AN01b3_Beginnings of Civilization- Indus Valley (Ch.02)

Timeline: 3rd Millennium – 2nd Millennium BCE (~2300 – 1750 BCE)
FS: Evidence of Planned Cities found on the Indus River

Main Idea
Of the great river valley civilizations from antiquity, the Indus Valley people (Harappans) may represent the most prosperous and developed. If we accept the remains of cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro as examples of what these people could do, then they may have reached a level of development that neither Mesopotamia nor ancient Egypt witnessed.

The geologic record shows that the rise and fall of the civilization was influenced by the environment, as has its cultural heritage. Topographic features that might usually be viewed as obstacles, suggest an isolated region. Yet, history presents a long list of invaders that worked their way through the Indus valley. If you add the impact of the Monsoons, you are left with many challenges for a society to address.

I. Achievements

A. Structured, Well-Planned Cities

1. Grid layout of streets
2. Multi-storied structures constructed of uniformly-shaped (baked) brick.
3. Municipal water management: sewage, indoor pipes.

B. Environmental Interaction

1. Earthen works (levees, walls) to control river water: flood control, irrigation.
2. River aided transportation, commerce, and provided raw materials.

II. Challenges

A. Environment

1. Topographic obstacles may have impeded expansion and travel, though evidence of extensive communications with areas as distant as Mesopotamia abound. Ex.: Thar Desert in the Northwest.
2. Mountains from the Northwest to the Northeast.
3. Geologically active area. River course may have reversed according to the archaeological record due to a massive earthquake.
4. Monsoon winds reverse direction from Winter to Summer. Alternating Dry – Wet seasons with unpredictable severity.

B. Foreign Invaders
Despite the mountainous terrain in the northwest, the Indian subcontinent has had a history full of foreigners entering through this sector.

Facilitating that advance are mountain passes. These passes are gaps that act as corridors within the mountain range. One well-known pass is called the “Khyber Pass”.

Then, as now, these passes have permitted mountain herders and armies to move between the Asian continent and the Indian subcontinent.

The list of foreign invaders of the Indian subcontinent reads like a list of “Who’s Who of the Ancient World”. Among these, we would include:

1. Aryans: A nomadic Indo-European language group migrated into this area ~1500 BCE. Historians have revealed that the earliest elements of the Hindu faith were contributed by this group. Other findings suggest they lacked a written language and introduced wartime machines (ie. Chariot) to the region.
2. Persians: The armies of Darius I enter the subcontinent in the 6th C. BCE. They remain in control of the northwest sector for ~200 years.
3. Macedonians: In the late 4th C. BCE, the combined Macedonian-Greek armies of Alexander the Great enter the subcontinent. Unlike the Persians, who Alexander conquers, the Macedonians move further East within the Indo-Gangetic plain. ‘Western’ contact with peoples of the northern plain contributes to the rise of an Indian empire that succeeds the Macedonians after Alexander’s death.

C. Where to Escape to?
The archaeological record indicates that the Indus Valley people abandoned their cities. Where could they have gone as the challenges mounted? (Assuming, of course, that they simply did not disappear)

Resources
– Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 6 Dec. 07
– World History: Patterns of Interaction
– Deciphering the Indus Language.
– Collapse of the Indus Valley Civilizations Explained May 2012
– Pr01b3

Pu01a_Peopling of the World- Human Origins

Pu01a_Peopling of the World- Human Origins

Pu01a_Peopling Of The World- Human Origins

Latitude

2. This term was used in the past to describe early humans and their ancient ape ancestors exhibiting the attribute of bipedalism. Today, this term has been replaced with another when talking about humans and their non-ape ancestors. (Archaeological Inst. of America)
3. Famous family of archaeologists and anthropologists (20th C.- East Africa). Credited with fossil discoveries adding to our understanding of Man’s evolutionary development.
7. A significant change in human lifestyle that witnessed the domestication of plants and animals. Human society increasingly became sedentary. (2 words)
10. The remains or impression of a once-living organism preserved in rock or petrified (mineralized form).
11. A technologically significant era when human societies developed furnaces to fuse two metals and produce an alloy. (2 words)
12. The study of material remains (as fossil relics, artifacts, and monuments) from past plant/ animal life as well as human life and activities.
14. The time period within which archaic stone tools were developed. (2 words)
16. A term used to describe the relative thickness of fossil bones.
18. A syllabic written language first developed in the area known as Mesopotamia and ranks as one of the oldest writing forms.
19. The time period within which ‘newer’ stone tools were developed. (2 words)
21. A lifestyle whereby the majority of calories consumed by a group is determined by the food which they actively search for. Such a lifestyle is marked by frequent movement of the group. (2 words)
22. This example of technology could help explain the growing dominance of Homo Sapiens over other pre-human competitors as well as larger animals.
23. A later stage of pre-human evolutionary development is represented by this creature. The fossil record of this hominin shows the development of a larger skull and use of technology. Evidence shows it migrated out of Africa to the colder latitudes of Europe and Asia, using fire for warmth, protection, and cooking food. (2 Words)
24. The lifestyle, traditions, and other norms people develop over time as an adaptation to conditions within which they live.

