Unit 1 The Concept of Civilisation Overview This unit sets the scene for our discussion of Caribbean civilisation by providing an overview of the concept of civilisation. We begin the unit, in Session 1, by reviewing the job of historians and their role in gathering and understanding information about past civilisations. In this initial discussion we will dispel the myth of ‘pre-history’ and examine some of the conditions under which written histories of past civilisations are created. In Session 2, we will examine the meaning and underlying assumptions about the term ‘civilisation’ and trace the beginning of civilisation and the role of culture in the context of civilisation, Session 3 will examine the factors that account for varying civilisations and the developmental markers, such as religion and literacy, that scholars use for the purposes of classifying civilisations. Key to this session is the understanding that all civilisations are to be ultimately judged on their ewn merit and not on a value system derived from any other civilisation, ‘The unit is divided into three sessions: Session 1: The Myth of Pre-history Session 2: Defining Civilisation and Culture Session 3: Varying CivilisationsUnit 1 Learning Objectives ee After completing this unit you should be able to: 1, Describe the role of historical enquiry in the recording of past civilisations; 2. Explain the myth of ‘pre-history’ and discuss why no one civilisation is ‘superior’ to another; Discuss the meaning of ‘culture’ in the context of ‘civilisation’; 4. Assess the factors that account for varying civilisations.Session 1 The Myth of Pre-history Introduction The historian David Lowenthal titled his book The Past is a Foreign Country in order to emphasise the fact that people today are so far removed from much of the historical past (in terms of time and geographical position), that in order to access the past we need special ‘passports’ or intellectual tools/ methodologies to reach them. These ‘passports’ consist of books about the past, which often give to us limited coverage of selected aspects of past happenings and civilisations. The ‘passport’ also provides methodologies that allow us to interpret the surviving relics of the past. While all students interested in the past can intuitively read and research much of this area, itis the job of historians to specially focus on the recovery and interpretation of the past. In order to recover the past, historians have developed many analytical tools and insights through which they are able to interpret the historical sources and present plausible explanations and understandings of past events and civilisations for people today to understand. These explanations and understandings used by historians are all contained within their writings atout the past. In this session we will examine the importance of a sense of history and the role of the historian in promoting a sense of history. Against this background we will examine the role of recorded history. Objectives On completing this session students should be able to: * discuss the significance of a sense of history; * identify the role of the historian in promoting a sense of history; * evaluate the factors that accounted for the recording of history. The value of a sense of history ‘The writings of historians are of value for two reasons. Firstly, by their content, these writings allow us to get information about past societies and ways of life of people and civilisations that may either be lost or otherwise inaccessible. Secondly, historians demonstrate the need to always be critical of our sources and to be open to alternate viewpoints and methodologies for appreciating the past. Indeed, historians routinely appreciate the past. This is an important first step for any student of Caribbean civilisation to understand. Much of the past is critiqued when compared with what has been accomplished today, without realising that many of the past accomplishments were quite significant at the time of their c-eation.Why then is it important for us to discuss the past and its nature? The answer to this question lies in the fact that the past is crucial to an understanding of present day identities and situational realities. Nationalism, for example, and the fact that Caribbean peoples call themselves West Indians, Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Grenadians, Cubans, Haitians, ete. are based on specific historical events and realities. Our social and. political constructs, which we use on a daily basis, can only make sense through an historical understanding of the region’s history. As a resuli, we can probably justify our exploration of Caribbean civilisations by highlighting just five of the many reasons why a sense of history is important for Caribean peoples. Firstly, the past is central to our sense of identity. Who we are today comes from an. understanding of our origins and how we have developed over time. Secondly, and related to the previous point, a sense of history also provides us with familiarity with the past. This is an important attribute of history because when objects / situations are familiar they become comfortable to us. By becoming familiar with the history of the Caribbean region we become comfortable not only with the varying nationalities, ethnic groups and traditions that comprise the region but we also become comfortable with who we are, especially in the context of other world civilisations and peoples. ‘Thirdly, a sense of history allows us to validate our current actions and understandings, Ina very real and practical way one sees this attribute at work, for example, in the law courts of the region on a daily basis. In this sense the past validates present attitudes and actions by affirming their resemblance tc former ones. Fourthly, the past is often called upon as a means of guidance. In this context the lessons of the past are often used to direct current and future actions. To this end the belief that one can ‘learn from. the past’ is often championed. Finally (fiithly), the past is often used as an escape route from the pressures and hassles of the present. Often, many people harken back to the “good old days’ and reminisce on a period in time when the cost of