 mls
Bordered by 12 countries
- Korea in the east;
Russia in the northeast
and northwest; Mongolia
in the north; India,
Pakistan, Bhutan and
Nepal in the west and
southwest; Burma, Laos
and Vietnam in the south
• China also has extensive
neighboring seas and
numerous island
• Coastline extends more
than 9000 miles
• Across the East China
Sea to the east, and South
China Sea to the
southeast, are Japan, the
Philippians, Malaysia,
and Indonesia
• More than 5,000 islands
are scattered over
China's vast territorial
seas – largest is Taiwan
• China’s seas altogether
constitute 2.9 million
square miles
Oceans
Mountains
• China a mountainous country, with two-thirds of its total land
area covered by mountains, hills and plateaus
• Out of the world's 14 high peaks of over 8,000 meters, seven are located in China
• The Highest peak in the world, Mount Qomolangma (8,828m) – known as Mt.
Everest in the west - stands on the border between China and Nepal
• There are five major mountain systems
in China which, together with numerous
intermontane plateaus, basins, and plains
are interwoven into three macro landform
complexes in China
• So the topography of China from
the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau
eastward, is broadly arranged
into four great steps descending
step- by-step from the Qinghai –
Tibet Plateau to the coastal area
in the east
• China’s west consists of mountains, deserts and plateaus, which does not
provide much arable land for agriculture
• So Chinese civilization mainly emerged in the more arable east, meaning
that early Chinese culture was ‘isolated’ by the wild west from competing
civilizations
• But although the mountains and deserts of the west limited contact
between early imperial dynasties and other centers of civilization in Inner
Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe, there were some important
and notable cultural exchanges (particularly along the Silk Roads)
China’s
Wild
West
• Overall, Chinese
subcontinent contains at
least 8 different
ecosystems – from
semitropical southeast (4
feet of rain per year) to
arid north (less than 4
inches)
• Chinese geography has
determined the emergence
of human history, and has
been responsible for
dividing Chinese culture
into two distinctive regions
Two Mighty
Rivers
• This is because China
is dominated by two
vast river systems:
both have their source
in the high Tibetan
Plateau – the
Huanghe and Yangzi
The Huanghe
(Yellow River)
• Called ‘Yellow’ River because of huge amounts of silt
(loess) it carries to the sea
• So much loess suspended in the river it turns yellow - has the
consistency of soup
• Rises in the mountains of Tibet and flows for 2920 miles to
the Yellow Sea
• Crosses western high plateau, and flows through the arid
northern deserts before spilling out onto a broad northern
alluvial plain
• Also known as ‘China’s Sorrow’ because of the misery its
devastating floods have caused the Chinese people
• Yangzi River
also flows
from Tibetan
Plateau
through huge
gorges with
cliffs up to
1000 feet on
its way to the
sea
• Many of these
gorges will be
flooded later
this year as a
result of the
massive
‘Three Gorges
Dam’ project.
The Chang Jian (Yangzi River)
Gorges on the
Yangtze www.pbs.org
South of the Yangtze Valley are the rice
and tea-growing regions of south China
The Neolithic
Age
(c. 7000 –
1027 BCE)
• Archaeological evidence shows that various Chinese
communities had adopted agriculture by at least 6,500 BCE
• Climate and geography dictated the different crops grown:
- Mainly millet and other grains along the Huangho Valley
in the north
- Rice along the Yangtze Valley in the south.
• Early agricultural communities also domesticated the horse,
pig, chicken and silk worm
• Oldest cultural traces where Chinese cultivated plants and domesticated
animals found in Cishan and Peiligang
• Most important sites in the south, not as old as in the north, are Liangzhu,
Majiabang, Hemudu and Qujialing
• Although the differences between the pottery decorations and
shapes of early cultures are very small (cord marks, shell-edge
impressions, vessels with three legs in the north) it is possible to
distinguish different regional cultures in China from c 5000 BC
Neolithic
Sites
• Abundant harvests supported development of several neolithic
societies, each with their own distinctive pottery styles
• In the north (along the middle Huanghe) the Yangshao culture
(5000-3000 BCE) grew millet, used stone tools, raised pigs and
chickens, and had a distinctive type of pottery decoration
• Entire Yangshao village unearthed by archaeologists in 1952
at Banpo near Xian
• By 4000 BCE the subsequent Longshan culture coexisted in
the north with other agrarian communities, living in walled
cities, but interacting with their neighbors
Yangshao and
Longshan
Cultures
• Walled Yangshao and Longshan
cities, located along river valleys,
provided protection from
aggressive nomadic bands who
lived in the foothills and used the
horse extensively
• Town-dwellers made
technological advances; nomadic
people used sophisticated
weapons.