Longitude

1. Stands and travels on two feet.
4. The study of human beings and their ancestors. Physical characteristics, culture, environmental interaction & social relations as well.
5. This pre-human actually co-existed with modern Man, but only in areas of Europe and Central Asia- according to the fossil record. At one point, it was believed to have been in our human evolutionary path. It’s former designation as ‘Homo Sapien’ was dropped and replaced by this name. Similarity with modern humans included: similar anatomy, rudimentary language, technology use, development of culture. (2 words)
6. One of three areas within which evolutionary changes were evident between major pre-human stages. This area refers to internal and external structural appearance of the body.
8. The primate species to which modern humans belong. Literally, “Thinking Man.” (2 words)
9. (Two words) The process by which individual organisms with favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those with unfavorable traits.
13. This term reflects an attribute of humans and their pre-human ancestors usually identified by bipedal adaptations. They are represented today by one species, Homo sapiens. the term excludes apes.
15. There is a debate that the fossil evidence of this creature can either support the existence of a separate species of pre-human (known as “Skillful Man), or a sub-species of an already identified creature. (2 words)
17. An accepted assumption (supposition) for the purposes of explaining a phenomena. The assumption is based on data that indicates that the supposition may be ‘fact’. The assumption falls short of being a fact (or Law) because the data can be incomplete, inconclusive, or contradictory to existing facts or suppositions.
20. This climatic change ~40,000 BP may have given modern Man (Homo Sapien) an advantage over the last pre-human species. (2 words)

Pu00 (Puzzle of Unit00 Vocabulary): The Study of History

Pu00 (Puzzle Unit00 Vocabulary): The Study of History

Pu00_The Study of History

East-West
2. (0 degrees Longitude) An imaginary line drawn on maps indicating the start and finish of the division of the Earth into ‘Time’ segments.
4. A science whose focus is to understand the forces which govern human commercial activity.
7. A tradition that carries data from generation to generation. An excellent source of cultural values, but may be plagued with errors due to memory lapses or the death of key individuals
9. A systemic series of steps used to investigate a particular area of study.
11. A designation marking the elapsed time since the journey of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) from Mecca to Madinah.
13. A social phenomena whereby two or more cultures come into contact and form a hybrid culture. (2 words)
14. Item that society has accepted as having value of its own accord and willing to accept it in exchange for a Good/ Service.
17. The Study of the Earth’s physical features and its influence on human life/ social development.
18. Exchanging a Good/ service for a Good/ service.
19. Literary, oral, and physical material used to support arguments or conclusions.
22. A radioactive isotope used to determine the age of organic materials.

North-South
1. An area marked by the shared cultural attributes of the people living there.
3. A designation marking the time (period) prior to the birth of Jesus.
5. The study of time.
6. The study of the relationship between humans and the world they live in.
8. A phase, in historical methodology, that attempts to look at gathered data for the purpose of eliminating useless or incorrect information while retaining and using accurate or useful data.
10. (O degrees Latitude) An imaginary line drawn on maps indicating the midpoint of the Earth’s tropical zone.
11. A designation marking the elapsed time since the birth of Jesus.
12. The study of History via the written word.
13. Average weather conditions over an extended period.
15. An item whose value is determined by the government that issues it. It has no inherent value outside that which the government applies to it.
16. Where buying and selling occurs.
17. The practical application of science.
20. When something occurred. Where it occurred. Circumstance under-which it occurred.
21. A designation marking the time prior to the birth of Jesus. Religious reference, however, is removed to advance a secular method of marking the passage of time.

AN01a3b_Ch01: Civilization and the Development of Writing- The Historic Period.

AN01a3b_Ch01: Civilization and the Development of Writing- The Historic Period.

Timeline: ~10000 BP – 2200 BP (Neolithic Age to Iron Age)
FS: How does writing reflect the needs and diversity of Humanity?

