What is the first recognizable cultural activity of human beings?
Stone tool making
Most early human activity centered on...?
Gathering food
What is the relationship between tool making and meat eating in the Stone Age?
The increase in meat eating is linked to increased tool making
The development, transmission, and transformation of cultural practices and events are the subject of...?
History
Since the foraging lifestyle was not particularly unpleasant or hard, foragers had a great deal of time left for...?
Socializing, tool making, and creating art
What is NOT true about the transition to plant cultivation and animal domestication 10,000 years ago?
It was rapid and complete
The most efficient method of clearing land for agriculture was by using...?
Fire
Women played a major role in the transition to crop cultivation because....?
They were the primary gatherers of wild plant foods
The earliest transition to agriculture was...?
In the Middle East
Scholars feel that early domestication of animals did not provide...?
Transportation
The American continents contained very few domesticated animals because...?
There were few species suitable for domestication
The gradual adoption of agriculture transformed the world most by causing...?
Global population increase
How does the chapter suggest that farmers were able to displace foragers from fertile lands...?
The gradual peaceful infiltration on fertile lands
The religions of farming communities tended to focus on....?
An Earth Mother or female deity
Recent discoveries of large stones and burial chambers may indicate...?
Ancestor rituals
The growth of settled agricultural communities resulted in....?
Trade and craft specialization
The Neolithic town Catal Huyuk prospered from...?
Long-distance trade in obsidian, pottery, and cloth
Metal working in the late Neolithic period was used for...?
Decoration or in ceremonies
What is NOT generally considered to be an attribute of civilization?
The absence of social class divisions
Early societies developed civilizations in the floodplains of great rivers because the rivers and floodplains provided...?
Fertile silt and water for agriculture
Creation myths often provide a society with a...?
Satisfactory explanation of its environment
Mesopotamia was sometimes seen as a dangerous place to live by its inhabitants because of...?
Flooding
Agriculture in Mesopotamia depended on...?
Artificial canals and irrigation
The earliest historically documented people of Mesopotamia were the...?
Sumerians
What is NOT included in the Semitic family of languages?
Elamite
The term city-state refers to...?
An urban center and the agricultural hinterlands it controlled
In Mesopotamian cities, the temples...?
Housed the cult of the deity or deities
In the third millennium B.C.E., the political system that became dominant in Sumer was...?
A kingship with the support of priesthood and military
The first king to unite many Sumerian city-states under the control of one king was...?
Sargon
The Babylonian leader, Hammurabi, is best known for his...?
Law code
What motivated the Mesopotamian conquests for far-reaching territories?
The need for vital resources
Surprisingly, merchant activity in Mesopotamia took place without...?
Coins
Historians can infer that Mesopotamian society was made up of...?
Three classes
Women in Mesopotamian society had a lower status than in a hunter-gatherer society because of...?
The shift of the major role in food provision from women to men
What about women in Mesopotamia was NOT true?
They could initiate divorce
Mesopotamian gods were anthropomorphic, meaning that they...?
Were human-like in form and conduct
Mesopotamian priests...?
Inherited their positions from their fathers
The abundance or amulets suggests...?
The belief in the value of magic
The Mesopotamian writing system is called...?
Cuneiform
The Mesopotamians developed skill in bronze metallurgy. What was NOT considered an advantage to bronze over other metals?
It is inexpensive
Although Mesopotamia was "resource poor," it did have abundant...?
Clay
The culture that developed in Egypt was unique largely because of...?
Egypt's natural isolation and essential self-sufficiency
The annual flood of the Nile can best be characterized as...?
Fairly regular
What was NOT included among Egypt's natural resources?
Salt
A pivotal event in early Egyptian history was...?
The unification of all of Egypt under King Menes
According to Egyptian belief, the function assigned by the gods to the Egyptian kings was to maintain ma'at, or the...?
Divinely authorized order of the universe
The Mesopotamian law code is famous. What might account for the fact that Egypt did not create a similar code of law?
As a god on earth, the king was the source of all law
Egyptian administrative and governmental records were...?
Written on papyrus, an early form of paper
Compared to Mesopotamia, the Egyptian population...?
Was more rural and agricultural
Egypt's external interests were primarily concentrated on...?
Maintaining access to valuable raw materials
Slavery in ancient Egypt was...?
Limited, and of little economic significance
Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley civilizations were all...?
Based upon fertile floodplains and river valleys
Metal objects unearthed in the Indus Valley...?
Have been primarily jewelry and other decorative items
What was NOT one of the components of the "system failures" that brought down the Indus Valley cities?
That invaders from the north and east drove out inhabitants
According to the chapter, why was China's development unique?
It was geographically separated from the rest of East Asia
The crops of China vary by region...?
Wheat and millet in the north and rice in the south
The Chinese acquired silk by...?
Raising silk worms and pioneering silk cloth production
What did the practice of Feng Shui accomplish?
It orients buildings in harmony with heavens
During the Shang period, ancestor worship became important because...?
Ancestors had special influence with gods
What type of possessions were signs of status and nobility and had important ritual uses?
Bronze
The "Mandate of Heaven" meant that the ruler retained the right to rule as long as...?
He remained wise and principled guardian of his people
The period at the end of the Zhou period and just before Chinese unification is called...?
