Civilization

A civilization or civilisation has a variety of meanings related to human society. The term comes from the Latin civis, meaning "citizen" or "townsman."

Early civilizations

The earliest known civilizations (as defined in the traditional sense) arose in Mesopotamia, the Nile valley of Egypt, the Indus Valley region of modern Pakistan, in the Huang He (Yellow River) valley of China, and on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea. The inhabitants of these areas built cities, created writing systems, learned to make pottery and use metals, domesticated animals, and created complex social structures with class systems.

Related Topics:
Mesopotamia - Nile valley - Egypt - Indus Valley - Pakistan - Huang He - China - Crete - Aegean Sea

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Japan

Ongoing excavations reveal Jomon of ancient Japan as having produced the earliest known pottery in the world, dating to the 11th millennium BC. More stable living patterns gave rise by around 10,000 BC to a Mesolithic or Neolithic culture. The Jōmon people also created the earliest ground stone tools known (Imamura). They used chipped stone tools, ground stone tools, traps, and bows and were probably semi-sedentary hunters-gatherers, and skillful coastal and deep-water fishermen. They lived in caves and later in groups of either temporary shallow pit dwellings or above-ground houses, leaving rich kitchen middens for modern anthropological study. See Jomon.

Related Topics:
Jomon - Japan - Pottery - 11th millennium BC - 10,000 BC - Mesolithic - Neolithic - Tool

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sahara Region

Anthropological and archaeological evidence both indicate a grain-grinding culture farming along the Nile in the 10th millennium BC using sickle blades. But another culture of hunters, fishers and gathering peoples using stone tools replaced them. Evidence also indicates human habitation in the southwestern corner of Egypt, near the Sudan border, before 8000 BC. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, eventually forming the Sahara (c.2500 BC), and early tribes naturally migrated to the Nile river where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society. Domesticated animals had already been imported from Asia between 7500 BC and 4000 BC (see '), and there is evidence of pastoralism and cultivation of cereals in the East Sahara in the 7th millennium BC. The earliest known artwork of ships in ancient Egypt dates to 6000 BCE.

Related Topics:
Anthropological - Archaeological - Grain - Grinding - Culture - Farming - Nile - 10th millennium BC - Sickle - Blade - Hunters - Fishers - Gathering - Stone tool - Sudan - 8000 BC - 8000 BC - Egypt - Sahara - 2500 BC - Agricultural - Economy - Society - Asia - 7500 BC - 4000 BC - Pastoralism - 7th millennium BC - Ship - 6000 BCE

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By 6000 BC predynastic Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and constructing large buildings. Symbols on Gerzean pottery, c.4000 BC, resemble traditional hieroglyph writing http://www.touregypt.net/ebph5.htm. In ancient Egypt mortar (masonry) was in use by 4000 BC, and ancient Egyptians were producing ceramic faience as early as 3500 BC. There is evidence that ancient Egyptian explorers may have originally cleared and protected some branches of the Silk Road. Medical institutions are known to have been established in Egypt since as early as circa 3000 BC. Ancient Egypt gains credit for the tallest ancient pyramids and early forms of surgery, mathematics, and barge transport (see ).

Related Topics:
6000 BC - Predynastic Egyptians - Egypt - Herding - Constructing - Gerzean - 4000 BC - Hieroglyph - Ancient Egypt - Mortar (masonry) - Ceramic - Faience - 3500 BC - Explorers - Silk Road - Medical institutions - 3000 BC - Pyramids - Surgery - Mathematics - Barge

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Sahara once included ancient West Africa, as the Sahara became a desert only since around 3000 BC (see Sahara). By the 6th millennium BC, organized and permanent settlements in regions of Africa were producing artifacts of metal to replace prior ones made of stone. Jewelry and tableware (made of ivory or bone) also appear in this era. Recent archaeological finds indicate that sedentary farming began to take place in West Africa in the 5th millennium BC, with evidence of domesticated cattle having been found for this period as well as limited cereal crops (see ). Around 3000 BC, a major change began to take place in West African society, with microlithic stone tools becoming more common in the Sahel region, including the invention of primitive harpoons and fishing hooks. In the 3rd millennium BC, indigenous West African pastoralists encountered migrating, but developed, hunter-gatherers of the Guinea region.