• Tension between the two a
powerful stimulus for innovation
• But the independent nature of these
early cultures gave China a sense
of fragmentation and disunity
• Threat of nomadic invasion from
the north remained a defining
characteristic of the Chinese
psyche for millennia
Nomads and
Sedentary
Communities
Part Four: The Xia and
Shang Dynasties
(c. 2100 – 1000 BCE)
First dynasty to gain widespread power in northern
China was the semi-mythical Xia, tribal rulers who
may have controlled the region from late in the third
millennium until the
late-17th C BCE
The Xia were followed by
the Shang, who ruled until
c1000 BCE, and for whom
we have far more evidence
The Xia Dynasty
Until 40 years
ago, the Xia
Dynasty was
thought to be a
part of a myth
that the Chinese
told as part of
their creation
legend.
The Xia Dynasty
existed in oral
histories only - no
archaeological
evidence for it
was found until
1959.
Jade Axe Head,
Erlitous c. 2000 BCE
But in that year
excavations at
Erlitous, in the city
of Yanshi,
uncovered what
was most likely a
capital of the Xia
Dynasty.
The site proved that
these people were
predecessors of the
Shang
Radiocarbon dates
from this site
indicate that they
existed from 2100
to c.1700 BCE
The Wei River Valley, center
of Xia Culture
• Ruling families used
elaborate and dramatic
rituals to confirm their
power to govern
• Rulers often acted as
shamans,
communicating with
spirits for help and
guidance
• Despite this archaeological
evidence, however, the Xia are not
universally accepted as a true
dynasty
• The Xia were agrarian people, with
bronze weapons and pottery
Xia Lifeway
Xia Ornamental Bronze Urn, Erlitous c. 1900 BCE
Archaeological
Evidence
• Archaeologists have uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs
that point to the possible existence of the Xia dynasty at locations cited in
ancient Chinese historical texts
• But there still exists a debate as to whether or not Erlitou culture was the site
of the Xia dynasty
• Radiocarbon dating places the site at ca. 2100 to 1700 BC, providing
physical evidence of the existence of a state contemporaneous with and
possibly equivalent to the Xia Dynasty as described in Chinese historical
works
• In 1959, a site located in the city of Yanshi was excavated containing large
palaces that some archaeologists have attributed as capital of the Xia Dynasty
• Though later historical works mention the Xia dynasty, no written
records dated to the Xia period have been found to confirm the name of
the dynasty and its sovereigns
The Shang (c. 1600-1030 BCE)
Shang Bronze Urn
• Xia were replaced by
the Shang Dynasty in c.
1600, which ruled in
the north for the next
600 years
• Shang responsible for
the development of
writing, a more
complex social
structure and the first
large cities
• Shang kings had
enormous power, and
controlled armies of
laborers and craftsmen
which they used to
construct monumental
tombs and palaces
• So it is the Shang, rather than the Xia,
that is considered by many to be the
first true dynasty of China
• Like the Xia, the Shang were originally
considered to be a myth
• They were discovered because Chinese
pharmacists were selling oracle bones
the Shang had created
• Bones first noticed in 1899 and by the
1920's were traced to Anyang, where the
last Shang capital was found and
excavated
• In the 1950's an earlier Shang capital was
found near present day Zhengzhou
• Traditional accounts suggest that
the Shang Dynasty consisted of
30 kings and seven different
capitals
• The Zhou dynasty that followed the Shang
are responsible for the recordings of the
kings and capitals of the Shang Dynasty
Shang Supreme God, Di
Discovery of
the First True
Dynasty?
