Humans Discover Farming! Neolithic Age = New Stone Age! Settlement in River Valleys around 10,000 B.C.

More words to know… surplus – an extra amount domesticate – to tame an animal or plant for human use revolution – a major change in a society specialization – the development of different kinds of jobs in a society civilization – complex societies that have evidence of cities, government, art, religion, class divisions (rich and poor) and a writing system

Farming Begins! The New Stone Age begins when humans all over Earth begin to settle in one area after discovering how to farm. Farming requires fresh water, so people begin to live near rivers which provide a constant supply of fresh water.

Why Settle In River Valleys? Rivers provide fresh water that humans + animals can use 2 drink and farm Water can also be used to clean, cool, cook, fight fires, enjoyment, bathroom! Rivers often flood (danger!) and create rich soil for farmers to plant crops Travel also can take place on water (ships) so these areas become places of travel and trade = MONEY!!! 

Farming Revolution Farming gave people a consistent supply of food and even leftovers! A surplus (an extra amount) of food meant that humans could now live in one area = no longer needed to be “nomads” and hunt/fish everyday. Since people can stay in one spot, they domesticate animals and plants and use them for food, work, clothing and transportation.

RIVER VALLEY DRAWINGS

The Four Major River Valleys of early civilizations Egypt – Nile River Mesopotamia – Tigris and Euphrates Rivers India – Indus and Ganges Rivers China – Huang He and Yangtze Rivers

Growth of communities People began to live together in permanent villages due to farming. “Specialization” began to occur – not everyone needs to find food anymore Discovery of how to make metal = increased tools and weapons Small villages grow into large cities and civilization begins to occur in the four major River Valleys!

What makes a civilization? Government and Laws for social order Writing for record keeping and history! Class Divisions – rich, middle and poor Permanent Cities – usually quite large Organized Religion followed by majority of people Specialization of Labor – not all are farmers but now you have metalworkers, artists, fishermen…

Civilizations have… Government

Civilizations have… Writing

Civilizations have $

Permanent settlements Civilizations have… Permanent settlements (Cities)

Civilizations have… Religion

of labor (specialization) Civilizations have… Division of labor (specialization)

History vs. Prehistory! Before farming, everyone was too busy + unorganized to develop writing Farming allows people to settle down in one place. Now they have time and the need to develop writing. That writing can be used to tell us about their society and their history. Everything before writing is called Prehistory because we really do not know their history!

Earliest Writing - Cuneiform People who wrote about their events are the world’s first historians! Should we trust and believe all ancient writing that we find?

Egyptian Hieroglyphics

Development of Metals! Humans learn how to mix materials to get stronger metals. New metals create new “ages”. Examples: Copper Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age. The stronger your metal, the more you can build, the better you can fight, the faster you can do something…

Otzi’s Axe

Paleolithic Age vs. Neolithic Age People wandered and were considered nomads just looking for food Discovered fire, created a language and made simple tools No permanent homes and had to do much of the work individually No written records = prehistory Began to farm = stability and villages Specialization = creation of other jobs such as craftsman and metalworkers Surplus of goods = trade and growth of small villages into large cities Writing tells us about their civilization!!! 

Why do we study these people who lived thousands of years ago?

Which ancient civilizations will we study in 6th Grade? Mesopotamia Civilizations like the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans Egypt Israel Phoenicia Greece Rome Persia China India