Social Studies for 8 th E.G.B.Teacher: Mauricio Torres

FIRST CIVILIZATIONS

CONCEPT: An advanced society

Elements: Organized government Urban development Resources

Large amount of resources bring: Surplus.

Specialized jobs Culture:

Arts, architecture, literature, media. Social Classes Religion

REVIEWING: CIVILIZATION

With the development of agriculture, humanity was now “overproducing” and thus creating “surplus”. With this, our ancestors could now focus

less on everyday survival.

To reach this level of productivity, humans settled areas around rivers and valleys. These areas were rich and fertile. They had water which is needed to

maintain life.

This is how traditional economies developed.

The civilizations that rose up in these areas are called River Valley Civilizations.

BEGINNINGS

RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

Çätalhöyük was a very large settlement from the Neolithic in what is modern day Turkey.

Archaeological finds show us that there was a canal that ran in between the area, probably used to keep the soil fertile for agriculture.

THE FIRST: ÇÄTALHÖYÜK

It was composed of domestic buildings.

Estimated population is 8,000.

Murals have been discovered, with many religious themes.

With no distinctive differences on each house, archaeologists believe there were no social classes.

The first benefits of agriculture are found, and even traded items from far away lands are here.

THE FIRST: ÇÄTALHÖYÜK

They were always in constant change. This change usually involved a shift in the environment.

Environments affect people’s lives: Civilizations have always relied on resources. If a resource is depleted, they will need to find a need source or

something to replace it. Cultural diffusion:

The spread of ideas, customs and technologies from one people to another.

This was usually a product of trade or migration. Expansion:

Villages expanded into city-states (a political unit that included a city and its surrounding lands and villages).

The next step, was creating empires, which is a group of territories or states controlled by one ruler.

WHY DID THESE CIVILIZATIONS DISAPPEAR?

Cause Neolithic people learn to farm >

They settle into communities > They settle in river valleys > New technologies improve farming > Food surplus leads to population growth > First cities are built.

Effects Complex forms of government

develop. Arts become more elaborate. Job specialization leads to classes. People invent writing. Early civilization create empires.

SUMMARY: CAUSE AND EFFECTS

With the building of Megaliths such as Göbekli Tepe, modern day Turkey, humans began to gather around permanent areas.

Göbekli Tepe was an hilltop sanctuary at the top of a mountain ridge.

The importance of the site is because its shows that hunter-gatherer societies could also erect monumental complexes.

Experts believed that cities developed earlier and that temples came after them.

FIRST CAME THE TEMPLE, THEN CAME THE CITY

We can now say that a civilization is a complex, highly organized

social order.

THEREFORE

Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History. (P. Hall, Ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, US: Pearson Education INC.

Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History (Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal, Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Catal Huyuk. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catal_Huyuk

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Gobelki Tepe. Retrieved May 14, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe

Images taken from Google.com

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