Main Idea
The Neolithic Age witnessed a transformation of Human communal living. Small, wandering bands began to take advantage of the knowledge and climate that encouraged a sedentary life over a nomadic one. As more and more decided to cast their fortunes into a common cause for survival, their agricultural output made village life possible. As the fledgling village communities grew, the resulting complexity of living together presented challenges. Among these was the need to record information for posterity as well for the use of others that were somewhere else.

I. Vocabulary (Refer to Crossword Puzzle)

II. Attributes of a Civilized Society
These sectors are generally identified as:
A. Presence of a Government (Institutions, Bureaucracies, etc.)
A system has to be devised to efficiently organize the community to successfully meet challenges to the common good.

Categories would include, among others, … (1)
1. Monarchy
2. Oligarchy
3. Autocracy
4. Republic

Table 1: Communal Projects

B. Urbanization

The growth of the community (soon to be a ‘society’) is expected to accelerate as learners to meet and overcome challenges. The growth will come from increasing births and migration. Once the community exceeds the norms of a village, it enters into the category of Town/ City.
1. Presence of Cities/ Towns
2. Increasing Population Density (Rising # of people per unit of land)

C. Presence of Communication System

What constitutes a ‘communication system’ can be quite diverse. It would be safe to say that any civilization would offer examples that reflect the diversity.

Examples would include…
1. Road Network (Travel, Transport)
2. Oral Data Transmission (Oral Tradition)
3. Literary Data Recording (Literary Tradition)
4. River Network (Travel, Transport)

D. Commercial Activity

Commercial activity is one of those actions that Humans must have participated in from the very beginning. In it’s simplest form, commercial activity permits Humans to acquire the things they need, from others, that they could not acquire on their own.

1. Presence of Markets
2. Gathering Resources
3. Create/ develop a Medium Of Exchange
4. Build and Maintain Ports (transport, distribution)

E. Social Striation (hierarchies based on specialization)

In Plato’s Republic, the philosopher describes the various developmental stages a community of people pass through before a polis is reached. One of those stages is when a community of people forms to meet common challenges.

1. Evidence of Social Striation
2. Specialization of community roles.
3. Diversification of jobs
4. Hierarchies: Classes, Castes, Groups, etc.

III. Writing and Civilized Society

Increasing complexity makes the success of any developing community problematical. ‘Writing’ expanded the depth and breadth of the planning that’s necessary for civilization-building.

Every segment of a fully developed civilization has writing as a essential data collection and transmission tool. We would find it strange indeed if we participate in our daily activities and NOT encounter written language.

IV. Developmental Trends in Writing

Table 2: Suggestion for the evolution of phonetic letters. Another variation is explained in the BBC video “The story of how we got our alphabets.” (2)

Written language attempts to parallel oral language. This could be phonetically based where the written form attempts to reproduce the ‘sound’ of the spoken language. On the other hand, it could be ideographically based where the written form attempts to reproduce the ‘thought, idea or sentiment’ of the spoken language.

A. Case Study: Chinese as an Ideographic Language

Chinese Ideogram: Tree/ Wood

 

Chinese Ideogram: Forest

Given the difficulty of accurately isolating an ‘idea’ or ‘thought’ in a character, the interpretation and pronunciation of the character can vary somewhat.

B. Case Study: Ancient Egyptian as a Phonetic Language

 

Anc. Egyptian Phonetic Alphabet

Table 3: This is a clearer example of the ancient Egyptian phonetic alphabet. (3)
A less-attractive example is offered by NOVA’s Pyramid website. (cited below)

V. Myths
Among the earliest orally transmitted data are Myths. Since myths were already ancient by the times civilizations developed, they carried great cultural importance. That importance earmarked myths as prime candidates for recording when writing became feasible. In written form, myths acquired immortality and represent some of the oldest and most sacred of religious texts.

The last table, Table 4, provides a peak into the media and writing tools that written languages require to meet the challenges of developing civilizations.

 

Table 4: Writing Media and Implements.

Resources
– Pr01a3b Presentation and text-based narration.

– Chinese Gov’t efforts to change language (2 May 09) http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/chinese-language-ever-evolving/?th&emc=th
– Update: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/nyregion/22chinese.html
– Why are these 32 symbols found in ancient caves all over Europe? http://www.ted.com/talks/genevieve_von_petzinger_why_are_these_32_symbols_found_in_ancient_caves_all_over_europe
– Pyramids. PBS’ NOVA. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/hieroglyph/hieroglyph4.html (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/hieroglyph/hieroglyph4.html) Accessed 13 August 2016.