The Warring States Period
The Chinese political system which relied primarily on strict laws and punishments in order to compel the people to behave is called...?
Legalism
What is NOT one of the ways that Confucian philosophy attempts to create social harmony?
By emphasizing individual freedom
Two indigenous Chinese philosophies that emerged from the Warring States Period are...?
Confucianism and Daoism
The fundamental idea of Daoism can be summarized as...?
Accepting the world as you find it, avoiding useless struggles, and adhering to the "path" of nature
The concept of yin and yang represented the complementary nature of...?
Male and female roles in the natural order
Civilization emerged in Nubia because of...?
Its location and natural wealth
How did Nubia become the "corridor" for long distance trade before 3000 B.C.E.?
It connected sub-Saharan Africa with North Africa
Egypt became aggressive towards Nubia during the Middle and New Kingdom periods because...?
It sought to control Nubian gold mines
What is NOT evidence of Egyptian cultural influence on Nubia?
Actually, due to the overwhelming force of Nubian culture, Egyptians had no influence whatsoever on them
Why was the Nubian offer to aid Palestine a mistake?
The Assyrians invaded Egypt as retaliation, driving the Nubians southwards
Why did the center of power shift to Meroe in the fourth century B.C.E.?
It was a better location for agriculture and trade
In the Nubian kingdom's matrilineal system, the monarch who usually inherited the throne was the...?
Son of the dead king's sister
The duration and isolation of Early American cultures...?
Distinguished them from the world's other major cultural regions
What plants were domesticated and formed the staple of the Mesoamerican diet?
Corn, beans, and squash
The cultural core of early Olmec civilization was located at...?
San Lorenzo and La Venta
Why did the Olmec lay out their cities in alignment with paths of stars?
It reflects a strong belief in the significance of astronomical events
Why was Chavin de Huantar's location pivotal in its success?
It was located at the intersection of trade routes between the mountain valleys and the coastal lowlands
The Mesopotamians developed skill in bronze metallurgy. What advantage is there to bronze?
It can be melted and molded
The Egyptian creation myth presents the universe as orderly and generous. This is due to...?
The yearly flooding of the Nile
The culture that developed in Egypt was unique largely because of...?
Egypt's geographic isolation and natural environment
The Chinese family was considered to include...?
All generations, living and dead
Which of the following occurred as a result of the development of agriculture in societies that previously relied on hunting and gathering?
Populations' density increased
What was a major effect of the Neolithic Revolution?
The establishment of sedentary villages
The Indus Valley system of writing...?
Has not yet been deciphered
Farming was probably a more difficult way of life than foraging because...?
The diet was less diverse
What is meant by culture?
Learned patterns of expression and action
Crucial to Egypt's agriculture was...?
Its proximity to the Nile River
Which of the following were common phenomena in early Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and the Indus River Valley?
I. A complex writing system
II. Extensive irrigation
III. Long distance trade
IV. Centralization of civilization around navigable rivers
I, II, III, and IV
Creation myths generally are intended to provide a society with a...?
Satisfactory explanation of its environment
What is NOT true about the Shang Dynasty?
It used the concept of the Mandate of Heaven to justify its rule
What river is located by Harappa, Mehrgarh, Mohenjo-Daro, and Lothal?
The Indus River
The Neolithic Revolution began around 8,000 B.C.E. with the...?
Advent of sedentary agriculture and domestication of animals
Agricultural surpluses seem to have led most directly to...?
Specialized services and socially differentiated hierarchies
Compared to river valley cultures in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Chinese civilization...?
Probably developed after civilization in the Nile Valley and Southeast Asia
The Egyptian civilization was similar to the Sumerian civilization in...?
Its system of social stratification
The earliest civilizations in both the Eastern and Western hemispheres were similar in...?
Their practice of polytheism
The Indus Valley civilization...?
Relied heavily on communal planning
The early civilization with the least developed technology was...?
Mesoamerica
The roots of classical India included...?
The Aryan written language, Sanskrit
Shang China contributed to what?
The development of central government in China
Results of cultural diffusion among early civilizations included...?
The invention of the wheel
The Varna system was created by Aryans in order to...?
Create social order between groups
What was the long-term contribution of the Hebrew people?
Judaism
Naturalists first surmised that humans originated in...?
Africa
Modern research has found what percentage of human DNA to be identical to that of an ape?
98%
Homo Sapiens means...?
Wise human
Why is the name "Stone Age" misleading?
People used tools made out of many things, not just stone
What does NOT describe hunting and gathering bands?
The bands could be of any size
About how many hours do scholars estimate it took a member of a hunting-gathering band to secure food, clothing, and shelter for that day?
Three to five
What is NOT one of the theories that scholars have about why people made cave paintings?
To predict the future
What was NOT fundamental to the success of agriculture?
Long-distance trade
The first animal to be domesticated was the...?
Dog
What is NOT one of the reasons that people may have been drawn to agriculture?
Colder weather, which meant fewer animals
Agriculturalists produced more specialized material goods and art than hunter-gatherers because...?
Larger communities of people could spare some members from food production for more specialized activities
Creation myths do NOT...?
Record actual historical events for posterity
The physical and mental abilities that homo sapiens gradually acquired gave these human beings the capacity to adapt to new environments by...?
Altering their way of life, rather than by evolving physically as do other species