living, crime and taxes may have been lower. Additionally. some just remember past events or periods in their lives when they believe life was simply ‘better’ or ‘more enjoyable’. This nostalgic look back is a part of the human condition and we all, at some point, often briefly use this quality of the past, whether it be fora few moments or for extended periods of time. The Role of the Historian Carl Becker 1953, quoted by Snyder (1972), defined the historian as someone who develops, in one way or another the “art ficial extension of social memory” by recovering, through the evidences of the past, aspects of what happened. Historians are thus charged with the responsibility of recovering and interpreting the past, not only for their own entertainment or enlightenment, or that of like-minded colleagues, but are also charged with the responsibility of recovering the past for the entire society. As such the idea of the “artificial extension of social memory” points to the fact that since most people do not research the past, they instead rely on the historians’ work to give to them the idea of past history and civilisations. What this means, in a practical sense, is that the idea of the past that most people have comes about as a result of the ideas that historians give to them about the past. Immediately, therefore, we can appreciate why an understanding of historians and what they do is so important for a broader understanding of the psyche and aspirations of the entire society.Categorising Sources of Information Historians categorise the sources of teir information into one of two basic categories namely primary and secondary sourze materials. A primary source or document refers to one that is a contemporary source. This means that the source, whether it be a document, artefact or other piece of surviving evidence, has been generated at the same time of the focus of the study. Thus an eighteenth century sugar plantation account book is a primary source for a study of the eighteenth century sugar estates in say, Jamaica, while a daily newspaper of the present day is a primary source for a contemporary study of national polities, for example, in any named Caribbean territory. A secondary work or document is one that has been written by the historian on the basis of the primary document. An easy way that many students use to differentiate primary from secondary sources is to always keep in mind that the secondary source is usually one step away from the primary document and it is usually written about or from the primary source. For example, a book about Jamaica written by a historian is a secondary source. However, it may contain in it references or extracts from primary sources. Indeed secondary sources often have primary documents within them and, depending on the nature of the study, and over time, a secondary source can also become a primary source. Sources, whether they are primary or secondary, come to the historian either as written or non-written sources, Written sources usually come to us inscribed or written on stone, parchment, papyrus, paper and on computer readable files. Non-written sources consist largely of human remains, buildings or remains of building, artefacts, art, films, photos, textiles, etc. Of particular note in this category of unwritten sources are the many insights into the past that come down to us as oral traditions, folklore and folk traditions. Regardless of the way in which the sources come to the historian, a basic rule that the historian observes is that “No historical source can be left to speak for itself”. This means that the sources must be properly interrogated by the historian in order to gain the maximum information and value from each fragment. By pursuing this course of action. the historian is often able to get more information from the source than even its original author intended it to give. This is done by subjecting the artefacts or sources to rigorous external and internal criticism which not only allows insights into the authenticity and meaning of the sources but also allows the historian to determine how best to use the sources within the existent historical literature. Methodology of the Historian In brief, the methodology of the historian consists of two primary techniques. The first is called external crit ym and the secend, internal criticism. When historians use external criticism they are concerned, primarily, with confirming the authenticity of a document. To achieve this the document/ source is tested to ensure, firstly, that it is not a forgery. During this phase of external criticisms historians verify language constructions and handwritings, as well as chemical composition of inks and papers to ensure that the source is authentic. Obviously then, historians utilise, intheir pursuit of verification of the historical source, the skills and tools of a number of auxiliary sciences including those related to radio carbon dating, Internal criticism is the second main methodological approach of historians and it differs from external criticism in that it assumes that the legitimacy of the document or other source has already been established by external criticism. Internal criticism now determines the historical value or use that can be made of the source within the construction of the historical narrative. To this end historians are now concerned with the meaning of the source and the ways in which its interpretation provides insights into the particular historical period or civilisation. This means that while a source could be authentic based on external criticism, e.g, the establishment of an eighteenth century sugar plantation journal as being just that, internal criticism would then reveal the biases or credibility of the evidence provided in the journal and how the historian could use this evidence. So then a plantation account written by a white sugar planter, which points out that the enslaved people were “lazy, dumb brutes,” when subjected to internal criticism may allow the historian to actually conclude that the evidence given offers riore evidence of the racial biases of the planter class, than insights into the work potential and intelligence of the enslaved people. While the questions and methodologies of the historian are, in fact, quite complex, it is enough for us to know that all historical writings are the end product of these two primary methodological queries. (More will be said on these points of representation and historical methodology in Unit 10) ACTIVITY 1.4 1. Identity in your national library or your national museum any primary and secondary ‘sources of historical information. 