1. Should early civilizations of South Asia, East Asia, and Oceania be seen as comparable to ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia?
Period One: Technological and Environmental Transformations, to 600 BCE Key Concept 1.3: The Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral and Urban Societies

2. Mountain ranges: Hindu Kush & Himalayas (includes Mt Everest)
India is a subcontinent.
Mountain ranges: Hindu Kush & Himalayas (includes Mt Everest)
Main rivers: Indus, Ganges.
Deccan Plateau: hot and dry.
Monsoons: seasonal winds that bring rain. The monsoons are necessary to farm, but also bring a risk of floods.

3. Winter
Monsoon
Summer Monsoon

5. II Indus River Valley Civilizations 2500 – 1500 BCE
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were “twin” cities that developed in the Indus River Valley by 2500 BCE.
Both were planned; the streets were laid out on a grid.
Sewer system
Polytheistic
System of writing that is still undeciphered.
Extensive trade network.
By 1500 BCE Aryans (Caucasian Indo-Europeans) conquered the Indus River Valley.

6. Indus River Valley
The "great bath" is possibly the earliest public water tank in the ancient world. It may also have served a religious function (I.e. water purification rituals). On the right is Indus River Valley writing.

7. Hukou Falls, Part of the Yellow River
III Geography of China
Natural barriers: Pacific Ocean (West) - Himalayan Mountains (Southwest) -Gobi Desert (North).
-> ISOLATION
The melting snows from the mountains in the west feed the Yellow and the Yangzi rivers. The Yellow River gets its name due to yellow clay called loess.
China grows rice in the south, due to a warmer and wetter climate. China grows wheat in the north, due to a colder and drier climate.
Hukou Falls, Part of the Yellow River

9. Terraced Farming: Chinese rice farmers cut steps into the mountains
Terraced Farming: Chinese rice farmers cut steps into the mountains. This way, the water will be better distributed.

10. IV Shang Dynasty 1650 – 1027 BCE
1st centralized Chinese government. Developed by the Yellow River.
Walled cities. Army of 30,000 soldiers.
Bronze tools, weapons, and vessels. Made by skilled working class.
Animistic religion (belief in spirits in nature)
Earliest evidence of Chinese writing on “oracle bones” (tortoise shells)

11. V Zhou Dynasty 1027 – 256 BCE
1027 BCE the Zhou Dynasty conquered the Shang
Feudal government
Produced iron tools and weapons
Mandate of Heaven: approval of the gods to rule (divine right).

12. Zhou Dynasty Continued…
D) The Mandate of Heaven was used to explain the Dynastic Cycle.

13. Zhou Dynasty Burial

14. VI Oceania

15. 4 main culture areas: Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
Oceania
4 main culture areas: Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

16. First Settlers of Oceania
The Lapita (from SE Asia) were the first people to settle Oceania to Melanesia, Micronesia, and western Polynesia ( BCE). They transported taro, yam, breadfruit, banana and coconut for cultivation, and brought domesticated pigs, dogs and fowls. – teara.govt
Lapita Pottery

17. But Pigs Point to Another Theory…
“…researchers have used pig DNA to reconstruct the migration route of humans out of Asia and into the Pacific. Based on their evidence, the scientists say that various pig-toting cultures from Vietnam traveled south through the Malaysian Peninsula into Indonesian... From there the travelers reached New Guinea and then… Hawaii and French Polynesia... This route is in stark contrast to the conventional theory that the first Pacific settlers originated in Taiwan and traveled as a single cultural unit through the Philippines to New Guinea and then further east…” Roach, John. National Geographic News. March 20, 2007

18. Melanesia
Melanesia ("black islands") consists of the Austronesians and the Papuans. The aborigines (indigenous people of Australia) arrived from Southeast Asia c.50,000 years ago. The Papuans arrived in New Guinea c.40,000 years ago; unlike in Australia, they developed agriculture. The later wave of Austronesians from Taiwan brought ocean-voyaging skills.
Woman from Fiji
Papuan, New Guinea
Aborigine, Australia

19. Polynesia
“A small fishing village in Tonga has been confirmed as the first Polynesian settlement [2900 years ago]. The site of Nukuleka was identified through [Lapita] pottery shards that were spread around the area...” –ancientstandard.com

20. Horticulture (simple farming), Papua New Guinea (left) Aborigine digging for grubs (right) Breadfruit (bottom right)

21. FILL IN YOUR PERIOD ONE CHART
Focus Questions
How did geography influence the earliest river valley civilizations of India and China?
In your own words, explain the mandate of heaven and dynastic cycle.
What are the 4 main groups of Oceania? Describe the earliest colonizers and how they got there.
FILL IN YOUR PERIOD ONE CHART

22. Key Vocabulary Deccan Plateau Mohenjo-Daro Dynastic Cycle Monsoons
Ganges River
Mt. Everest
Gobi Desert
Oceania
Harappa
Oracle Bones
Himalayas
Polynesia
Hindu Kush
Shang Dynasty
Huang River
Terrace Farming
Indus River
Xi River
Mandate of Heaven
Yangtze (Yellow) River
Melanesia
Zhou Dynasty
Micronesia