Cultural Hearths
Define: Cultural Hearth
A place where new ideas, practices, & technologies begin
Define: Surplus
An excess amount of food/goods
What crop did Mesoamericans begin to domesticate around 4250 B.C.E.?
Maize (corn)
What was the world's first temple?
Gobekli Tepe
What are the five traits of civilizations
Cities, Complex Institutions, Specialized Workers, Record Keeping, and Improved Technology
Jade Jewelry was a central good to which cultural hearth?
Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America)
What were rooftops used as in the Catalhoyuk communities?
Entry points, plazas, sidewalks, streets, & meeting places
What wild like Mexican grass did corn come from?
Teosinte
Describe the pillars found at Gobekli Tepe. (Size, material, weight, etc)
Limestone pillars, 18 feet tall, 16 tons, carvings of lions, snakes and vultures
Where did cities often grow near and what were they used for?
Rivers, for farming and transport
Which cultural hearth used papyrus as an early writing material?
North Africa (Nile River Valley)
True/False: Rice was grown in rice paddies along the Huang He Basin in Northern China
False: Millet was grown in fields along the Huang He Basin in the North. Rice was grown in rice paddies along the Chang Jiang Basin in the South.
Where did humans migrate out of before landing in the fertile Nile River Valley?
The Sahara Desert
What was the new theory that changed history once Gobekli Tepe was discovered?
Religion may have sparked farming and came first
What was the purpose of institutions when it came to populations?
Institutions kept order in growing populations
What are three traits all cultural hearths had?
Mild climates, fertile soil and rivers/water sources
What type of pottery was the Yangshao Culture known for and how was it made?
Yangshao culture had handmade pottery with geometric designs
What is the name of the oldest Egyptian Farming site?
Faiyum
Before Gobekli Tepe, why did historians think farming came before religion?
Historians believed that people prayed for harvests
What was the purpose of record keeping?
Name the four major cultural hearths and their locations
Southwest Asia (Fertile Crescent), China (Banpo), Mesoamerica (Mexico/Central America), & North Africa (Nile River Valley)
Which culture did the Yangshao culture succeed?
The Longshan Culture
What is the spread of ideas and technology?
Cultural diffusion
What was Gobekli Tepe built far from that allowed historians to conclude farming did not come before religion?
Gobekli Tepe was built far from farms, villages or water
How did technology improve life?
New tools and techniques helped solve problems and improve life