Trends & Theories
What impact did increased irrigation have on early state-level societies?
Increased food surplus (leads to greater social complexity.)
What does the Fertile Crescent Model suggest in terms of early state-level society development?
"Exceptional fertility" and intensive agriculture results in food surplus, which results in population growth.
Population growth results in larger, higher-density communities.
Stratified societies are a response to larger communities: law, taxation, security, etc.
True or False: Competition for land and resources contributed to violence in growing communities, resulting in greater social complexity associated with defensive/offensive needs.
True, according to the Warfare Trend/Model.
What is irrigation?
Management and redirection of water for agricultural use
i.e. through trenches directing water from rivers to fertile land for growing crops/watering livestock.
When was maize (teosinte) demesticated? Where?
~8700 BP, Mexico
What influenced or cause the Urban Revolution? (According to Childe.
- Full-time artisans and craft specialists participate in growing regional trade economy.
- Intensive agriculture, urban infrastructure, and economically stratified societies emerge as a result.
Explain the Population Growth Model.
Early agriculture results in population growth.
Larger population necessitates the development of intensive agriculture.
Stratified societies are a response to the need to produce and distribute food more efficiently.
What were two key features of intensifying agriculture?
- Increasing (food & water) surplus
- Irrigation
What are the differences between a Mesopotamian King and an Egyptian Pharoah?
Mesopotamian Kings were divinely selected and had religious duties as an earthly agent of the gods. They were in charge of formal law codes with a system of scribed and bureaucrats.
Egyptian Pharoahs were seen as the manifestation or personification of the god Horus (Osiris after death). They did not implement written laws; the Pharoah is the "personification of righteousness".
What are the benefits of pottery?
- Cooking ("cooking revolution")
- Storage
- New art forms
How did Technology and Trade contribute to the development of early state-level societies?
Advances in technology (especially transport technology) and craft specialization result in more complex and far-reaching networks of trade and exchange.
Stratified societies are a response to the need for more centralized authority to manage the trade and exchange of prestige goods and raw commodities in an increasingly interconnected world.
Explain Adams & Flannery's Systems Model.
Complex and interconnected systems (food production, warfare, ecology, etc.) affect cultural change.
Stratified societies emerged as a response to multiple convergent factors, in a positive feedback cycle.
What are three key features of increasing urbanization?
- Dense populations (req. greater social complexity and organization)
- Grand monuments (req. communal building)
- Increased task specialization (req. surplus food and organized distribution)
How was taxation paid in Early state-level Egypt?
Taxation in Early state-level Egypt was paid in labour.
When were chickens first domesticated? Where?
~3600 BP, Southeast Asia
(for meat and eggs)
How did Warfare contribute to the development of early state-level societies?
Increased competition for land resulted in violence between growing communities.
Stratified societies emerged as warlords gained power, and as a response to the need for defensive (or offensive?) alliances, infrastructures, etc.
Describe and explain the Ecological Model.
Intensive agriculture and food production/distribution systems may be a response to ecological variability.
Stratified societies emerged as a means of organizing labour and redistributing food more efficiently.
What are two key features of longer distance trade?
- Mass production of stadardized goods
- "International commerce": taxes, tariffs, duties, etc.
How was taxation paid in Early State-Level Mesopotamia?
Taxation in Early State-Level Mesopotamia was paid in crops.
What is The Recovery Revolution?
“a dramatic refinement of field and laboratory methods that has produced infinitely more fine grained data.”
(Faggan and Durrani 2023)
What are the four general trends in early state-level societies?
- Intensifying agriculture
- Increasing urbanization
- Centralized authority
- Longer distance trade
What is proposed by the Social Models?
Cities and states are made of people and relationships.
Including power relationships: economic, social/ideological, political (more complex than kin-relationships)
Stratified societies emerged as the result of interactions between social groups and individuals.
What are key features of centralized authority in the development of early state-level societies?
- Powerful elites (and dynastic rule!)
- Coerced labour
- Codified laws and taxation
- Writing
- Warfare
- State Religion/Ideology
True or False: Systems Models suggests systems operate independently from one another, each advancing at it's own rate on it's own time.
False.
Systems Models assert that complex and interconnected systems (food production, warfare, ecology, etc.) affect cultural change, and stratified societies emerged as a response to multiple convergent factors, in a positive feedback cycle.
Where were the three earliest ceramic traditions located and in which order?
20,000 BP - Xianrendong Cave (China)
16,500 BP - Odai Yamamoto I (Japan)
8400 BP - Sha'ar HaGolan (Israel)