2. Discuss the role of the historian (if any) in making the historical information ‘public’. 6 Recorded versus Unrecorded History Students of history are often confronted with two definitions of ‘history’. Firstly, they are confronted with a definition of ‘history’ which references all that has ever happened in the past. This definition includes all human activity as well as every other event that has ever happened in the past. Sadly, however, because most of these activities and events went unrecorded, they are lost forever to contemporary society. The second definition of history confronting students, is one which refers to those human activities as well as events in time, which have been recorded by human hands. This definition of history can also be referred to as the recorded past. This recorded past has come down to us because it was written in one form or another by human hands and has also survived the ravages of time. This recorded past, by its very definition, is,therefore, limited because scientists and historians have estimated that less than ten percent of all human activity has ever been recorded. Asa consequence of the scarcity of written evidence generated by the pre-literate period, researchers have relied heavily on archaeological rather than on literary evidence. The archaeological evidence consists largaly of surviving remnants of the past whether they be bones, pieces of pottery or other remnants of the built environment. These sources are largely unintended ones and, therefore, chance has a great role to play in their survivability and recovery. The Pre-t iterate Period The pre-literate period lasted about five million years and tells us much about human life. This archaeological evidence is just as important for the reconstruction of the past as are the written records generated by later literate societies. Indeed, one of the pitfalls of literacy and of some of the historical literature is that they tend to ignore much of the mundane, or everyday, aspects of human living. This is so because with literacy civilisations tended to record only those aspects of their society that they deemed important. As a result the day-to-day activities and community beliefs usually went unrecorded in the early written sources. Nevertheless, while historians rely heavily on both definitions of history to recover the past, itis the literate aspects that provide the bulk of the material that can be easily understood and transferred into historical texts. It is clear from the preceding discussion that, in the study of the past, when we refer to the term ‘history’ we are usually referring to the second definition of history, that is, ‘recorded history’. This is the history we are most familiar with and which allows us comparatively easy glimpses into humanity’s past. It is, however, incorrect to say that the period before which we have records of the past is ‘pre-history’ or ‘prehistoric’. Perhaps a more accurate way to refer to this period is the ‘pre-literate’ period. By changing the referent to ‘pre-literate’ we highlight the point that history existed long before the art of writing and notation was invented. Additionally, by using the term’ pre- literate’ we realise that many human civilisations also existed (and still do) who did not record their existence in forms of writing that can be understood today. These societies also need to be understood and their existence needs to be seen not as ‘pre- historic’ but rather as ‘pre-literate’ Indeed, the history of many pre-literate societies and activities are constantly emerging as historians and scientists discover new ways to ‘read’ the early, non-literate fragments left by these societies and activities. These fragments consist not only of skeletal remains but consist also of other biological and non-biological historical fragments such as plants, micro-organisms, mineral deposits and geological formations. These surviving scraps of civilisation do have much to tell us and by giving us insights into the early history of the earth and its inhabitants, they dispel the idea of ‘pre-history’. Many stuclents of the past have often used the term ‘pre-history’ or ‘pre-historic’ to loosely refer to a period in time when they believed there was ‘no history’. These terms, one notes, are somewhat misleading as they unjustly define history as having an origin around the time that humans emerged or when humans were able to record their activities for posterity. Indeed such understandings are incorrect as they, consciously or 7not, privilege the recorded past over the unrecorded past. In order to solve this need for constant clarification between ‘history’ as being all that ever happened in the past, as opposed to ‘history’ as the recorded past, for the purposes of this course the term ‘pre-literate’ will be used to refer to periods that were not recorded by human hands. By ‘pre-literate’ we refer to those civilisations or occurrences that existed or came into being before the invention of writing. The art of writing itself serves not only a functional purpose as a means of recording the past but, as we will discover in Session 3 of this Unit, it has also come to be viewed as a means of assessing the state of development of a civilisation or culture. In the following section we will look at the importance and emergence of writing. Recording History The emergence of writing! Much of what contemporary scientists and historians know about past civilisations has come down to them not only through discovered artefacts, but also through the writings that many of the literate civilisations left behind. These civilisations recorded aspects of their life which, having survived the ravages of time, now provide contemporary researchers with important insights into how they lived. The invention of writing is, therefore, important for the recording of history