-Talking Leaves and Lightning Paper. Lexicon Valley podcastEpisode #22. Development of the Cherokee written language. http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2012/12/lexicon_valley_on_sequoyah_a_native_american_who_invented_an_alphabet_for.html

 

AN01a2_Ch.01: Humans Attempt to Control Nature

AN01a2_ Ch01: Humans Attempt to Control Nature

Timeline: ~10000 BP – 5500 BP (Neolithic Age)
FQ: How could the Neolithic Revolution change the amount of time people spend doing things?

Main Idea
Culture is a trait peculiar to humans. The archaeological record shows that pre-humans lived an existence where instinct, rather than culture, may have dominated daily routines. However, Homo Neanderthalensis exhibited traces of a developing cultural awareness in their burial sites that may reflect the early stages of cultural development in Homo Sapiens.

Initially, natural phenomena, like death, were inexplicable in a pre-scientific society. Over time, many other experiences, formerly unexplainable, came to be explained via the development of myths. The myths, along with rituals developed in tandem.

The revolution in food production establishes a foundation for early river valley civilizations. This ‘change’ is comprised of many other ‘small’ changes involving technology, animal domestication and transforming social roles. Among some of the smaller changes we would include: New and better stone tools, Use and improvement of metal tools, Harnessing animal power, and Increasing social complexity.

I. Vocabulary (Refer to Crossword Puzzle Pu01a2)

Neolithic Revolution
The rapid advancement in the domestication and cultivation of crop plants during the Neolithic period. In addition, many animals were similarly domesticated at this time. Such advancements contributed to the abandonment of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle for an agrarian (sedentary) lifestyle.

II. Migrations from Africa and Development of Culture

Continental Migration Map of Early Man

A. Enroute to East Asia, Pre-Humans and Humans spread into Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia. (1) (2)
B. By ~50,000 BP, the Bering Straits is bridged by land exposed by lower global water levels (the polar ice caps fixed a greater volume of water than at the present.) Anatomically modern humans cross the straits into the Western hemisphere. (Homo Neanderthalensis became extinct in Asia by 50k BP, in Europe by ~40k BP) (3)
C. Glacial corridors allow human migration southward into the South American continent. (4)

III. Climate Change and New Tools Contribute to a Farming Lifestyle
A. Warmer + Drier = increased world food supply (Ice Age ends 18,000 BP + glaciers begin receding). Increased food supply as grasses populate open areas revealed by the retreating ice sheets. Three weeks of labor cultivating grains and other domesticated crops meets the calorie needs for one year.

B. Fertile Crescent: Nile, Tigris-Euphrates Rivers=> Wheat, Barley, Rye (~9000 BP)
– China: Huang He River=> millet (~8000 BP)
– Central Mexican Valley=> Corn (~9000 BP)
– Andes=> Potatoes (~7000 BP)
C. Population pressures [Increased food supply in environment = more people]
D. Domestication of animals [horses, dogs, sheep, goats, pigs- meat, milk, wool]

Global Crop Domestication Map

IV. The Transformation of Human Communities- The Revolution
The agricultural revolution had such a profound impact on society that many people call this era the “dawn of civilization.” During the same period that the plow was invented, the wheel, writing, and numbers were also invented. During this period, stratification became a major feature of social life. The elite gained control of surplus resources and defended their position with arms. This centralization of power and resources eventually led to the development of the state. As the rich and powerful developed statehood, they often used it to further consolidate their gains. These ‘revolutionary’ changes have left traces in the ruins of very early permanent settlements- Jericho and Catal Huyuk (8,000 – 10,000 BP).

V. Impact of the Neolithic Age
This age marked a ‘revolution’ in agriculture (which replaced hunter-gathering as the dominant source of calories) and culture. Many societal roles, especially those that would appear in the civilized societies of the ancient river valley peoples, have their origins in the developing agricultural communities of the Neolithic age. Men, for example, turn from ‘hunter’ to ‘farmer’. Women, who were previously responsible for a major portion of the family’s caloric intake as ‘gatherers’, are now increasingly relegated to duties in a confined area (home, garden, etc.). The pivotally important role of providing sustenance to the family has shifted toward the Man and away from the Woman. This shift in roles has many implications on other roles men and women fill in the developing ‘sedentary’ lives of agricultural communities.