Related Topics:
Sahara - West Africa - Desert - 3000 BC - 6th millennium BC - Settlement - Africa - Metal - Jewelry - Tableware - Ivory - Bone - Farming - 5th millennium BC - Cattle - Cereal - Society - Microlith - Sahel - Harpoon - Fishing hooks - 3rd millennium BC - Pastoralists - Guinea

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fertile Crescent

Fertile Crescent is a term used to describe the region in the Middle East watered by the Jordan, Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

Related Topics:
Fertile Crescent - Middle East - Jordan - Euphrates - Tigris

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The earliest settlement in Jericho (9th millennium BC) was a PPNA culture that eventually gave way to more developed settlements later, which included in one early settlement (8th millennium BC) mud-brick houses surrounded by a stone wall, having a stone tower built into the wall. In this time there is evidence of domesticated emmer wheat, barley and pulses and hunting of wild animals. However, there are no indications of attempts to form communities (early civilizations) with surrounding peoples. Nevertheless by the 6th millennium BC we find what appears to be an ancient shrine and cult, which would likely indicate intercommunal religious practices in this era. Findings include a collective burial (with not all the skeletons completely articulated, jaws removed, faces covered with plaster, cowries used for eyes). Other finds from this era include stone and bone tools, clay figurines and shell and malachite beads. Around 1500 to 1200 BC Jericho and other cities of Canaan had become vassals of the Egyptian empire.

Related Topics:
Settlement - Jericho - 9th millennium BC - PPNA - 8th millennium BC - House - Emmer wheat - Barley - Pulses - Communities - 6th millennium BC - Shrine - Cult - Religious - Burial - Cowries - 1500 - 1200 BC - Canaan - Vassal - Egypt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Several miles southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of early temple-cities, in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, with the earliest of these settlements carbon dating to around 5000 BC. The Sialk ziggurat of Kashan, Iran, also dates to this era. By the 4th millennium BC, in Nippur we find, in connection with a sort of ziggurat and shrine, a conduit built of bricks, in the form of an arch. Sumerian inscriptions written on clay also appear in Nippur. By 4000 BC an ancient city of Susa, in Mesopotamia, seems to emerge from earlier villages. Sumerian cuneiform script dates to no later than about 3500 BCE. Other villages begin to spring up around this time in the Ancient Near East as well.

Related Topics:
Ur - Eridu - Temple - Sumer - Mesopotamia - Settlement - 5000 BC - Sialk - Ziggurat - Kashan - Iran - 4th millennium BC - Nippur - Shrine - Conduit - Brick - Arch - Sumerian - Clay - 4000 BC - City - Susa - Village - Cuneiform - 3500 BCE - Ancient Near East

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

China

Mesolithic stone tools and coins have been found in Loulan, indicating money and ancient trade in the 8th millennium BC. Houses, kilns, pottery, turquoise carvings, stone and bone tools, and bone flutes also all appear in other ancient Chinese villages dating to the same era.

Related Topics:
Mesolithic - Stone tool - Coin - Loulan - Money - Trade - 8th millennium BC - House - Kiln - Pottery - Turquoise - Tools - Flute - Ancient Chinese - Village

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Developed agriculture appears in the 7th millennium BC in the Peiligang culture (discovered in 1977) of Henan, China, including storing and redistributing crops, millet farming and animal husbandry (pigs). Evidence also indicates specialized craftsmenship and administrators (see ). This culture is one of the oldest in ancient China to show evidence of pottery-making.

Related Topics:
Agriculture - 7th millennium BC - Peiligang culture - Henan - China - Crop - Millet - Farming - Husbandry - Pig - Craftsmen - Administrator - Pottery

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Attributed to a later Chinese culture, in the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), are bronze artifacts and oracle bones, which were turtle shells or cattle scapula on which are written the first recorded Chinese characters and found in the Huang He valley, Yinxu (a capital of the Shang Dynasty).