as it allowed humankind to deliberately set about the task of recording aspects of the past that were considered noteworthy. This was especially important as it allowed for the recording not only of important events but also those aspects of life relating to the people’s customs and cultures - in a word it allowed for the recording of their civilisation. Indeed, the art of writing itself is often viewed as one of the fundamental tenets of civilisation, The importance of writing within the study of civilisations is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it allowed civilisations to codify their cultural practices so that they would be easier to pass on from one generation to the next and, secondly, these records of their civilisations today function as important storehouses of information for researchers interested in the recovery and understanding of these past civilisations. The invention of the art of writing was, therefore, a notable achievement that today aids in the recovery of past civilisations. The earliest forms of human records of the past were found on cave walls in the later palaeolithie periods. These consisted of drawings found on the walls of caves which ‘were inhabited by early humans. These drawings were not considered as real writing, by many historians and instead are usually referred to as pictograms because of thei pictorial forms. In order for inscriptions made by human hands to be classified as writing they need to satisfy three fundamental criteria. Firstly, they have to be conventionalised. What this means is that the marks must always be drawn in exactly the same way and must always be used to represent of refer to the same object. Secondly, the representations have to be able to not only refer to concrete objects such as people, animals and other "See Barnes (1969)fabricated or natural objects such as pottery, trees or rivers, but also to abstract concepts such as emotions. This means that emotions, such as happiness, joy and anger, must also be represented within a legitimate writing system. Thirdly, the writing system has to be able to be voiced: i.e. it has to have specific sounds within which the human voice could represent it. This means that a form cf writing had not only to be able to be written or inscribed on a writing medium such as rocks, papyrus or paper, but it needed to be voiced by the human mouth as well, One of the earliest examples of recognised writing in a civilisation was that of the Egyptians who, by about 3,000 B.C. Fad developed a writing system which utilised 24 hieroglyphic signs with a commensurate 24 consonantal sounds. Following on from the Egyptians, other cultures such as the Phoenicians and finally the Greeks, refined the alphabet and established a general word system and representation that today is used in the Western world. In order for their alphabet and its system of writing to become widespread, however, two additional supporting elements were needed: a medium on whieh to place the writing and an instrument through which the writing could be transferred onto the medium. The Development of Paper and Pens ‘The earliest forms of writing were chiselled into flat sheets of stone and onto columns. While impressive to look at and durable in terms of their resistance to the elements, these early inscriptions were tedious to make and were very difficult and bulky to transport and store. A more usable medium was needed if writing was to become commonplace. The Egyptians responcied to this problem of bulk by inventing much less bulky and much more portable writing mediums: papyrus and parchment. Papyrus was made from plant fibres and functioned as an early form of lightweight writing medium that was relatively durable and could be conveniently written upon, transported and. stored. Parchment served a similar function and differed from papyrus as it was the product of animal skins, not plants. Both mediums were used extensively until the development of paper. Paper, as we know it, was originally made by the Chinese using silk and the pulp of the mulberry tree. This early form of paper was refined by the Arabs, who produced a better grade of paper using cotton fibre, arcund 750 A.D. This paper was later further refined in Spain where flax was substituted for cotton and modern day linen paper came into being about 1250. The earliest forms of ink were made from mixtures of water with vegetable gum and soot. This was a very crude mixture and wide fluctuations in quality occurred. Later this mixture was refined by the inclusion of animal and vegetable dyes. This produced a better quality of ink with a wider range of colours available to the writer. Today, dyes are still used in inks, with a lowered reliance on natural colours and an increasing reliance on synthetic sources. In order to place the ink on paper to create writing, pens were also needed. The earliest pens were made from reeds, which were crafted by hand into sharp points. These were easily held by the human hand and manipulated as desired to create writing. The reeds were next replaced by quills, which were usually made from selected goose feathers.These remained in use for a long time until they were replaced around the nineteenth century with steel pens. The Emergence of Written History The earliest forms of written history wer2 probably provision, stock and materials lists, which served both civil and military purposes. These lists would have afforded leaders and kings an immediate assessment of their resources as well as provided a template upon which tax collections or tribute payments could be allocated and collected among various village groups and societies. Not only were lists made of tangible assets but early records were also kept concerning events like the rise and fall of river and ocean tides. These were very important events in the lives of early civilisations especially those societies located along the confluence of large rivers (estuarine societies) as their livelihood and continued existence often depended on these cycles. A good example of this type of record keeping has been left to us by Mesopotamian society, which was located on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Written historical records did not only tally