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AP World Term Quiz 1
Term | Definition |
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hunting and gathering | means of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of sedentary agriculture; normally typical of band social organization. |
civilization | societies with reliance on sedentary agriculture, ability to produce food surpluses, and existence of nonfarming elites, along with merchant and manufacturing groups. |
Paleolithic | the Old Stone Age ending in 12,000 B.C.E.; typified by use of evolving stone tools and hunting and gathering for subsistence. |
Neolithic | the New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; period in which adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animals accomplished. |
nomads | cattle- and sheep-herding societies normally found on the fringes of civilized societies; commonly referred to as "barbarian" by civilized societies. |
"savages" | societies engaged in either hunting and gathering for subsistence or in migratory cultivation; not as stratified or specialized as civilized and nomadic societies. |
culture | combinations of ideas, objects, and patterns of behavior that result from human social interaction. |
Homo sapiens | the species of humanity that emerged as most successful at the end of the Paleolithic. |
Neanderthals | species of genus homo that disappeared at the end of the Paleolithic. |
band | a level of social organization normally consisting of between 20 and 30 people; nomadic hunters and gatherers; labor divided on a gender basis. |
agrarian revolution | occurred between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; transition from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture. |
Natufian complex | preagricultural culture; located in present -day Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon; practiced collection of wild barley and wheat to supplement game; large settlement sites. |
matrilocal | a culture in which young men upon marriage go to live with the bride's family. |
matrilineal | family descent and inheritance traced through the female line. |
pastoralism | a nomadic agricultural life-style based on herding domesticated animals; tended to produce independent people capable of challenging sedentary agricultural societies. |
Huanghe or Yellow river basin | site of the development of sedentary agriculture in China. |
Mesoamerica | Mexico and Central America; along with Peru, site of development of sedentary agriculture in western hemisphere. |
Jericho | early walled urban culture based on sedentary agriculture; located in modern Israel-occupied West Bank near Jordan river. |
Çatal Huyuk | early urban culture based on sedentary agriculture; located in modern southern Turkey; larger in population than Jerico, had greater degree of social stratification. |
Bronze Age | from 4000 to 3000 B.C.E.; increased use of plow, metalworking; development of wheeled vehicles, writing. |
Mesopotamia | literally "between the rivers"; the civilizations that arose in the alluvial plain of the TigrisEuphrates river valleys. |
potter's wheel | a technological advance in pottery making; invented ca. 6000 B.C.E.; encouraged faster and higherquality ceramic pottery product. |
Sumerians | people who migrated into Mesopotamia ca. 4000 B.C.E.; created the first civilization within region; organized area into citystates. |
cuneiform | a form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedgeshaped stylus and clay tablets. |
city-state | a form of political organization typical of Mesopotamian civilization; consisted of agricultural hinterlands ruled by an urbanbased king. |
Epic of Gilgamesh | the first literary epic; written down ca. 2000 B.C.E.; included story of the Great Flood. |
ziggurats | massive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple connections. |
animism | a religious outlook that recognizes gods in many aspects of nature and propitiates them to help control and explain nature; typical of Mesopotamian religions. |
Sargon I of Akkad | ruler of citystate of Akkad; established the first empire in Mesopotamian civilization ca. 2400 B.C.E. |
Babylonian Empire | unified all of Mesopotamia ca. 1800 B.C.E.; collapsed due to foreign invasion ca. 1600 B.C.E. |
Hammurabi | the most important Babylonian ruler; responsible for codification of the law. |
Aknenaton | Egyptian pharaoh of the New Kingdom; attempted to establish monotheistic religion replacing the traditional Egyptian pantheon of gods. |
pyramids | monumental architecture typical of Old Kingdom Egypt; used as burial sites for pharaohs. |
mummification | act of preserving the bodies of the dead; practiced in Egypt to preserve the body for enjoyment of the afterlife. |
hieroglyphs | form of writing developed in ancient Egypt; more pictorial than Mesopotamian cuneiforrn. |
patriarchate | societies in which women defer to men; societies run by men and based upon the assumption that men naturally directed political, economic, and cultural life. |
Kush | African state that developed along the upper reaches of the Nile ca. 1000 B.C.E.; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries. |
Yahweh | the single god of the Hebrews; constructed a covenant with Jews as his chosen people. |
monotheism | the exclusive worship of one god; introduced by Jews into Middle Eastern civilization. |
Minoans | a civilization that developed on Crete ca. 1600 B.C.E.; capital at the palace complex of Knossos. |
Mycenae | the 1st civilization to emerge on the Greek mainland; destroyed ca. 1000 B.C.E. |
Phoenicians | seafaring civilization located on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean; established colonies throughout the Mediterranean. |
Hittites | an IndoEuropean people who entered Mesopotamia ca. 1750 B.C.E.; destroyed the Babylonian Empire; swept away ca. 1200 B.C.E. |