Resources
– What Makes a Hero? A TED Ed lesson
– World History: Patterns of Interaction
– Pu01a
– Pr01a2

 

AN01a_Ch01: Beginning of Civilization- The Peopling of the World (Human Origins)

AN01a_Ch01: Beginning of Civilization- The Peopling of the World (Human Origins)

Timeline: Prehistory – ~2500 BCE
FQ: How did we become Human (Homo Sapien)?

Main Idea
Archaeological and anthropological investigations throughout the 20th C. have contributed to the creation of a prehistoric scenario in which modern man is the product of a multi-millennial evolutionary process. The fossil record has surrendered physical evidence of major stages in the development of modern man.

However, there are other fields that provide a story of Man’s origins that does not exclusively rely on the evidence gathered by archaeologists, anthropologists, and others. For thousands of years, myths have been passed from generation to generation that explain ‘How’ and ‘Why’ humans exist as well as the divine that drives ‘creation’.

I. Vocabulary (refer to Crossword Puzzle Pu01a)
Leakey Family
Famous family of archaeologists and anthropologists (20th C.- East Africa). Credited with fossil discoveries adding to our knowledge Man’s evolutionary development. (1)

II. Theory of Human Evolution
Humans, like other creatures in nature, evolved from simpler into more complex organisms over geologic time. Those creatures best suited (adapted) to the environment were favored via Natural Selection.

III. Physical Evidence (From the Fossil Record at Excavation sites)
A. Evolutionary Bond between Modern Man & Modern Apes.
1. Use of Technology
2. Social + Physical Similarities
3. Genetic Composition.

B. Major Evolutionary Stages (2)
1. Australopithecus afarensis (3.6 mil. BP, ‘Lucy’)
2. Homo Habilis (2.5 mil. BP, Skillful Man)
3. Homo Erectus (1.6 mill. BP, Erect Man) (3)
4. Homo Neanderthalensis ( ~400k BP to ~40k BP, Neanderthal Man) (4)
5. Homo Sapien (~200k BP, Thinking Man) (5)

C. Significant Anatomical Changes in Evolutionary Stages

Table_Evolutionary Change

D. What happened to these Pre-Humans? (These remain theories only)
1. Lost out to a better adapted competitor

a. Environmental Pressures: The Ice Age (Glacial Period) ~50,000 BP – ~18,000 BP. (6)
The advancing ice sheets (glaciers) alter the Earth’s landscape and reflect the cooling of the planet’s atmosphere. Animal life is abundant but plant life in the higher latitudes is vastly diminished. Surely, hominids that have inhabited the higher latitudes, since Homo Erectus ventured out of the African continent, would be expending great energy to survive in these conditions. This and previous periods of glaciation may have contributed to the demise of earlier hominids via natural selection.

b. Technology: The development of tools like the Atlatl may have given Homo Sapien an advantage over Homo Neanderthalensis in the ‘game’ of survival.

2. Hybridization: Interbreeding among Homo Sapiens and Homo Neanderthalensis.

IV. Creation Myths
A. Pagan
1. Mesopotamian (Epic of Gilgamesh, Sumer)
2. Ancient Egypt (Atum the Creator)
3. Greek and Roman (Zeus imposes order on chaos./ Cura’s creation of Man from clay.) (7)
B. Judaeo-Christian-Islamic
1. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
2. Noah’s floods

Resources
– Pu01a
– Article: ‘Siberian Fossils were Neanderthal’s Eastern Cousins’
– PBS: NOVA
– Vestigial Structures. A TED Ed lesson at http://ed.ted.com/featured/ypjumUC3
– Exploration, a podcast hosted by Dr. Michio Kaku and accessed on Stitcher Smart Radio. Interview of Dr.s Ettelman and Calvin on the topic of the Human Brain, accessed Oct. 2011. Interview of Dr. Spencer Wells on the origins of the human species, accessed 22 April 2012.
– Archaeological Institute of America (website)
– Additional reading on subject of Pre-humans
– Article: All Non-Africans Part Neanderthal, Genetics Confirm.
– Assorted myths from Hebrew, Hindu, and Native American cultures.
– Slide Presentation (Pr01a) from course website.