the supplies of early villages and the cycles of flood and drought of river systems that surrounded them. Indeed, as societies developed, they found it necessary to record other aspects of their lives. Most important of which were their achievements. Those achievements were either individual activities done by outstanding members of the society who had performed acts of valour or who had made discoveries that benefited the society. Records were also made of intangible aspects of societies such as myths and stories of origin as well as those accounts that sought to explain natural phenomena, Many of these early written accounts formed the basis of the earliest religious writings. Nor were these the only aspects of society tobe recorded: discoveries made by early civilisations in areas like medicine were also recorded. These discoveries were recorded as either recipes for cures or as procedures to be followed (with the accompanying descriptions of the necessary equipment needed) to cure ailments Ultimately, with the creation of an alphabet and a system of writing together with a medium for recording events and a means of inseribing the medium through pens, humankind was able to record many aspects of past civilisations. These aspects have come down to us today and reflect the importance of a sense of the past to our contemporary existence, ACTIVITY 1.2 Without written information, many civilisations would never have a sense of the past. Discuss this statement in light of the existence of ‘unwritten history. 10Summary LL This session emphasised the importance of a sense of history to individuals and the region and highlighted the role of the historian in uncovering and interpreting historical information. Finally, the session highlighted the importance of ‘unwritten’ information in the building of historical data and emphasised that history pre-dates the written word.Session 2 Defining Civilisation and Culture Introduction The term ‘civilisation’ has often been described as problematic to define because it encompasses so much of human activity. Indeed it may be described as the collective expression of a group of people expressed through the peculiar world view they share(d). Indeed, many historians have pointed out that the term can be used to describe how people in different geographical and social settings perform many of their everyday activities such as recreatior, politics and religion and how they manifest these activities in settled communities. Because these activities are shared amongst a group of people, a civilisation can thus be described as the tangible expression of a communal understanding, The vagueness of this definition of civilisation must not be viewed as worrisome to students of Caribbean civilisation, simply because the boundaries that define one culture from another are also very vague and fluid. Indeed different cultures may share similar aspects of their world view but still, at the end of the day, remain classified as distinet and separate civilisations. As such a general category of civilisation may emerge, for example, ‘Amerindian’ or ‘pre-Columbian’ civilisation, but at the same time, based. on peculiarities of each group that comprise this main group, further divisions into “Arawaks’ or Taino’, ete. will also emerge. Whatever the categorisations that are made and the basis of such categorisations, the world today consists of many different civilisations. Some of these civilisations are dominant and continue to spread, for example, North American civilisation, while others have remained little known or have disappeared altogether, for example, the Aztec civilisation. Whatever the classification or status of any civilisation it would be helpful for us to begin our exploration by gaining some insights into the beginnings of human civilisation and the development and definition of culture. Objectives On completing this session students should be able to: + trace the emergence of ‘civilisation’; + define culture within the context of civilisations,4 The Beginnings of Civilisation? Scientists estimate that the earth may be as many as six billion years old and that the first human-like creatures appeared perhaps :hree to five million years ago in Africa. Some one to two million years ago, erect and tool-using early humans spread over much of Africa, Europe, and Asia. Our own specias, Homo sapiens, probably emerged some two hundred thousand years ago, and the earliest remains of fully modern humans date to about ninety thousand years ago. The earliest humans lived by hunting, fishing, and collecting wild plants. Only some ten thousand years ago did they learn to cultivate plants, herd animals, and make airtight pottery for storage. These discoveries transformed them from gatherers to producers and allowed them to grow in number and to lead a settled life. Beginning about five thousand years ago a far more complex way of life began to appear in some parts of the world. In these places humans learned haw to increase harvests through irrigation and other methods, making possible much larger populations. They came together in towns, cities, and other centres, where they erected impressive structures and where industry and commerce flourished. They developed writing, enabling them to keep inventories of food and other resources. Specialised occupations emerged, complex religions took form, and social divisions increased. These changes marked the birth of civilisation Defining Culture® Related to civilisation, and perhaps more properly seen as a subset of civilisation, is the idea of ‘culture’. Culture represents practices, life-styles, views and ways of life that vary between and among different groups of people all over the world. It does not only refer to the practices of large groups of people on islands or continents but, even within the island or continent, smaller groups can exhibit their own cultural traits. Culture can thus be broadly defined as a body of beliefs and practices in terms of which a group of people understand themselves and the world and organise their individual and collective lives (Parekh 2002). In a very broad sense then culture is the way of life of a people. Asa result it acts as a cementing factor that binds the members of