Katies

World History Study Guide

Note: This guide should not be a sole source of review

Paleolithic Age:
Definition: Old Stone Age
When: Up until 12000 years ago, or 10000 BCE
What: The Paleolithic Age describes the time period before the Agricultural Revolution. Up until
about 100,000 years ago, people lived exclusively in Africa. Migration out of Africa began
around 100,000 BCE.
How People Lived: Most Paleolithic societies were bands of around 25 to 50 people. The people
were hunter-gatherers that lived a nomadic lifestyle following their source of food. The
societies were highly egalitarian, or socially equal due to the lack of formal government. There
was also less gender inequality as women gathered 70% of calories while men hunted on 30%.
There were general rules among societies, although no true law code. Paleolithic peoples
radically changed the environment in ways like hunting animals to extinction and setting fires to
encourage growth of plants. Many people believed in the existence of a great goddess and
Venus figurines reflected this honoring of women. Paleolithic societies also had shamans who
would use psychoactive drugs to perform religious ceremonies. Finally, as Paleolithic people
began to develop agriculture, they settled down in places like Gbekli Tepe. This was mostly
due to the end of the Ice Age, which allowed plants and animals to flourish and made hunting
and gathering easier. This change eventually paved the way for agriculture.
Art: The most famous piece of Paleolithic art is the Lascaux cave painting in France. It was
discovered in 1940 by a group of teenagers in a large cave complex. It was believed to be
painted about 17,000 years ago. It features a bull with other animals like reindeer and was most
likely painted with plants, blood, or mud.
Architecture: The most famous example of Paleolithic architecture is Stonehenge. It is a
grouping of rocks in England with unknown origins. It may have been the location of medical
treatment or of religious sacrifices and over 250 bodies have been excavated nearby.

Neolithic Age:
Definition: New Stone Age
When: The Neolithic Age began with the development of agriculture about 12000 years ago.
What: The Neolithic Age represents the time after or during the development of agriculture
when people began deliberately cultivating plants and taming animals.

How People Lived: The Agricultural Revolution that ushered in the Neolithic Age brought an end
to the nomadic lifestyles of many peoples. People were able to grow more food and therefore
the population was able to grow. The main change from agriculture was that people were
radically changing the planet to produce food. Sickness increased and there was a worldwide
average decrease in height. More cities grew after agriculture and weaving and metallurgy
were developed. Finally, alcohol was developed during the Neolithic Age.

Agricultural Revolution
What Caused It: Population growth after the Ice Age left people unable to support people with
their current food outputs. Therefore, they needed to either produce more food or curb the
population. After women discovered that agriculture could produce more food with less land
and less work, it was adopted in separate places around the world.
How It Spread: Agriculture spread in two ways. The first is diffusion, or the slow natural spread
of agriculture. People would hear by word of mouth or by learning the practices of their
neighbors. The other method by which agriculture spread is colonization. When agricultural
peoples moved, they took agriculture with them and therefore it spread.
Effects/Impacts of Globalization: The global spread of agriculture greatly reduced the number
of hunting-gathering peoples. It also involved overall loss of equality worldwide and allowed
cities to begin to grow.
Impact on Gender Roles: After the Agricultural Revolution, the egalitarianism globally possessed
was generally lost. Since women had more kids after nomadic lifestyles ended, they were more
confined and seen as less useful. This was the main roots of discrimination against women.

Out of Africa Theory: The Out of Africa Theory states that up until 100,000 years ago,
humans lived in Africa, then migrated out into the rest of the world.
Middle East (100,000
BCE)

East Asia (70,000

BCE)

Australia
(60,000-40,000
BCE)

Europe (45,000
BCE)

North America
(30,000-15,000
BCE)

South America
(10,000 BCE)

Pacic Islands
(1000 BCE- 500
CE)

Types of Agricultural Societies:

Pastoral Societies: Members of pastoral societies herded animals and retained a nomadic
lifestyle following grazing areas. Herded animals include cows, goats, sheep, reindeer, and
camels.
Agricultural Villages: Agricultural villages were small permanent farming settlements. They had
no specified leader, but sometimes had a guiding Council of Elders. Many of these societies
were still egalitarian. Catal Huyuk is an important example of such a village.

Chiefdom: A chiefdom is basically an agricultural village with a defined leader.

Catal Huyuk:
Catal Huyuk was an early agricultural village in Turkey. It consisted of a crowded center of
buildings in the middle surrounded by farmland. The village was designed so that people
walked on roofs from building to building.

