Monday 12 November 2012

Monday 12 November 2012

Questions: Indus Valley

Why/why not can apply X's theory?

Was a there a leader or someone with higher post in the civilization?

Was there ever war or a major conflict that you know of?

How was art important to the Indus Valley population?

When was the Valley discovered (in modern times)?

What beliefs did they have?

What was their main source of food?

What primary sources (e.g. oracle bones/written records) have been used to study the Indus Valley?

Can you name three sources that you have used?

- Filippa

Monday 6 November 2012

Monday 6 November 2012

Civilization project: Application of theories
I judged whether or not the theories could be applied:

• Paul Wheatley - yes (cosmomagical city: revolves around a religious centre)
• Lewis Mumford - partially (agrees with Wheatley's, but there was no warfare due to expanding cities and controversy because of religion)
• Gerda Lerner - no (there is no evidence that women were superior to men or in any way worshipped or had higher status)
• Karl Marx - partially (there was a class system, but no major conflict between the classes, the working class supported the elite as mentioned in a source)

I will present Paul Wheatley's and Lewis Mumford's theories:

Theories:

Paul Wheatley's cosmomagical theory

Wheatley's Cosmomagical city is the theory that mostly applies to the Huang He's Shang dynasty. The ancient capital has been identified as Shangqiu. The Shang city had a huge religious center where the king lived and worked with his family. The royal court along with high officials were also active in the centre. The centre was the political centre, but remained the centre of ancestral worship as well. 

The centre was the home to political hierarchy and contributed to the development of the complex economic and social system.

Even though there were many small polities, they all surrounded the capital and used it as its centre. 

The graves were of major importance to he dynasties of the Huang He civilization. Archaeologists have discovered  many of the Shang dynasty's graves in Shangqiu. In the graves there is evidence of more than one person in each grave. This is not interpreted as one grave for multiple people, but a grave for one person where humans were sacrificed for the dead person. Human sacrifice was common in the Shang dynasty and was part of their religious belief. This evidence contributes to the possibility to apply the Cosmomagical theory.

Lewis Mumford's theory

Mumfords theory agrees with Wheatley's since they both believe that a city revolved around a religious centre. However Mumford's theory says that many cities of different religions expanded to the extent that they grew together. The growing together resulted in warfare and conflict. There was no war between cities during the Shang dynasties rule, therefore Mumford's theory cannot be applied to the Shang dynasty's rule of the Huang He civilization.  

- Filippa

Monday 22 October 2012

Monday 22 October 2012

Civilization project:

Civilization: Huang He civilization of eastern China.
Group members: Me (Filippa), Malin, Philip H, Felicia and Viggo

Plan:
We will focus on one dynasty of the civilization: The Shang dynasty
We divide tasks evenly and complete them individually. Then we meet up and complete a powerpoint presentation and practice the presentation.
Monday 6 November: All individual tasks understood and started
Wednesday 14 November: All tasks completed. We put together the powerpoint and practice the entire presentation.

My main task:
Presenting a primary source and interpret it.

- Filippa

Monday 8 October 2012

Monday 8 October 2012 

Homework:

300 words on where Homo Sapiens come from:

I believe in the ‘Out of Africa Theory’ because the human ancestors originated from Africa and developed there. Early humans later migrated to other parts of the world, for example human ancestors moved to Europe and develop to Homo Sapiens Neanderthals in order to adjust to the chilly European climate, such as described in the power point presentation. All different parts of the world assisted in developing the Homo species in different ways, but the species evolved in Africa because the conditions were right there for survival. When they had developed more they moved around in Africa, but eventually they moved abroad. We think this is because the Homo species differed too much from the Australopithecus to live together. When the homo species were developed enough to be called Homo sapiens modern they retreated back to the place where they first evolved, South Africa, because the conditions were, as mentioned earlier, right there for development. 

Civilization:

• Common elements discussion

• Religion (pyramids, ziggurats, bath houses)

• River (flood banks, fertile land around)

• Writing (hieroglyphics, cuneiform)

• Social hierarchy (pyramids, slaves, kings)

• Agriculture (irrigation systems)

• Exchange of goods (Mesopotamia network)

• Civil loyalty

People thought of themselves to belong to somewhere e.g. the people in the civilizations felt they were part of a city rather than a tribe, shift from tirbe to city (citizens/nationality).

• Innovative civilizations

• Mesopotamis – Iraq

• Nile – Egypt

• Indus – India

• Huang He – Eastern China

• Mesoamerica – Mexico

• Andes Mountains – West South America

• Niger – America

All the first cities come from Mesopotamia; they are totally unique not copied whatsoever. Any other city not on the list is defused.

Theory and criticism:

Wheatley's:

The Cosmo-magical City:

• Organized around a religious centre, even before urban civilizations people came together at the religious centre frequently. Important to mix genes from different tribes to get a clean genetic code.

• Used magic: Predicted the future through rituals. This magi communicated with the ‘cosmos’ in other words the gods, hence the ‘Cosmo-magical’ name.

• The religious centre controlled everything in the city (exercising control) administrative buildings around.