Footnotes
(1) http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/mythology.html (http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/mythology.html) Oct. 2011
(2) Parenthetical dates appearing here indicates approximate time of appearance in the fossil record.
(3) Tamed fire and first to leave the African continent.
(4) Lived during the Ice Age. Archaeological sites show evidence of ritual burials. Often called ‘Neanderthal’ referring to the Neander valley where the first fossils were found. Though some textbooks may still refers to the hominid as “Homo Sapien” , the science community has dropped the ‘Sapien’ suffix and substituted “Neanderthalensis”. This is in light of evidence indicating it didn’t contribute to human evolution. African fossils are lacking and mtDNA analysis suggest no genetic lineage to modern humans.
(5) Modern Man, often called Cro-Magnon in reference to the nearby town where the first fossils were first found, may have come in contact & competed with Homo Neanderthalensis. More recent (than that in your textbook) research grants the Homo Sapien designation to modern man. The Homo Sapien-Sapien designation is no longer accepted.
(6) http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nerc130k.html (http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nerc130k.html)
(7) Every myth, Greek or otherwise, that has ever been told or written, varies in the telling. The basic themes are repeated in many of them, but details, even story lines will differ considerably, from village to village, eon to eon. When one understands that the myths have been told for many centuries before being written down, which first occurred about 800 BCE, one can relish the differences in the tellings and enjoy the Greek’s brilliant and artful imagination throughout the ages. http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/ greekcreationmyths.html

A01a_Beginnings of Civilization- Peopling of the World (Prehistory – 2500 BCE)

A01a_Chapter 01: Beginnings of Civilization- Peopling of the World (Prehistory – 2500 BCE)

Purpose
Along with class lessons and activities, this assignment will help us address this essential question: Where did early human beings originate and what were some of their technological and artistic achievements?

The topics discussed in this unit will wind and weave through the following historical themes:

INTERACTION WITH ENVIRONMENT
As early humans spread throughout the world, they adapted to each environment they encountered. As time progressed, they learned to use natural resources.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The earliest peoples came up with new ideas and inventions in order to survive. As settlements started and expanded, new technologies developed to control the environment.

ECONOMICS
Pre- humans, and their modern human descendants, hunted animals and gathered wild plant foods for thousands of years. Then, about 10,000 years ago, they learned to tame animals and plant crops. Gradually, more complex economies would develop.

Given
Use the World History: Patterns of Interaction (POI) textbook to complete the assignment below.

Task

We will be using a Cornell Notes Template to gather notes from assigned readings. If you would like a quick introduction to the method, please read ‘Student Note-Taking’ under the ‘Admin’ tab in the upper-left menu bar.

The notes you compile (as Cornell Notes) from your reading will augment your class notes and the Auxiliary Notes provided by Mr.V. You are being provided with a list of ‘Key’ vocabulary from each section of the chapter to help you focus and compile notes efficiently. Your notes should focus on the historical significance of the vocabulary term.

These notes (as Cornell Notes) are your “Homework” assignments. They must be uploaded as a PDF file to the ‘Assignments’ folder in our shared Dropbox folder. The files are due in Dropbox before the class period on the due date indicated in the course calendar.

The vocabulary listed below are divided into their respective sections. Your notes (as Cornell Notes) should be compiled for each section. Example: Your first reading assignment will cover A01a Section01. We label the file containing this first assignment A01aS01 (Assignment Unit01, a = chapter 1, Section01). Therefore, for this first chapter, you have three separate assignments to submit into your Dropbox ‘Assignments’ folder as Cornell Notes.

Label each submitted file in the format 2-digit Pd#_LastNameFirstName-A01S# (Example: 09_SmithJohn-A01aS01). In this example 9th period student, John Smith, submitted his notes for A01aS01. Remember, when labeling files, an ‘O’ is NOT a Zero ‘0’. ‘O’ is a letter and Zero ‘0’ is a number.

When submitting this assignment as a digital file, be sure to follow these steps:
-If you hand-wrote the assignment, scan the paper and convert to a digital file (PDF).
-If you are typing, convert the file into a PDF file using the same program you typed with.

Task
A01a Section 01: Human Origins in Africa Read pages 5 – 11. On page 11…
Terms, Names, Places
– Culture
– Hominid
– Paleolithic Age
– Neolithic Age
– Homo sapiens

A01a Section 02: Humans Try To Control Nature Read pages 14 – 18. On page 18…
Terms, Names, Places
– Nomad
– Hunter-gatherer
– Neolithic Revolution
– Domestication

A01a Section 03: Civilization Read pages 19 – 23. On page 23…
Terms, Names, Places
– Civilization
– Specialization
– Artisan
– Institution
– Scribe
– Cuneiform
– Bronze Age

Creaky joints, sick leave, endless paperwork: Ancient Egyptian health care sounds surprisingly familiar.| Washington Post

Creaky joints, sick leave, endless paperwork: Ancient Egyptian health care sounds surprisingly familiar.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/11/22/creaky-joints-sick-leave-endless-paperwork-ancient-egyptian-health-care-sounds-surprisingly-familiar/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost

Stanford scholar Anne Austin examines the skeletal remains of ancient Egyptians found in the burial sites of Deir el-Medina. (Courtesy of Anne Austin)

When archaeologist Anne Austin began to explore an ancient Egyptian village where residents were beneficiaries of what she calls “the world’s first documented health-care plan,” she was immediately struck by one thing in particular.

