Life in Neolithic Communities - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Life in Neolithic CommunitiesSlide2

Why did the Agricultural Revolution Occur?

Obvious advantages

Climate change leads people to abandon hunting and gathering in favor of agriculture or pastoralism

Great Ice Age Ends:

Temperate lands become exceptionally warm between 6000BCE-2000BCE

Allows people to adopt agriculture

Shortages in Middle East caused dry spell; population growth also could be a factor for food production

Wild grains are not as accessible unlike in Australia, Americas, and Northern EurasiaSlide3

Disadvantages to Being a Farmer

Work longer and harder

Clear and cultivate land

Guide herds to pastures

Guard herds from predators

Diet is less varied and nutritious

Shorter in height;

Likely to die at an earlier age than Paleolithic

More exposed to DiseasesSlide4

Advantages to Being a Farmer

Less

likely to

starve

Can store food between harvests

Small surplus = higher survival rate during natural crisis (e.g. drought)

Organized around kinship

Marriage

Nuclear families start to emerge

How did Farmers displace Foragers?

Gradual infiltration; non-violent

A generation could have repopulated all of Europe between 6500-3500BCESlide5

Society (S)

Farming communities expand through kinship and marriage

Parents and children lived in separate households

Lineages (clans) – acted together to defend common interests/land.

Patrilineal- trace descent through the father

NOT PATRIARCHY (rule of men)

Matrilineal- trace descent through the mother

NOT MATRIARCHY (rule of women)

Most early farmers lived in small villages (these continue to grow)

Towns have grander dwellings and ceremonial buildings

A place to store food until next harvestSlide6

Society (S)

Farmer’s usually made most of their buildings, tools and containers during their spare time

In larger communities, craft specialists created buildings, tools, and containers.

Examples of Complex Neolithic Societies:

Jericho (West Bank of Jordan River)—located near a natural spring

Evidence of complex buildings and forts

Mud-brick dwellings

 rectangular buildings with plastered walls and floors

Catal

Huyuk

(Central Turkey)—32 acres

Mud-brick rooms with elaborate decorations

No defense wall

Entered homes through ladders (holes in the room)Slide7

Create a PERSIAN Chart for: Catal

Huyuk

Traded obsidian (volcanic rock)

Other crafts: pottery, woven baskets, cloths, leather, wood

House sizes varied

No evidence of social classes

No centralized political structure

Crops: emmer wheat, barley, vegetables

Animals: pigs, goat, sheep

Still ate wild foods (acorns, wild grains, game animals)Slide8

PERSIAN Chart Cont’d

Wall Paintings (similar to cave paintings) still reveal importance of hunting

Men are buried with weapons of war and hunting

For every 2 homes, there is a religious shrine

Horned bulls, female breasts, goddesses, leopards, handprints

More plump female deities (gods) > male deities

Rituals: burned legumes, grains, and meat for offerings

No evidence of live animal sacrifice

Metal-Working is popular during late Neolithic PeriodSlide9

PERSIAN Chart, Cont’d

Catal

Huyuk

used copper and lead—in other parts of the world, people started using silver and gold

Do not replace stone tools or weapons

Used for decoration or ceremony … does this mean status??

Created extra food for non-farmers (

preists

and artisans)Slide10

Religion (R)

Burial sites start to

emerge

E

arly

ancestor worship

Example: Ancient city of Jericho

Food Gatherers’ religion centered on sacred groves, springs, and animals.

Pastoralists religion: worship the Sky God

Controlled rain and its migration

Farmers religion: Earth Mother (female) – source of new lifeSlide11

Megaliths (A)

Big Stone

Discovered in Egyptian desert

Burial Chambers used during Neolithic Period for ancestors, calendar circle, and pairs of upright stones that frame the rising sun on the summer solstice.