Mumford:

Criticisms of Urbanizations:

• Urbanizations leads to continuous warfare, evidence e.g. wall around the city, weapons.

• Two cities will overlap and go to war, fight about land.

• Power and religion is a destructive mix. Religious war is the worst because it is irrational and can’t be resolved because opinions and beliefs will always disagree.

• Enemies become inhuman to each other which leads to extreme and gruesome actions e.g. slaughtering of children and women.

Marx:

• Urbanization leads the beginning of ‘class struggle’ and separation.

• Marx was first an historian.

• Society becomes split into different groups (if this is evident in a civilization Marx theory is correct but there must be evidence of competition between groups).

Lerner:

• Female power

• Urbanizations begins the subjugation (down fall) of women

• Agrees with Mumford’s theory because when groups of people meet warfare is inevitable and men are stronger in warfare i.e. the men gain power because they are better fighter (and don't have to deal with pregnancy etc.).

- Filippa

Monday 24 September 2012

Monday 24 September 2012

Continuity (Universal):

(Upper Paleolithic)

-          Tools

Ke

Aurignacian (ergonomic)

o   Solutrean (handles, sharp, thin)

o   Magdalenian (bones)

-          Art

o   Cave painting

o   Portable art

-          Self decoration

o   Beads

o   Red ochre

-         Religion

o   Most controversial because it cannot be proven

o   Anthropomorphic

o   Animal worship

o   Proven through cave painting

-          Burials

o   Grave goods e.g. food, beads, animals

o   Red ochre

o   Possible to see signs of status in graves today but not in the Paleolithic period because there was no hierarchy.

Change (unique to a time):

•           Hunter/gatherer
•           Nomadic lifestyle

The Stone Age as a Utopia

•           Absence of major conflict
•           Egalitarian society (equal society)
•           Female power

 Hunting/gathering society

-         Men

o   Hunting

o   Brought in 30% of food

o   Meat

o   Periodically travelling

-          Women

o   Gathering

o   Brought in 70% of food

o   Gives women an economic advantage

o   Grains, pulses, wild vegetables, wild fruits, shell fish, fire wood

o   Best food of the Stone Age: shell fish

o   Women always center of the community

o   Childrearing, passing of cultural tradition

Theories why women were more dominant in Paleolithic times:

Men had little contact with children and could therefore not influence them as much as women could. Men were away while women were at home taking care of the domestic responsibilities. Gender roles are determined by economic systems and society. In Paleolithic times there was a different economic system and society worked and thought differently to today.

.

Venus of Willendorf (Germany): oldest human depiction

- Filippa

Monday 17 September 2012

Monday 17 September 2012

The Stone Age:  50 000 BP-10 000 BP

Characteristics:

•          Hunter/gatherers (the economic system of the time)
•          Nomadic/semi-nomadic
•          Tools made from stone, wood and bone

Absence of:

•           Pottery
•           Metals
•           Farming
•          Domesticated animals

Maths of the community:

•         Lived in extended families of five
•         Five of those families lived together to maintain everything they needed
•         They only needed to extend gene pool, therefore an estimated 19 groups of 25 people were in one community

San people of SA:

•           Unchanged for 20 000 years
•           Complete stone age way of life
•           Khoisan still lives today
•           Used wood, stone and bone
•           No domestication of animals
•           No pottery
•          No metals
•          Remained ‘Stone Age’ because they had no contact with the modern world. They   also did not need to change.

The Great Leap Forward: Behavioural Revolution

•           Rapid technological advancement
•           Art
•           Burial
•           Self decoration
•           Religion

1.       The earliest tool kits Mousterian: 120 000-35 000 BCE

Before Neandethal there were no ‘made’ tools.

Neanderthal OR Homo Sapiens modern created this flint tool:

•           Multi purpose tool
•           Stays the same for 90 000 years
•           Does not develop
•           Produced by napping them
•            Flint is theorized to come from sponge that was compressed by earth and old plants over millions of years at the bottom of the sea.

2.       The earliest tool kits Aurignacian: 40 000-30 000 BCE

•           More advanced,
•           More useful
•           Ergonomic – easily held and comfortable
•           Passed on to your children
•         Skills necessary to make them (advanced napping)

3.       The earliest tool kits Solutrean 20 000-17 000 BCE

•         Pressure used to make it, apply pressure on the flint stone to produce flakes like  sharp blades.
•        Developed a handle

4.       The earliest tool kits Magdalenian: 17 000-12 000 BCE

•       Made out of bone
•       Usually used to catch fish
•       First decorated tool, suggests great sophistication

Paleolithic – second part of the Stone Age

Upper Paleolithic Burials

-          Ritualized burials, common practices among groups

-          Use of grave goods

-          Red ochre – a type of dye (liquid iron)

-          No sign of status

-          Female shaman

-          Wrapped in strings of beads – the children had more beads

-          All graves around this time contained goods e.g. tools, arts, jewelry

Upper Paleolithic Art

-          Portable art: 25 000 BP

-          Cave painting:

o   18 000 BP

o   From Lascaux, France

o   Diluted colour in the mouth and spat to create an image

Upper Paleolithic Self Decoration

-          Use of red ochre

-          Production of beads

-          Exchange

-          Purpose

o   Social

o   Religious

-          Different regions make different types of decoration

o    Coastal areas e.g. shells

o   Mountainous areas e.g. semi-precious stones

o   In land areas e.g. (animal products) ivory

Upper Paleolithic Religion

-          Make sense of their world

o   Anthropomorphic imagery – images of animals with human spirits

o   Animism – belief that all objects have spirit in them

o   Apotropia – symbols that protect from evil e.g. dream catchers

o   Ancestor worship – people slept in a tent with a buried ancestor in the middle, displayed skulls in their homes.

