Course Progress
Part of 2 Chapters
Chapter 1
Comparative History: Origins of Humanity & Ancient Civilizations
#Prehistory#Neolithic Revolution#Civilizations#Mesopotamia#Yellow River#Comparative History
Chapter 1: History of Everywhere - From Prehistory to Civilization
History is not a single line but an entanglement of countless lines occurring simultaneously across the globe. What was happening on the other side of the world at the same time?
1. Comparative Timeline: Stone Age (East vs. West)
Let’s look at the flow from tool usage in the Paleolithic to the start of settled life in the Neolithic Revolution.
| Period (Approx) | West / Near East | East Asia | Key Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 10,000 B.C. | Lascaux Cave paintings (Europe) | Peking Man (China), Jeon곡-ri (Korea) | Paleolithic: Chipped stone tools |
| 10k - 8k B.C. | Farming in Fertile Crescent | Jomon Pottery appear (Japan) | Neolithic Revolution: Birth of Agriculture |
| 6k - 4k B.C. | Painted Pottery (Mesopotamia) | Yangshao Culture (Yellow River), Comb-pattern (Korea) | Settled life and village formation |
2. The Four Major Civilizations (3500 - 2500 B.C.)
Human civilizations emerged near large river basins, either simultaneously or with slight time gaps.
- Mesopotamia: Tigris & Euphrates Rivers. ==Cuneiform==, development of city-states.
- Egyptian: Nile River. ==Hieroglyphics==, Pyramids, belief in the afterlife.
- Indus: Indus River. Harappa & Mohenjo-daro, planned cities.
- Yellow River: Yellow River. Oracle bone script, foundations of ==Feudalism==.
3. Common Features of Civilizations
- River Basins: Access to fertile soil and water for irrigation.
- Social Hierarchy: Emergence of surplus agriculture and private property.
- Use of Writing: Need for records for governance and taxation.
- Bronze Age: Development of tools and the start of organized warfare.
Key Checklist
- What is the term for the massive shift from a hunter-gatherer economy to a production-based agricultural economy? (Answer: Neolithic Revolution)
- What was the name of the script used on clay tablets in Mesopotamia? (Answer: Cuneiform)
- What geographical feature do the four major civilizations share in common? (Answer: Large river basins)