c. 1600 BCE-1030 BCE
China under the Shang Dynasty
Shang Cities
• Shang kings extended their rule to a large portion of NE China
• Used tribute and resources from surplus agricultural
production to construct cities
• Shang cities large and walled – used to demand tribute from
other tribal leaders
• Shang capital moved six
times in 600 years; one
capital was Ao near
Zhengzhou – walls 33
feet high and 66 feet thick
at the base (still 13 feet high
today)
Ruins of Ao today
Anyang
www.mishalov.com/ korean-japanese-photos.html
• Most famous capital was Yin
near modern Anyang, where
the production of bronze
objects demonstrates Shang
wealth and technical skill
• Bronze metallurgy may have
arrived in China with early
Indo-European migrants via
Central Asia (disputed by
Chinese archaeologists)
www.rom.on.ca/ rombooks/anyang.php
Shang Bronze Artifacts
• Chinese metallurgy was
sophisticated, and bronze
was used to make
elaborate ceremonial and
drinking vessels, works
that were both practical
and artistic
Main Shang Archaeological
Site at Anyang – www.pitt.edu
Shang Ritual Bronze Vessals
Metropolitan Museum of Art
www.acs6.brooklyn
Historiography
of Bronze
Metallurgy in
China
• Probably a number of early centers of
bronze technology, but the area along the
Yellow River in present-day Henan
Province emerged as the center of the
most advanced and literate cultures of
the time and became the seat of the
political and military power of the Shang
dynasty
• There is still uncertainty as to when
metallurgy began in China
• Most Chinese scholars believe that
early bronze working developed
autonomously, independent of outside
influences
• Other western scholars have argued
that bronze metallurgy was brought to
China from the west by nomads
• The era of the Shang and the Zhou
dynasties is generally known as the
Bronze Age of China, because bronze,
an alloy of copper and tin, used to
fashion weapons, parts of chariots, and
ritual vessels, played an important role in
the material culture of the time
• As early as 1500 BCE the early Shang Dynasty engaged in largescale production of bronze-ware vessels and weapons
• Production required a large labor force to handle mining, refining,
and transportation of copper, tin and lead ores. Shang court and
aristocrats required a huge amount of different bronze vessels for
various ceremonial purposes and events of religious divination
• Led to need for official managers who could provide oversight and
employment of laborers and skilled artisans and craftsmen
• With the increased amount of bronze available, army also became
better equipped with an assortment
of bronze weaponry, and bronze
was also able to furnish the fittings
of spoke-wheeled chariots that
came into widespread use by 1200
Uses and Problems of Bronze
Shang Writing
• Shang used an advanced writing system,
which they probably inherited from
earlier Chinese cultures
• Chinese have used same writing system for 3000 years
• Uses pictographic characters which stand for individual
words rather than sounds; characters based on recognizable
representations of everyday objects and ideas, like a table
and walking
• Later Chinese characters have two parts: one indicates the subject
of the word, the second the sound. The character for ‘home’ is a
pig under a roof
• Chinese Shang writing is the basis for most East Asian
writing systems, including Korean and Japanese
Oracle Bones
• Most Shang writing has been
found on oracle bones, animal
bone fragments and tortoise
shells
• King would write a question
on the bone or shell, and
priests would put a hot
poker inside, interpreting
the question by the way the
bone cracked
• Oracle bone divination was a
way of contacting ancestral
spirits, and was accompanied
by music and sacrifices
Shang writing on tortoise
shell – www.crystallinks.com
Shang Religion
• As the Shang state grew larger and
more complex, scribes were needed
to record administrative decisions and
tributes; scribes rose to powerful
positions of leadership
• King was on top of a hierarchical
social structure, but he answered to
supreme deity Di
• Under Di were gods who controlled
the rivers, mountains; and the dead
royal ancestors
• Hereditary Shang kings were thus
the sole link between the people
and the spirit world
Di
www.villaheugel.de
Shang
Culture
es.encarta.msn.com
Shang bronze
weapons and tools
• Below the king were members of his family, the aristocrats, court officials,
lords, the common people and finally the slaves, who were prisoners of war
• They were mainly used for the massive building projects of the king, and
often had their head and limbs severed before being buried in the buildings
• Members of the nobility also often accompanied the king to his death,
as well as several thousand slaves
• Peasants had no mobility and few rights - primitive farmers who lived in
poverty. This inequality was responsible for the next big political
revolution in Chinese history
• King’s power based on monopoly of
bronze weapons, chariots, religion
and bureaucracy
• Chariot used to secure victories
against enemies all over north
China
• Kings often buried in their sumptuous
chariots
Shang Kings
gallery.sjsu.edu/ sacrifice/Conclusion.html
Shang
Military
• Shang Dynasty had a very advanced
defense system with walled cities, bronze
weapons, chariots and an organized army
• Army almost constantly fighting to
subdue other clans and keep the
commoners under control
• Army composed of horse cavalries, horsedrawn chariots and foot soldiers that were
relatively untrained farmers who would
serve time in the army when the king need
people to take the brunt of an attack
• Some soldiers would wear heavy body
armor that consisted of bamboo and wood
padded with cloth
• Some of the weapons that the Shang
warriors used included bronze swords
and arrows, bows and spears
• A special group of Shang
citizens became skilled in
magic.
• They manipulated the two
opposed but complementary
forces of the world – the yang
and yin
• Yang was associated with the
sun and was a male, warm
active force
• Yin was associated with the
moon and was female, dark
and passive
• Later Chinese thinkers used
this concept to justify the
subordination of women
Magic
www.vanooyen.org
After the Break?
• We turn to Era III, and the
emergence of even larger and
more powerful Eurasian
Civilizations between 1000 BCE
and 300CE
• See you soon!