-          Questionable theory

o   Assumption – people ‘think’ it is religious

o   Anthropological studies

- Filippa

Monday 10 September 2012

Classwork

Definitions:

Primary evidence – Sources made at the time e.g. photos

Secondary evidence – Sources made afterwards based on impression (subjective) e.g. text book

Australopithecus                                                                                                                                                             Australo – southern Pithecus – ape

Neanderthal – adapted to cold climate. Shorter limbs, flat nose for controlling temperature, recovered from injuries well.

Theories of evolution:

1.       Out of Africa – USA liberals 1960’s – 2000: 200 000 BP 95% DNA from Africa, pattern found around the world

2.       Multi regional – Oldest theory 1880’s

Timeline of how Homo sapien modern diverted

50 000 BP Start making art, jewllery, religious images, sophisticated tools

Today

200 000 BP

                      

Latest evidence:

1.       Homo florensis

2.       Neanderthal – up to 4%

3.       Homo denisovon - ?%

Where do Homo sapiens modern come from?

- Filippa

Monday 3 September 2012

Class work

What do Historians do?

-          Collect evidence

-          Create theories

Theories change over time

-           New evidence

-           New ways of looking at old evidence e.g. carbon dating

-          Advanced technology and science

         Human origin

species	earliest and latest date (where known)	continent/country	earliest date of discovery	skull size in cc	height in cm
Homo Sapiens	130 000 BP	Germany, Europe	August 1856	1450	150
Australopithecus Afarinsis	3.2 million BP	Ethiopia, Africa	1974	400	90-120
Homo Erectus	200 000 BP - 900 000 BP	Indonesia, Asia	1891	900	140
Homo Sapiens modern	75 000 BP - 115 000 BP	South Africa, Africa	1967	1400	157
Homo Habilis	100 000 BP - 7 million BP	Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Africa	1962 - 1964	650	104
Homo Sapien (archaic)	200 000 BP - 500 000 BP	Australia, Oceania	1972	1200	150
Australopithecus Africanus	2 million BP	South Africa, Africa	1924	485	107

Questions:

1.       Based on the evidence available in the 1860’s our ancestors would be thought to have originated from Europe because the first Homo sapiens remains were discovered in Dusseldorf, Germany, which is in the European continent.

2.       Based on the evidence available in the 1890’s our ancestors would be thought to have originated from Asia because the Homo erectus remains were found in the Asian country Indonesia. These later discovery changed the theory that our ancestors originated from Europe.

3.       Based on the evidence available in the 1930’s our ancestors would be thought to have originated from Africa because the Australopithecus Africanus remains were found in South Africa. This discovery of 1924 changed the theory that our ancestors originated from Asia.

  Chronologically organized table:

species	earliest and latest date (where known)	continent/country	earliest date of discovery	skull size in cc	height in cm
Australopithecus Afarinsis	3.2 million BP	Ethiopia, Africa	1974	400	90-120
Australopithecus Africanus	2 million BP	South Africa, Africa	1924	485	107
Homo Habilis	1.5 million BP – 2 million BP	Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Africa	1962 - 1964	650	104
Homo Erectus	900 000 BP – 200 000 BP	Indonesia, Asia	1891	900	140
Homo Sapiens (archaic)	500 000 BP - 200 000 BP	Australia, Oceania	1972	1200	150
Homo sapiens neanderthalis	130 000 BP	Germany, Europe	August 1856	1450	150
Homo sapiens modern	115 000 BP - 75 000 BP	South Africa, Africa	1967	1400	157

One pattern noticeable is that the species’ height increases the closer it gets to a modern Homo sapiens. Another pattern is that the skull size increases up to Homo sapiens, but then decreases for Homo sapiens modern.

Theories of where Homo sapien modern originate from:

Theory 1.

Based on the evidence from the map, Homo sapiens modern originate from South Africa. This is because the earliest human ancestral remains, Australopithecus, were discovered in southern east Africa. We believe that the earliest remains connect to the latest remains because they come from the same part of the same continent. We therefore assume southern east Africa has the conditions for humans to evolve and develop to what Homo sapiens are today.

Theory 2.

All different parts of the world assisted in developing the Homo species in different ways, but the species evolved in Africa because the conditions were right there for survival. When they had developed more they moved around in Africa, but eventually they moved abroad. We think this is because the Homo species differed too much from the Australopithecus to live together. When the homo species were developed enough to be called Homo sapiens modern they retreated back to the place where they first evolved, South Africa, because the conditions were, as mentioned earlier, right there for development.

- Filippa