“There was definitely a lot of paperwork we still don’t understand the purpose of, or why it has the level of detail that it does,” Austin told The Post, noting that exacting documentation of worker sick days, for example, is not always reflected by a deduction in their pay. “It seems like they were documenting things because they had to record them, but not necessarily because they planned to use the information.”

Endless stacks of medical paperwork serving no particular purpose, you say?

Sounds familiar.

Tedious bureaucracy wasn’t the only parallel Austin found between ancient Egyptian health care and the modern world.

The more the Stanford scholar dug into the lives of the highly skilled craftsmen hired to build tombs for Egyptian pharaohs, not far from the modern city of Luxor, the more similarities she found. Workers who spent their weeks away from home in a village now called Deir el-Medina could take “paid sick leave” or “visit a clinic for a checkup,” Austin said. During the 19th dynasty of Egypt and the 12th (1292-1077 BCE), when workers were primarily housed in the area, there were even two separate health-care networks at Deir el-Medina, Austin told the Stanford News. The first was a “professional state-subsidized network” for workers; the other was a private network for family and friends.

“What surprised me was seeing the ways people who were associated with the workmen were provided for,” Austin said. “There is evidence to suggest work men would get time off to take care of wives and daughters when they were menstruating.”

“For decades,” according to a Stanford news release, “Egyptologists have seen evidence of these health-care benefits in the well preserved written records from the site.” But Austin was the first to lead a “detailed study of human remains at the site.”

Despite many of the workers being skilled artists who were well-treated and compensated with rations, Austin — a postdoctoral scholar in Stanford’s history department and a specialist in osteo-archaeology — was able to determine that the grueling work took a serious toll on the men’s bodies.

Making the weekly hike from their family homes to a temporary work camp in Deir el-Medina was equivalent to climbing the Great Pyramid of Giza, due to steep changes in elevation. Their daily trek, with gear and equipment, into the Valley of the Kings and back, was the same as descending and ascending a 36-story building, Austin said. Today, the distance is about 1,000 stone steps.

“Arthritis is something you could easily see in the bones,” Austin said. “It was mostly concentrated in the workers’ knees and ankles.”

And yet, despite access to “uniquely comprehensive health care,” workers didn’t always take advantage of it, Austin said. One man continued working despite suffering from a condition known as osteomyelitis, the result of a blood-borne infection. Austin was able to determine the man had the condition by studying his mummified remains.

“The remains suggest that he would have been working during the development of this infection,” Austin told Stanford News. This suggested that the man might have felt pressure to continue. “Rather than take time off, for whatever reason, he kept going,” she said.

Austin plans to return to Egypt in March to continue to studying mummified remains. She aims to explore a new tomb and identify new diseases that ancient Egyptian workers may have suffered from.

The Gladiator Diet – Archaeology Magazine Archive

How to eat, exercise, and die a violent death

A referee looks on as two distinct types of gladiators battle to the death on this relief found in the gladiator graveyard at Ephesus. The man in the middle–a lumbering secutor–has lost his shield, leaving him vulnerable to the lightly armored retiarus at right. (Courtesy Karl Grossschmidt)

The Café Westend, just across the street from Vienna’s main train station, is a city landmark. Its green felt-lined booths and weary waiters in wrinkled black suits have seen a lot over the years. But when he agreed to meet me here instead of in his lab on the edge of town, Karl Grossschmidt, a paleo-pathologist at the Medical University of Vienna, promised to show me something new even to this century-old coffeehouse. Pushing aside empty cappuccino cups and the remains of a dry croissant, Grossschmidt takes a quick look over his shoulder to see if our waiter is out of sight. Coast clear, he reaches into a plastic grocery bag and pulls out a white cardboard box. Inside, padded with crumpled paper towels, is a jawless skull. Grossschmidt lifts it gently and passes it to me. “Don’t drop it–it’s real,” he says.

