 Archaeology  Archaeological digs  Radiocarbon Dating: The process of studying the decay of carbon-14 to estimate the age of organic materials, such as wood and leather, up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years  Historians study the past by locating and analyzing: › Human remains › Settlements › Fossils › Artifacts  Tools  Bones  Cave paintings

 The Neolithic Revolution lead to the development of civilization › Sedentary life style  Specialized jobs  Government  Social Stratification (Social classes)  Development of a Traditional Economy

 Aleppo and Jericho  Stonehenge  Catalhoyuk  Ur – in Sumer

 Location: Fertile Crescent  Two of the earliest Neolithic Civilizations  Difficult to excavate because modern cities now sit on top of the sites  Walls of Jericho › Massive stone wall surrounding Jericho › Defense against floods and ceremonial purposes  Similar homes are evidence of city-planning › Result of job specialization

 Location: England › Construction began during the stone age, and completed during the Bronze Age › Through dating, discovered built over 6,500 years  Circular burial mound surrounds 50 “pi” shaped mega stones, and 43 smaller bluestones  Durringham Settlement, 2 miles away, one of the largest Neolithic Settlements › 4,000 people

 Currently under excavation in Anatolia  Rectangular, honey-combed homes are evidence of city- planning › Job specialization  Traded Obsidian – volcanic rock polished to look like glass

 Large scale irrigation ditches found  A trading city  Large temple – Ziggurat – located in the center of the city › Tiered, pyramid shape › “mountain of the Gods”  Simple one story houses with no windows  Earliest evidence of writing › Cuneiform  Number system based on 60