Important: cycle of the seasons

Example: Stonehenge in England

~2000BCE

Communal burial chambersSlide12

Mesopotamia

Slide13

Use PERSIAN Chart to take notes!Slide14

Mesopotamia – Near Geographic

Land between the rivers

Located between the Euphrates and Tigris River

Originates in the mountains of eastern Anatolia (Modern Turkey) and empties itself to Persian Gulf

Current day Iraq

Even though Agriculture existed in the Fertile Crescent, it did not arrive in Mesopotamia until 5000 BCE

Farming depended on irrigation due to hot/dry climateSlide15
Slide16

Irrigation and Farming Practices (S, I, N)

Irrigation = artificial provision to crops

Why? Natural Springs could be sudden and violent and came at the wrong time of the year

Floods changed course of rivers

Learned to construct canals to carry water to their fields

Farmers are using ox-drawn plows to turn over the earth with a funnel attached to it—funnel measured amount of seeds into furrow

Barley = main crop

Date palms = food, fiver, wood

Garden plots = vegetables

Reed plants could be woven into mats, baskets, huts, boats, etc.

Fish-dietary staple

Herds of sheep

Goats = wool, milk, meat

Donkeys = originally domesticated in NE AfricaSlide17

Sumerians and Semites

Sumerians = people living in Mesopotamia at the “start” of the historical period

Written evidence exists

Created framework of civilization

Dominated Mesopotamia from 4

th

and 3

rd

Millennia

BCE

Semitic = family of related languages long spoken across parts of western Asia and Northern Africa.

Include: Hebrew, Aramaic,

Phoenician,

modern Arabic

Lived in peace with Sumerians—adopted culture and succeeded in their society

By 2000BCE became politically dominant

Akkadian (language) dominated Sumerian (even though culture was still Sumerian)

Other Groups:

Kassite

(mountain people), Elamites, Persians (Iran)Slide18

Cities, Kings, and Trade (S, P)

Villages and cities

Cities evolved from villages

City-State = a small independent state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding agricultural territory.

Farmers = food

Urban residents = specialized in crafts, pottery, art, clothing, weapon, tools, etc.

Other jobs = serving gods, administrative duties

Farming families banded together for protection

Worked together: shared tools, inter marriage

Trade

Specialists depended on surplus of food

Cities collected crop surpluses from villages and provided rural districts with military protection

Uncultivated land (e.g. desert) was a buffer zone

Disputes: land, water, moveable propertySlide19

Irrigation System (I, S)

Opened new land to agriculture by building and maintaining irrigation networks.

Canals brought water to fields from rivers

Dams raised water levels

Drainage ditches carried water away from flooded fields before it became harmful

Successful operation = large number of people to work together

Other examples of coordination:

Harvest

Sheep shearing

Fortification walls

Large public buildings

Warfare Slide20

Religious Leaders and Political Leaders (P, R)

Not much information about Political institutions

Evidence of assembly (sort of like a council)

Two centers of Power:

1. Temple

2. Palace of the King

Each city had 1+ centrally located temple that housed a cult of the deity (deities) who watched over their community

Cult = set of religious practices

Temples had a lot of land and stored gifts from worshippers

Leading priests played a big role in political and economic affairsSlide21

Religious and Political Leaders (P, R)

Lugal

(Big Man)—modern day version of a king

3rd millennium BCE

Sumerian cities

Theory: certain men chosen by the community to lead armies extended their authority during peacetime in key judicial and rituals functions

Temple location = heart of the city

Priests and temples = cool because of wealth and religious mystique

Gradually become dependent on the palace

King becomes earthly representative of the deity Slide22

Religious and Political Leaders (P, R)

Responsibilities of the king:

Upkeep and building of temples

Proper performance during ritual

Maintaining city walls and defenses

Extending/Repairing irrigation channels

Guarding property Rights

Warding off outside attackers

Establishing justiceSlide23

Early Regional Empires: Sargon

City-states start dominating others

Sargon = ruler of Akkad (city)

First to unite many cities under one kind and capital

Had 4 successors of a span of 120 years

Razed walls of conquered cities

Installed

governors

backed by garrisons of Akkadian troops

Gave land to soldiers to ensure loyalty

Cuneiform = system of writing in Sumerian to express their own language

Akkadan

state falls – we don’t know why (2230BCE)

