Chapter 8: Food Production and the Rise of States Flashcards
(31 cards)
Preagricultural Developments: Mesoamerica
A similar shift toward more broad-spectrum hunting and gathering occurred in the New World at the end of the Paleo-Indian period, about 10,000 years ago.
Mesoamerica
Ground stone woodworking tools such as axes and adzes firstappeared, as did nut-processing tools such as mortars and pestles. Shellfish began to be exploited in some areas.
Why Did Broad-Spectrum Collecting Develop?
Climate Change, and Population Growth.
Neolithic means
means “of the new stone age”; the term originally signified the cultural stage in which humans invented pottery and ground-stone tools.
Consequences of the Rise of Food Production
Greater malnutrition can result from an over-dependence on a few dietary staples that lack some necessary nutrients.
Consequences of the Rise of Food Production
Over-dependence on a few sources of food may also increase the risk of famine because the fewer the staple crops, the greater the danger to the food supply posed by a weather-caused crop failure.
The Rise of Cities and States
Around 6000 B.C.it status begun. by about 3500 B.C., we can see many, if not all, of the conventional characteristics of civilization: Writings, craft specialist, wealth and status.
Archaeological Inferences about Civilization
Archaeologists generally assume that inequality in death reflects inequality in life, at least in status and perhaps also in wealth and power.
Some archaeologists think that states first evolved around 3500 B.C. in greater Mesopotamia, the area now shared by southern Iraq and southwestern Iran.
Henry Wright and Gregory Johnson
defined a state as a centralized political hierarchy with at least three levels of administration.
Formative Period1000 B.C. to 300 B.C.
The City and State of TeotihuacánIn A.D.100, this was a city of 80,000. By A.D.500, well over 100,000 people.
The Old Kingdom, Egypt3100 B.C.
Axum (or Aksum) state1st millennium A.D.
-Harappan civilization2300 B.C.
Theories about the Origin of the State
Irrigation
Local and long-distance trade
Population growth, circumscription, and war
Consequences of State Formation
Larger denser populationsMany people relieved of food productionSpecialistsArt, music literaturePolice, military, warMalnutrition, disease
The Decline and Collapse of States
Environmental degradationSoilHuman behaviorCatastropheSocial decadence
Marriage
A socially approved sexual and economic union, usually between a woman and a man, that is presumed, both by the couple and by others, to be more or less permanent, and that subsumes reciprocal rights and obligations between the two spouses and their future children
Why is Marriage Universal?
Gender division of labor
Prolonged infant dependency
Sexual competition
Postpartum requirements of other mammals and birds
Bride price (or bride wealth)
A substantial gift of goods or money given to the bride’s kin by the groom or his kin at or before the marriage
Bride service
Work performed by the groom for his bride’s family for a variable length of time either before or after the marriage
Economic Aspects of Marriage
Exchange of FemalesGift ExchangeDowryIndirect Dowry
Incest taboo
Prohibition of sexual intercourse or marriage between mother and son, father and daughter, and brother and sister
Whom Should One Marry? Arranged Marriages
In an appreciable number of societies, marriages are arranged; negotiations are handled by the immediate families or by go-betweens
Endogamy
The rule specifying marriage to a person within one’s own group (kin, caste, community)
Exogamy
The rule specifying marriage to a person from outside one’s own group (kin or community)
Cross-cousins
Children of siblings of the opposite sex. One’s cross-cousins are father’s sisters’ children and mother’s brothers’ children.
