Locating world history in the environment and time

Foundations: c. 8000 B.C.E.–600 C.E.

Major Developments

1. Locating world history in the environment and time
   1. Environment
      1. Geography and climate: Interaction of geography and climate with the development of human society
         1. Five Themes of Geography – consider these
            1. Relative location – location compared to others
            2. Physical characteristics – climate, vegetation and human characteristics
            3. Human/environment interaction – how do humans interact/alter environ
               1. Leads to change
            4. Movement – peoples, goods, ideas among/between groups
            5. Regions – cultural/physical characteristics in common with surrounding areas
         2. E. Africa first people – 750,000 years ago started to move
            1. moving in search of food
         3. Role of Climate – End of Ice Age 12000 BCE – large areas of N. America, Europe, Asia became habitable – big game hunters already migrated
            1. Geographical changes - 3000 BCE Green Sahara began to dry up, seeds to forests – N. America
            2. Effect on humans – nomadic hunters didn’t move so much
               1. Settle near abundant plant life – beginning of civilization
               2. Sedentary life w/ dependable food supply
            3. milder conditions, warmer temperatures, higher ocean levels
      2. Demography: Major population changes resulting from human and environmental factors
         1. 2 million people during Ice Age – allowed for growth
            1. big game gone
            2. more usable land available
         2. 50-100 million by 1000 CE
         3. Regional changes altered skin color, race type, quantity of body hair
      3. Time
         1. Periodization in early human history
            1. Early Hominids – humans 3.5 million years ago
               1. Australopithecus – Lucy – found in Africa
                  1. Bipedalism
                  2. sizable brain
                  3. Larynx – voice box
               2. 3 million – homo habilis – handy human – crude stone tools
               3. 1 million - homo erectus – upright human
                  1. First to migrate
                  2. Clothed selves – skins/furs
               4. 100,000 to 250,000 – homo sapiens – wise human
                  1. social groups
                  2. permanent, semi-permanent buildings
               5. 100,000 to 200,000 – homo sapiens, sapiens
                  1. Out of Africa – started in Africa and migrated
                  2. Multiregional thesis – all developed independently
               6. Stone Age – First period of prehistory - Tool use separates hominids from ancestors
                  1. Paleolithic – Old Stone Age – 10,000 to 2.5 million years ago
                     1. Crude tools – clubs, axes, bones for shelter, protection, food, cloth
                     2. Natural shelters – cave/canyons
                        1. Began tentlike structures/huts
                        2. Wooden/stone structures by Mesolithic
                     3. 1 million years ago – fire
                     4. Warfare – rocks, clubs – food preparation tools used for combat
                        1. Weapons found in bones
                     5. Clothes from hides/furs and later plant fibers
                        1. Dying cloth for color
                     6. Families, clans, tribes
                        1. Select sexual partners – not seasonal
                        2. Long term sexual bonds – emotions + child rearing
                        3. Family units created clans
                  2. Neolithic – New Stone Age – 5,000-10,000 years ago
         2. Nature and causes of changes associated with the time span
            1. Change due to Great Ice Age – Pleistocene Ice Age
         3. Continuities and breaks within the time span
            1. Mesolithic – Middle Stone Age – 10,000-12,000 years ago – transition
               1. Difficult to generalize
                  1. Lack of information
                  2. Regions developed at different times
      4. Diverse Interpretations
         1. What are the issues involved in using "civilization" as an organizing principle in world history?
            1. Westerncentric meaning
               1. food producing w/ surplus
               2. increase in population
               3. specialization of labor
               4. social hierarchy
               5. growth of trade
               6. centralization of religious/political authority
               7. monumental buildings
               8. written records
               9. technical innovation – the arts
            2. World historians – more broad view – importance of human creativity
               1. Interaction of human beings in creative manner
               2. Cultural and material build
            3. What is a civilization
               1. Food surplus
               2. Advanced cities
               3. Advanced technology
               4. Skilled workers
               5. Complex institutions – government, religion
               6. System of writing/record keeping
         2. What is the most common source of change: connection or diffusion versus independent invention?
            1. Connection/diffusion – due to interaction vs. invented something new or used it in a new way
               1. Diffusion – ironwork – Assyrians to Kushites
               2. Invention – Nok people of Nigeria – smelting iron
            2. Farming of certain crops – diffusion – Middle East > India > Europe > Nile
               1. Others independent – sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, China, Americas
            3. After emergence, diffusion takes over – exchange of techniques, seeds, crops