Related Topics:
Chinese - Culture - Shang Dynasty - 1600 - 1046 BC - Bronze - Oracle bone - Chinese character - Huang He - Yinxu

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ancient China invented the earliest known fireworks during the Song dynasty.

Related Topics:
Ancient China - Fireworks - Song dynasty

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

South Asia

The earliest known farming cultures in south Asia emerged in the hills of Balochistan, Pakistan, which included Mehrgarh in the 7th millennium BC. These semi-nomadic peoples domesticated wheat, barley, sheep, goat and cattle. Pottery was in use by the 6th millennium BC. Their settlement consisted of mud buildings that housed four internal subdivisions. Burials included elaborate goods such as baskets, stone and bone tools, beads, bangles, pendants and occasionally animal sacrifices. Figurines and ornaments of sea shell, limestone, turquoise, lapis lazuli, sandstone and polished copper have been found. By the 4th millennium BC we find much evidence of manufacturing. Technologies included stone and copper drills, updraft kilns, large pit kilns and copper melting crucibles. Button seals included geometric designs.

Related Topics:
Farming - South Asia - Balochistan, Pakistan - Mehrgarh - 7th millennium BC - Wheat - Barley - Sheep - Goat - Cattle - Pottery - 6th millennium BC - Settlement - Burial - Basket - Stone - Tool - Bead - Bangle - Pendant - Animal sacrifice - Figurine - Sea shell - Limestone - Turquoise - Lapis lazuli - Sandstone - Copper - 4th millennium BC - Manufacturing - Technologies - Drill - Kiln - Crucible - Seals

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By 4000 BC a pre-Harappan culture emerged, with trade networks including lapis lazuli and other raw materials. Villagers domesticated numerous other crops, including peas, sesame seed, dates, and cotton, plus a wide range of domestic animals, including the water buffalo which still remains essential to intensive agricultural production throughout Asia today. There is also evidence of sea-going craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal, India, perhaps the world's oldest sea-faring harbor. Judging from the dispersal of artifacts the trade networks integrated portions of Afghanistan, the Persian coast, northern and central India, Mesopotamia (see Meluhha) and Ancient Egypt (see Silk Road).

Related Topics:
4000 BC - Harappa - Trade - Lapis lazuli - Village - Pea - Sesame seed - Dates - Cotton - Water buffalo - Agricultural - Asia - Sea-going - Lothal - India - Afghanistan - Persia - Mesopotamia - Meluhha - Ancient Egypt - Silk Road

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan, discovered that these peoples in the Indus Valley Civilization had knowledge of medicine and dentistry as early as circa 3300 BC. The Indus Valley Civilization gains credit for the earliest known use of decimal fractions in a uniform system of ancient weights and measures, as well as negative numbers (see Timeline of mathematics). Ancient Indus Valley artifacts include beautiful, glazed stone faïence beads.

Related Topics:
Mehrgarh - Pakistan - Indus Valley Civilization - Medicine - Dentistry - 3300 BC - Decimal fractions - Ancient weights and measures - Negative number - Timeline of mathematics - Indus Valley - Faïence

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Indus Valley Civilization boasts the earliest known accounts of urban planning. As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and (recently discovered) Rakhigarhi, their urban planning included the world's first urban sanitation systems. Evidence suggests efficient municipal governments. Streets were laid out in perfect grid patterns comparable to modern New York. Houses were protected from noise, odors and thieves. The sewage and drainage systems developed and used in cities throughout the Indus Valley were far more advanced than that of contemporary urban sites in the Middle East.

Related Topics:
Indus Valley Civilization - Urban planning - Harappa - Mohenjo-daro - Rakhigarhi - Sanitation - New York - Sewage - Drainage - Indus Valley - Middle East

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

See also

• Civilizations in human history