World History - Chapter 1

  1. What is the definition of history?
    written and other recorded events of people
  2. What is prehistory?
    time before writing was invented
  3. What is an archaeologist?
    a scientist who examines objects to learn about the human past
  4. Define oral traditions
    stories passed down by word of mouth
  5. What is geography?
    the study of the Earth's surface and the processes that shape it
  6. What do scientists do to learn about prehistory?
    they sift through the dirt of prehistoric camps to find bones, tools and other objects
  7. Why are historians interested in oral traditions?
    They tell how a society lived and what people considered important.
  8. What is a hominid?
    A modern human or a member of an earlier group that may have included ancestors or relatives of modern humans
  9. What is the stone age?
    A period of time during which hominids made lasting tools and weapons mainly from stone; the earliest known period of prehistoric culture
  10. What is a nomad?
    a person who has no settled home
  11. Define domesticate.
    to adapt wild plants or tame wild animals and to breed them for human use
  12. When did hominids learn to use fire?
    between 1,400,000 and 500,000 years ago
  13. Why was it important that hominids learned how to start fires?
    They could now move to colder climates.
  14. What was life like during the stone age?
    Hominids gathered food, hunted and moved around when food supplies ran low.
  15. What are the three periods of the Stone Age?
    The Old Stone Age, the Middle Stone Age and the New Stone Age.
  16. How was the Middle Stone Age characterized?
    By the use of more refined or advanced tools.
  17. How was the New Stone Age characterized?
    By the use of farming
  18. Did the Old Stone Age, Middle Stone Age and New Stone Age exist in the same time period?
    Yes.  Some societies were more advanced than others.
  19. Why didn't people need to be nomads anymore?
    They could farm and grow their own food.
  20. What role did men play in the New Stone Age?
    They were usually the hunters.
  21. What role did women play in the New Stone Age?
    They were responsible for gathering plant and seeds.
  22. Why were some places better for farming than others?
    Because plants need light, warmth and water.  
  23. How did domesticating animals help the hominids?
    People developed ready sources of meat, milk, wool and skins.
  24. Define irrigation.
    supplying land with water through a network of canals
  25. What is a surplus?
    having more than is needed
  26. Define artisan.
    A worker who is especially skilled at crafting items by hand
  27. What is civilization?
    A society with cities, a central government, job specialization, and social classes.
  28. What is a social class?
    A group of people with similar backgrounds, incomes and ways of living.
  29. How did farming affect families?
    It allowed parents to have more children since they could feed them.
  30. What kind of items did artisans make?
    Baskets, leather goods, tools, pottery and cloth.
  31. Where did early Cities form?
    Along large rivers because of the need for a water supply and materials to build shelters.  Also because the soil was good for farming.
  32. How were cities different from farming villages?
    They had large public buildings that were used to store surplus grain, worship gods and buildings where people could buy and sell goods.  They also had workers with a variety of occupations.
  33. Why did governments form?
    They helped to keep order and provide services.  They settled disputes and manage public building and irrigation projects.
  34. How is bronze made?
    By heating rock to high temperatures to separate the metal copper from the rock, and mixing it with tin (another metal).
  35. Why was bronze important?
    Because it was harder than copper and it could be used to make weapons, tools, helmets and shields more durable.
  36. When did the Bronze Age begin?
    When artisans discovered they could make bronze.
  37. What is a trader?
    A person who took valuable items such as pottery, tools, weapons, baskets cloth and spices to faraway cities to trade for food and goods to bring home.
  38. Why was the invention of the wheel and axel important?
    Because traders could load up goods into carts and push them around.  It meant more goods could be transported further and more easily.
  39. How did prosperity lead to the development of social classes?
    It grouped people based on how valuable they were to the society.  The more prosperous (or valuable) the higher the social class.
  40. Who was the most powerful person in cities?
    The king
  41. Who made up the next most important cl;asses?
    Priests and nobles (government officials and military officers)
  42. Below Priest and Nobles were....
    Artisans, small traders and merchants
  43. Who was the lowest ranked free members of society?
    Common workers and farmers.
  44. Who was in the lowest social class?
    Slaves, who were most often household servants and laborers.
Author
pbheitkamp
ID
169928
Card Set
World History - Chapter 1
Description
Chapter 1
Updated