Arguments For and Against Agriculture:

For

Against

More food is produced

Populagon can grow
Development of
civilazagon
Allowed development of
modern society
Technological
innovagons

Development of
inequality
Radical change of
environment
Women "less important"
More disease
Shorter populagon
Less gme for art and
music

Characteristics of Civilization:
1) Advanced cities: Advanced cities were characterized by trade and technology. They had
a concentrated population with more modern technology and weapons. Trade was
definitely the defining feature as it allowed the development of a complex economy and
cultural diffusion as traders came through cities.
2) Specialization: Specialization is the development of skills in a specific kind of work. This
development is rooted in the idea that when you can produce more food with less
effort, less people need to produce food. If not everyone is a farmer, people can
become traders, artisans, scribes, and priests.
3) Social Classes: Social classes developed from the unequal amounts of wealth and power
that accompanied specialization. There were different laws for different people as
defined in the hierarchy below.

King
Upper-Class
Middle Class (Traders
and Argsans)
Lower Class (Farmers, 90% of
populagon)
Slaves

4) Gender Inequality: Since women in non-nomadic societies had more children, they were
further confined to the home. This made them not able to produce as much food and
they came to be viewed as less useful.
5) State: The state is basically a government or a country. Kings or pharaohs led countries
and kept order. A famous example of state in ancient society is Hammurabis Code. This
was the first written law code that had an eye for an eye philosophy. However, this
law code was unequal based on your social class.
6) Religion: Religion in ancient society became a way to control people without the use of
force. Leaders of governments claimed to have power from the gods and therefore the
people must obey them. It also was believed that the gods controlled nature and
protected people from corruption.
7) Record-Keeping: This encompasses all forms of written writing, from cuneiform in
Mesopotamia, to quipu in Norte Chico. There were also pictograms in the Indus Valley,
oracle bones in China, and hieroglyphs in Egypt. Writing allowed law codes, business
transactions, harvest documentations, and tax records.

Mesopotamia
Political Organization: Mesopotamia was decentralized, meaning that they had a variety of
semi-independent cities all ruled by different leaders.
Writing: Mesopotamian writing was cuneiform, a set of symbols engraved into wet clay with
wedges and then hardened. This was the first writing system in the world.
Religious Beliefs: The Mesopotamians believed that they had volatile gods that could be
easily angered and would respond with natural disasters, such as the flooding of the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers. They had ziggurats to worship their gods.
Achievements: The Mesopotamians achieved the first system of writing, Hammurabis
Code, a complex law code, and the Assyrians had the worlds first library.

Economy: Mesopotamias economy was strongly based in trade. Sumer was a center of
trade in the ancient world which allowed a booming economy.
Social/Gender Relations: In Hammurabis Code, different classes were treated differently as
were different genders. There was little inequality in ancient Mesopotamia.
Art/Architecture: The Mesopotamians were notable sculptures, but their most famous
artistic achievements were their ziggurats. These were temples to their gods and each city
had one of these pyramid-like structures. They also wrote the Epic of Gilgamesh, a literary
work of art.
Technology: The Sumerians are frequently credited with inventing the wheel. They were
also skilled metal workers and made complex irrigation systems.

Ancient Egypt:
Political Organization: The Pharaoh was the ruler of the land of Egypt and he was guided by
the Vizier, his right-hand man.
Types of Writing: The Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphics, which we are able to translate using
the Rosetta Stone. They also had Hieratic and Coptic styles of writing.
Religious Beliefs: Egyptians believed that their pharaohs were children of the gods and
therefore had divine power. They also tended to believe their gods were more stable than
those of Mesopotamians. This was largely due to the more regular flooding of the Nile River
than that of the Tigris and Euphrates.
Achievements: One of the most notable achievements of the Egyptians is the pyramids,
accompanied by the sphinx. These feats of architecture were incredible by ancient
standards. They were also famed for their mummification process that could preserve
bodies amazingly well.
Economy: The Egyptian economy was strongly based on world trade. They also had a tax
system that was recorded using their written language.
Social/Gender Relations: Egyptian society was far more egalitarian than comparable
societies at the time, but they still had their own social issues. There were still distinct social
classes, but women were treated fairly equally to men.
Art/Architecture: The most famous work of architecture in Egypt is obviously the pyramids.
There was also the Sphinx, a giant statue found near the pyramids in the desert.
Technology: The Ancient Egyptians had paper in order to write with that they formed from
papyrus. They also utilized simple machines to build the pyramids.

