Reference no: EM133659414
Assignment:
When we ponder the development of human societies, our thoughts often turn immediately to the first complex societies of Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa: here we see the appearance of all the characteristics that define a complex society, or "civilization": to wit, an agriculture-based economy; urbanization; specialization of labor; division of society into distinct classes; government by a permanent state, rather than by charismatic or powerful individuals; long-distance trade; influence over surrounding areas; a written language; an organized religion; and monumental architecture.
Bedazzled by the accomplishments of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Nubia, we frequently ignore prehistoric societies, deeming them primitive, dull, and beastly. Yet without the foundations laid by humans in late prehistory - particularly in the Neolithic Era - the rise of complex society would have been impossible. Discuss the economic, social, political, technological, and cultural developments of the Neolithic Era in Southwestern Asia, Northeastern Africa, and Southeastern Europe (i.e., the Balkans and Anatolia) down to around 4,000 B.C. (that is, BEFORE the development of the Sumerian, Egyptian, and Nubian states). How did Neolithic societies differ from those of the preceding Palæolithic Era? What economic, social, political, technological, and cultural developments took place in the Neolithic, and why were they important? In what ways did the rise of agriculture shape or facilitate other developments? How did the Neolithic Era's achievements foreshadow and facilitate the rise of the subsequent Mesopotamian and Egyptian (and Nubian) complex societies?
How did Neolithic societies differ from those of the preceding Palæolithic Era?
Paleolithic:
Neolithic:
What developments took place in each of the areas below the Neolithic Era, and why were they important?o Economic:
o Social:
o Political:
o Technological:
o Cultural:
1. In what ways did the rise of agriculture shape or facilitate other developments?
2. How did the Neolithic Era's achievements foreshadow and facilitate the rise of the subsequent Mesopotamian complex society?
3. How did the Neolithic Era's achievements foreshadow and facilitate the rise of the subsequent Egyptian (and Nubian) complex society?