Indus river valley | river flows from sources in the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea; location of Harappan civilization. |
monsoons | seasonal winds crossing the Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia; during the summer they bring rain. |
Harappan civilization | first civilization of the Indian subcontinent; emerged in Indus river valley ca. 2500 B.C.E. |
Harass and-Dar | major urban complexes of Harappan civilization; laid out on planned grid pattern. |
Aryans | Indo-European nomadic, warlike, pastoralists who replaced Harappan civilization. |
Vedas | Aryan hymns originally transmitted orally; written down in sacred books from the 6th century B.C.E. |
India | chief deity of the Aryans; depicted as a hard-drinking warrior. |
daises | Aryan name for indigenous people of the Indus river valley region; regarded as societally inferior to Aryans. |
caste system | rigid system of social classification introduced by Aryans. |
varnas | clusters of caste groups; four social castes |
polygamy | marriage practice in which one husband had several wives; present in Aryan society. |
polyandry | marriage practice in which one woman had several husbands; recounted in Aryan epics. |
patrilineal | social system in which descent and inheritance is passed through the male line; typical of Aryan society. |
Huanghe river | river flowing from the Tibetan plateau to the China Sea; its valley was site of early Chinese sedentary agricultural communities. |
Ordos bulge | located on Huanghe river; region of fertile soil; site of Yangshao and Longshan cultures. |
loess | fine-grained soil deposited in Ordos bulge; created fertile lands for sedentary agricultural communities. |
Yangshao culture | a formative Chinese culture located at Ordos bulge ca. 2500 to 2000 B.C.E.; primarily an intensive hunting and gathering society supplemented by shifting cultivation. |
Longshan culture | a formative Chinese culture located at Ordos bulge ca. 2000 to 1500 B.C.E; based primarily on cultivation of millet. |
Yu | a possibly mythical ruler revered for construction of a system of flood control along the Huanghe river valley; founder of Xia kingdom. |
Xia | China's first, possibly mythical, kingdom; ruled by Yu; no archaeological sites yet discovered. |
Shang | 1st Chinese dynasty; capital in Ordos bulge. |
vassal retainers | members of former ruling families granted control over peasant and artisan populations of areas throughout Shang kingdom; indirectly exploited wealth of their territories. |
extended families | consisted of several generations, including sons and grandsons of family patriarch and their families; typical of Shang China elites. |
nuclear households | husband, wife, and their children, and perhaps a few other relatives; typical of Chinese peasantry. |
oracles | shamans or priests in Chinese society who foretold the future through interpreting animal bones cracked by heat; inscriptions on bones led to Chinese writing. |
ideographic writing | pictograph characters grouped together to create new concepts; typical of Chinese writing. |
Zhou | originally a vassal family of the Shang; possibly Turkic in origin; overthrew Shang and established 2nd Chinese dynasty. |
Xian and Loyang | capitals of the Zhou dynasty. |
feudalism | social organization created by exchanging grants of land (fiefs) in return for formal oaths of allegiance and promises of loyal service; typical of Zhou dynasty. |
Mandate of Heaven | the divine source of political legitimacy in China; established under Zhou to justify overthrow of Shang. |
shi | probably originally priests; transformed into corps of professional bureaucrats because of knowledge of writing during Zhou dynasty. |
Shi Huangdi | first emperor of China; founder of Qin dynasty. |
Warring States period | time of warfare between regional lords following the decline of the Zhou dynasty in the 8th century B.C.E. |
Confucius | major Chinese philosopher born in 6th century B.C.E.; sayings collected in Analects; philosophy based on the need for restoration of social order through the role of superior men. |
Mencius | major follower of Confucius; stressed that humans were essentially good and that governments required the consent of their subjects. |
Xunzi | follower of Confucius; stressed that humans were inherently lazy and evil and required an authoritarian government. |
Laozi | Chinese Daoist philosopher; taught that governments were of secondary importance and recommended retreat from society into nature. |
Daoism | philosophy associated with Laozi; individual should seek alignment with Dao or cosmic force. |
Legalists | Chinese school of political philosophy; stressed the need for the absolute power of the emperor enforced through strict application of laws. |
Great Wall | Chinese defensive fortification built to keep out northern nomadic invaders; began during the reign of Shi Huangdi. |
Sunzi | author of The Art of War; argued that war was an extension of statecraft and should be fought according to scientific principles. |
Liu Bang | founder of the Han dynasty in 202 B.C.E. |
Han | dynasty succeeding the Qin ruled from 202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. |
scholar-gentry | Chinese class created by the marital linkage of the local landholding aristocracy with the office-holding shi. |
secret societies | Chinese peasant organizations; provided members financial support during hard times and physical protection during disputes with local aristocracy. |
forbidden city | imperial precinct within Chinese capital cities; only imperial family, advisors, and household were permitted to enter. |
Wang Mang | member of a powerful family related to the Han emperors through marriage; temporarily overthrew the Han between 9 and 23 C.E. |
eunuchs | castrated males used within households of Chinese emperors, usually to guard his concubines; became a political counterbalance to powerful marital relatives during later Han rule |
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