Sumerian language and culture remain dominantSlide24
Slide25

Early Regional Empires: Third Dynasty of Ur

2112-2004 BCE

5 kings – flourished for a century through marriage and conquest

Were not as extensive as Akkadian

Had tight control by rapidly expanding bureaucracy

Obsessed with recordkeeping

Efficient central government:

Communication: messengers, nice road stations

Official calendar, standardized weights and measures

Uniform writing practices

Fall of Dynasty:

Nomad incursions + Elamite attack from the SE ended their reignSlide26

Early Regional Empires: Babylon

Founded by Semitic Amorites

Hammurabi

: launched military campaigns

Babylon becomes capital of “Old Babylonian” state

Stretches beyond Sumer and Akkad into north and northwest

Code of Hammurabi (18

th

c. BCE)Slide27

The Code of Hammurabi (P)

Inscribed on a polished black stone

pillar

Contained lengthy set of examples illustrating principals to use in

cases

Three social divisions:

1. the free, land owning class

2. the class of dependent farmers and artisans (primary work force)

2. slave class –employed in domestic service

Most offenses were met with severe physical punishments (even death

)

Mostly reserved for slave class

Penalties depended on which class you belonged toSlide28
Slide29

Trade (E)

Conquests = need for vital resources

Alternative to conquest = trade

Long-distance commerce flourished in most periods

Evidence of using boats in rivers and sea trade found in 5

th

millennium BCE

Wool, barley, vegetable oil were exported for:

wood from Lebanon and Syria

Silver from Anatolia

Gold from Egypt

Copper from E. Mediterranean and Oman

Tin from Afghanistan

Precious stone from Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan Slide30

Trade (E)

3

rd

millennium BCE:

Merchants are primarily employed by the palace or temple

**these are the only two places that can finance, organize, transport and protect their goods**

Merchants exchanged surplus food from estates of kings or temples for raw materials luxury goods

2

nd

millennium BCE:

More commerce came into the hands of independent merchants

Guilds appear = cooperative associations formed by merchants

Items are being bartered and value is being places to fixed weights and precious metal (silver) or measures of grain Slide31

Mesopotamian Society (S)

Social Classes:

Urban civilizations = social divisions

Factors that enabled people to be wealthy:

Rise of cities

Labor specialization

Centralized power

Use of written records

Temple leaders, kings = controlled large agricultural estates

Palace admin collected tax

Elite class = a lot of land

Soldiers and religious officers get land for their serviceSlide32

Slaves and Peasants (S)

Slavery is not prevalent or fundamental to economy at this point

Most slaves come from mountain tribes

Captured in war

Sold by slave traders

Couldn’t pay their debts

Not chained –but had a distinctive hairstyle

Compensated with food and oil in quantities proportional to their age, gender and tasks

Peasants lived in homes made of mud brick and reed (not durable)

Illiterate = no written record of their lives

Same thing can be said about life of women, most scribes were men

Few metal possessionsSlide33

Women (S)

After

a

griculture prevails H-G, women lose social standing and freedoms

Why were women valued in H-G societies?

Mesopotamia relied on heavy labor for food production (done by men)

More food = more kids

 women’s job/role

Since they were taking of kids all day, they didn’t have any specialized skills

Could own property, maintain control of dowry, engage in trade

Dowry: a sum of money given to the bride by her father to support her new home

Worked outside the home: textile factories, breweries, prostitutes, tavern keepers, bakers, fortune tellersSlide34

Women (S)

Non-elite women stayed at home helped with

Farming

planted vegetable gardens

cooked, cleaned

fetched water

tended the household fire

wove baskets, textiles

Standing women steadily declines in 2

nd

millennium BCE

Rise of urbanized middle class and increase in private wealth

Laws favored men and husband rights

Men could take a second wife if first did not produce children

usually monogamous relationships, this changes in later Mesopotamian society

Marriage alliances arranged between families made women instruments for increasing family wealth

“God’s Bride” –early example of nunsSlide35

Gods, Priests and Temples (R)