The three holes in this skull are evidence of death by trident for one Ephesus gladiator. A computer-generated image shows how the weapon would have entered the skull. (Courtesy Karl Grossschmidt)

Reaching out with both hands, I take the skull of a Roman gladiator who lived, fought, and died more than 1,800 years ago in Ephesus, in what is now western Turkey. Together with more than 60 of his young comrades, he was buried in a 200-square-foot plot along the road that led from the city center to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The recent study of the bones from the world’s only known gladiator graveyard is filling gaps in the literary sources and archaeological record concerning how gladiators died. But the biggest revelation to come out of the Ephesus cemetery is what kept the gladiators alive–a vegetarian diet rich in carbohydrates, with the occasional calcium supplement.

Contemporary accounts of gladiator life sometimes refer to the warriors as hordearii–literally, “barley men.” Grossschmidt and collaborator Fabian Kanz subjected bits of the bone to isotopic analysis, a technique that measures trace chemical elements such as calcium, strontium, and zinc, to see if they could find out why. They turned up some surprising results. Compared to the average inhabitant of Ephesus, gladiators ate more plants and very little animal protein. The vegetarian diet had nothing to do with poverty or animal rights. Gladiators, it seems, were fat. Consuming a lot of simple carbohydrates, such as barley, and legumes, like beans, was designed for survival in the arena. Packing in the carbs also packed on the pounds. “Gladiators needed subcutaneous fat,” Grossschmidt explains. “A fat cushion protects you from cut wounds and shields nerves and blood vessels in a fight.” Not only would a lean gladiator have been dead meat, he would have made for a bad show. Surface wounds “look more spectacular,” says Grossschmidt. “If I get wounded but just in the fatty layer, I can fight on,” he adds. “It doesn’t hurt much, and it looks great for the spectators.”

The existence of the four-pointed dagger (replica pictured here) was known from inscriptions, but its function was a mystery until this crippling quadruple knee wound was identified. (Courtesy Karl Grossschmidt)

But a diet of barley and vegetables would have left the fighters with a serious calcium deficit. To keep their bones strong, historical accounts say, they downed vile brews of charred wood or bone ash, both of which are rich in calcium. Whatever the exact formula, the stuff worked. Grossschmidt says that the calcium levels in the gladiator bones were “exorbitant” compared to the general population. “Many athletes today have to take calcium supplements,” he says. “They knew that then, too.”

That’s not to say life–or death–as a gladiator was pleasant. Many of the men Grossschmidt’s team studied died only after surviving multiple blows to the head. “The proportion of wounds to the skull was surprising, since all gladiatorial types but one wore helmets,” says Harvard’s Coleman. Gladiators usually fought one-on-one, with their armor and weaponry designed to give opposite advantages. For example, a nimble, lightly armored and helmetless retiarus with a net and trident would be pitted against a plodding murmillo wearing a massive helmet with tiny eye slits and carrying a thick, long shield. Three of the Ephesus skulls had been punctured by tridents, weapons used only by gladiators. Ten had been bashed in with blunt objects, perhaps mercy blows with a hammer. Other injuries illustrate the gladiator’s ideal death, finally accepting the coup de grâce. Cut marks on four of the men were evidence of a dramatic end. “When they lost and were lying on their stomachs, their opponent stabbed them through the shoulder blade into the heart,” Grossschmidt says. “We also found vertebrae with cut marks. They would have been from a downward stabbing sword wound through the throat into the heart.”

Contributing editor Andrew Curry is based in Berlin.

• For a glossary of gladiator terminology and a discussion of how the games worked, see archive.archaeology.org/gladiators.

Mr.V

Bone Study Suggests Gladiators Drank Ash Tonic – Archaeology Magazine

VIENNA, AUSTRIA—Analysis of the bones of gladiators excavated from tombs at the ancient city of Ephesus show that these warriors, who lived in the second or third century A.D., ate a mostly vegetarian diet of beans and grains, as did many other people living in the city. The amount of strontium in the gladiators’ bones, however, suggests that they had access to minerals and calcium that the rest of the population did not. Contemporary reports refer to gladiators as “hordearii,” or “barley eaters,” and mention a tonic made of ashes that scholars now think probably did exist. “Plant ashes were evidently consumed to fortify the body after physical exertion and to promote better bone healing,” study leader Fabian Kanz of the Medical University of Vienna told Science Daily. “Things were similar then to what we do today—we take magnesium and calcium (in the form of effervescent tablets, for example) following physical exertion.” To read more about gladitorial training, see ARCHAEOLOGY’s “The Gladiator Diet.”

Mr.V