Indus River Civilization:

Political Organization: There was obviously some level of political organization in the Indus
Valley civilization, as evidenced by the highly organized streets of their cities, but we dont
know much about it due to the fact that we cant read their writing.
Types of Writing: The Indus Valley civilization utilized a system of writing we call pictograms,
but we are unable to translate their writing and this means we dont know very much about
their society.
Religious Beliefs: The Indus Valley peoples believed in a great goddess such as mother earth
and their religion probably influenced the development of Hinduism.
Achievements: In the Indus Valley, many of the cities had a well laid out grid system and
identical bricks in their buildings. They also had a plumbing system that wouldve been the
envy of many eighteenth century European cities.
Economy: Seals from the Indus Valley were found in the Mesopotamian region meaning
that they had some form of long distance trade with Mesopotamia. We dont know very
much other than that due to our inability to read their writing.
Social/Gender Relations: We dont know much about social relations in the Indus Valley.
Art/Architecture: The Indus Valley civilization is mostly known for their standardized bricks
and their Great Bath with possible religious purposes.
Technology: The Indus Valley civilization had a sewage system, a natural form of air
conditioning, and a standardized measurement system.

Ancient China:
Political Organization: The main leader in China was the emperor who was believed to
receive his power from possessing the Mandate of Heaven. Rule was passed down from
father to son for generations in dynasties.
Types of Writing: The earliest form of Chinese writing was oracle bone script, in which
questions were written on bones which were then heated. The cracks in the bones were
read and interpreted as signs from the ancestors.
Religious Beliefs: Chinese religion was strongly based on ancestor worship. People believed
that their ancestors guided them through life and provided them with advice.
Achievements: The Ancient Chinese civilizations utilized paper and gunpowder to write and
to scare away enemies. Later, they also built the Great Wall, but that was not developed
early in the society.
Economy: The economy in Ancient China was strongly based on farming and trade with
other ancient civilizations.

Social/Gender Relations: Like in many societies they Chinese had obvious social classes. The
king was at the top of the pyramid, followed by the scholars, the farmers, the artisans, and
the traders, in that order.
Art/Architecture: Chinese art is noted for their beautiful pots and statues. They also build
the Great Wall of China, an amazing feat of architecture.
Technology: The people of Ancient China had gunpowder which they used for artistic
displays and to ward off enemies. They also had paper that they used to write on.

Olmec:
Political Organization: We dont know much about Olmec political organization, but the
many head statues are assumed to represent their revered leaders. They lived in chiefdoms
that eventually decentralized.
Types of Writing: The Olmec system of writing is most likely the first one in the Western
hemisphere and is quite similar to Mayan hieroglyphs.
Religious Beliefs: Little is known about Olmec religion, but there are estimated to be about
ten gods in their pantheon. Most religious ceremonies were carried out by shamans.
Achievements: The Olmecs built massive temples and wrote long pieces to celebrate their
religion.
Economy: The Olmecs had an economy strongly based on trading rubber and other natural
resources for jade that they used for art and religious purposes.
Social/Gender Relations: There were defined social classes in the Olmec civilization.
Art/Architecture: The Olmec peoples traded for massive amounts of jade most likely used to
create jewelry. They also built pyramids to honor their gods.
Technology: The Olmec people are notable for their use of the zero and for their invention
of calendars, although the calendar developed in many places across the world.

Norte Chico:
Political Organization: The Norte Chico peoples lived in 25 decentralized cities across the
Andes Mountains.
Types of Writing: The Note Chico people used quipu to keep track of records. This was
basically using knots in strings at different lengths and in colors to write.
Religious Beliefs: Norte Chico religion was probably the basis of a lot of religion in the
Western hemisphere.

Achievements: The Norte Chico peoples were great fishers and developed a successful
civilization despite not settling near a river.
Economy: The economy of the Norte Chico civilization was based mostly on fishing and
trade.
Art/Architecture: The Norte Chico peoples had giant mounds that were notable as
architectural feats. Another notable piece of information was the complete lack of pottery
in their society.
Technology: Norte Chico had a fishing based economy and one of their major technologies
was fishing nets. They also had complex irrigation systems.

Oxus:
Political Organization: The Oxus peoples lived in decentralized farming communities.
Types of Writing: It is believed that the Oxus people were illiterate.
Religious Beliefs: Not much is known on Oxus religious beliefs.
Achievements: The Oxus cities were a center of trade and had developed social classes.
They also had fortified walls.
Economy: The Oxus economy was based on agriculture and stock raising. They were also a
center for trade due to their location in the center of the developing world.
Social/Gender Relations: The Oxus people had social classes based on aristocracy.
Art/Architecture: The Oxus had amazing temples
Technology: The people of the Oxus civilization had heavily fortified walls.