Neolithic Characteristics of Civilization

The Neolithic Revolution & Early Civilizations

Let's review what we learned together during our 1st class.

Multiple Choice

What is the main reason the Neolithic Revolution is considered a turning point in world history?

• Fire was used as a source of energy for the first time.

• Spoken language was used to improve communication.

• Domestication of animals and cultivation of crops led to settled communities.

• Stone tools and weapons were first developed.

Brief Timeline of Humanity

Multiple Choice

The farming communities that grew into cities were able to support their growing populations because they had - 

• occasional food shortages and easy access to hunting. 

• high crop yields that produced a food surplus. 

• strong religious beliefs to unite the people.

• strong trade networks. 

Multiple Select

Which 2 challenges would growing communities have faced during the Neolithic Revolution as they settled into permanent homes?

• Conflict between growing groups citizens & crime within growing city.

• Poor protection from animal predators.

• Improved access to food & permanent housing.

• Sanitation & health problems from people living, eating, using the restroom in a shared space.

Multiple Choice

Based on the map, which geographic feature most influenced where the first civilizations developed?

• rivers

• forests

• ocean access

• mountain ranges

Open Ended

Name 1-2 things that rivers would provide for growing cities.

Fill in the Blanks

Open Ended

What do you think of when hear the word "civilization?"

Share 2-3 things that come to mind.

civ·i·li·za·tion

​the stage of human social and cultural

development and organization

that is considered most advanced

Poll

Do you think that ancient civilizations were more advanced than the nomadic hunter-gatherers?  Are people alive today more advanced than the nomadic hunter-gatherers were?

• Yes. 

• No.

Open Ended

What kinds of things would an archaeologist look for in order to identify a "civilization?"

Name 1-2 things you think ALL "civilizations" have in common.

​Margaret Mead on Civilization

• ​Mead was a cultural anthropologist prominent during the 1960s & 1970s

• she studied the peoples of Oceania

• developed the theory of imprinting, the idea that children learn by watching adult behavior

​A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead, “What is the earliest sign of civilization?”

• The student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, or maybe a weapon. Margaret Mead thought for a moment, then she said, “A healed femur.”

• A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal.

• A healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured person, did their hunting and gathering, stayed with them, and offered physical protection and human companionship until the injury could mend.

• "Where the law of the jungle — the survival of the fittest — rules, no healed femurs are found. The first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur.”