Gods

Sumerian gods embody religion

Semites equated their deities to that of the Sumerians

Same (or similar) rituals

Anthromorphic

–gods were like humans in form and conduct

Thought gods had bodies and senses

Sought nourishment from sacrifice

Enjoyed worship and obedience of humanity

Mesopotamians feared their gods—thought they were responsible for natural disasters and wanted to make them happySlide36

State Religion (R)

There is record of public/state-organized religion

Cities built temples and showed devotion to deities who protected the community

The temple precinct with a high wall contained the shrine of the chief deity

Had open air plazas, chapels for lesser gods, housing, dining facilities

Offices for priests and other staff

Ziggurat—

a massive pyramid stepped tower made of mud bricks

Function and symbol is unknown Slide37
Slide38

Temple (R)

god’s

residence

Cult statue inside = life force of deity

Priests knew and met every need of the divine image

Babylonian Creation Myth – humankind is created from the blood of a vanquished rebel deity in order to serve gods

Babylon = chief god =

MardukSlide39

Priests (R)

Priesthood was hereditary (passed down to sons)

Families lived on rations of food from deity’s

estates

Status for priests depended on where they were in the line—also in their specialized function

Highest priest = central acts in rituals

Other jobs for priests

M

ake music for the gods

E

xorcising spirits

Interpret dreams

Examined the organs of animals

(to

predict the

future)

Reading patterns in the rising

smokeSlide40

Religion of the Common People (R)

Do not know as

much: did

commoners have access to temple?

Amulets = small charm meant to protect the bearer from evil

Lots of evidence of amulets

= widespread

belief in magic

H

eadaches

were caused by demons

Giving gifts to the gods

gave

information about the future

Elite and commoners came together during festivals

New Year’s Festival – spring time in Babylon (new agricultural cycle); 12 daysSlide41

Technology and Science (T)

Technology

techne

= skill or specialized knowledge

Refers to tools and machines that humans use to manipulate the physical world

Wheeled carts and

sled like

platforms dragged by cattle were used to transport goods

In the south—boats and barges

dominated (near the river)

In the north—donkeys were chief pack animals for overland caravans before the

the

camel

came around

1200BCE

Mesopotamians imported metals—skilled in metallurgy

Metallurgy =

concerned with the properties of metals and their production and

purification

Bronze = refining ores containing copper and alloying them with arsenic or

tinSlide42

Technology and Science (T)

Bronze was poured into molds, producing tools and weapons

Sharper, likely

to break and easily fixed

Clay was used to make dishes and storage

vessels (4000 BCE)

Potter’s wheel: a revolving platform spun by hands or feet

Made it possible for rapid production of vessels with precise and complex shapes

Mud

Bricks = dried in the sun/baked in the oven (more durable)

Primary building material

Needed practical knowledge of engineering and architecture

RWC

:

reed mats that Mesopotamian builders laid between the mud-brick layers of ziggurats served the same stabilizing purpose as girders would today.Slide43

Writing (T, A)

Writing

is a broader category of technology

Arrived in Mesopotamia before 3300 BCE

Originated from a system of tokens used to keep track of property (sheep, cattle, cart wheels)

People couldn’t keep track as wealth accumulated and commercial transactions increased

Eventually they just used pictures—which were written symbols

Each symbol represented an object and could also stand for the sound of the word for that object if the sound was part of a longer wordSlide44

Writing (T, A)

Pressing the point of a sharpened reed into a moist clay tablet

Cuneiform (wedge-shaped)

Years of training and

practice

Old

Babylonian period—more people can read and write due to growth of private

commerc

Writing

= primary proof of legal actions

Texts were written about political, literary, religious and scientific topic

Cuneiform = not a language; form of writing

Developed for Sumerian

language and adaptedSlide45

Warfare (P)

Nonprofessional militias of able-bodied men

Powerful states

built

up armies of well trained, well-paid, full time soldiers.

Early 2

nd

millennium BCE horses appeared in W. Asia

Horse-drawn chariot is popular

C

hariots with a driver and archer could easily over power enemiesSlide46

Math and Science

Used a base-60 number system

This is origin of the seconds and minutes we use today

Advances in the mathematics and careful observation of the skies made the Mesopotamians sophisticated astronomers.