a society together. Thus, for example, all Jamaicans can identify with each other, wherever in the world they may be, based on a shared language or love for a particular food such as ackee. But while culture in this sense can be a powerful unifying force, it can also divide because those people who do not belong to one culture usually see themselves as‘ different’ since they belong to another culture. This idea of difference has been well developed by the social critic Frederic Jameson who argues that when we consider the idea of culture, ‘we usually do so within particular cultural groups who always see different groups as the ‘other’. The idea of ‘other’ is one that stresses the idea of difference and which postulates that differences in culture may serve as barriers to integration. ee Craig tal (1987) ° See Storey (1968) and Smith (2000)This idea of ‘other’, is never value-free and from the outset of our discussion we realise that varying cultures are not just seen as ‘different’ but, sadly, we often apply a hierarchy of importance for different cultures, “he cultural critic Pierre Bourdieu expands on this nt and adds that the value that different cultures derive is the end result of a set of negotiated bargaining by different groups. While many groups may have been present at the initial bargaining, many others were not, and, as a resullt, their values were never recognised by the other groups. That is why, for example, when European cultural groups negotiated their own varying statuses the newly discovered regions of the ‘New World’ such as the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent and Africa were deemed to have ‘inferior’ cultures. Ultimately then, the establishment of a culture takes into consideration many of the characteristics peculiar to a group of people. As such it will include factors such as the organisation of production methods within the group, the structure of the family, the structure of institutions that exprass or govern social relationships, and even characteristic forms through which members of the society communicate. Culture, the theorists argue, is confined to human beings and it is what makes us different from all other members of the animal kingdom. Our cultures are therefore learnt and passed down from one generation to anothe:. Important for the transmission of our cultures are ideas of literacy and religion. (This icea of religion and literacy as cultural conduits will be developed further in Session 3 of this unit.) Ultimately culture can be understood under three broad definitions: 1. Asa chronological descriptive marker. In this sense ‘culture’ is reflective of a specific field of enquiry and the achievements attained therein. So, for example, the “Stone Age’ reflected a point of development of civilisations and these civilisations were classified and judged according to their proximity to this specific achievement. hence we have the development of the ideas of ‘Stone Age Culture’. To this end therefore, the achievements of individuals in different spheres of attainment are seen as providing the markers of development for civilisations, Ultimately, developments in the fields of religion, art, educetion and politics are often seen as providing the hallmarks of civilisation and researchers have, therefore, focused on these categories as the yardstick for judging and comparing different cultures and deciding on notions of how ‘civilised’ they were. As a sociological category which provides the means of documenting particular ways of life of people, groups or periods in time. In this context, culture reflects the accepted practices of larger social groups. Important to this definition is the way in which the people concerned perform everyday activities such as sports, religious and political activities, as well as how they observe ceremonies and rights of passage of various events within their community. 3. Asan ideal. In this sense a cultural object is seen as the ideal marker by which other acts of human activity and achievement are assessed. This definition assumes that the value ascribed to the cultural object is universal and that the object is the best that has been thought and written. As a result of this, the cultural object can be used across different civilisations to assess and give value to the level of each society’s own cultural attainment. A good example of this type of ideal can be found in 16the importance ascribed to the art of writing. As a result, civilisations that did not possess this art have been unfairly treated by many theorists as being inferior to those who had. We should note that, for this kind of assessment of culture, it is very difficult to give an example, simply because very few cultural objects would have the same value ascribed to them by everyone. While many people may puta high value on a Ming Dynasty vase as a cultural marker and a lower value on an Amerindian pot, we cannot assume that those values are universally ascribed. NY ACTIVITY 1.3 1. Discuss the identitying characteristics ofa ‘civilisation’ 2. Can there be ‘uncivilised’ groups of human beings? 3. How appropriate is the term ‘sub-cuture'? 16 Summary The terms ‘civilisation’ and ‘culture’ are difficult to define because of the all-embracing nature of the concepts. Both ‘civilisations’ and ‘cultures’ are often compared as being “better” or ‘worse’ in relation to other cultures and civilisations. These designations are however very subjective, and are often constructed by the privileged cultural groups.Session 3 Varying Civilisations Introduction Since the world is neither static nor homogeneous, varying climatic and geographical features resulted in civilisations adapting and thriving differently in different regions. As a consequence of these varying adaptations varying civilisations were created. From the outset, therefore, students of Caribbean civilisation need to realise that the diversity of world views and cultures inherent in different civilisations represent different, not better or worse, civilisations. As such the values of each civilisation and its associated culture must be recognised and respected on its own merit. Objectives On completing this session students should be able to: * identify and describe palaeolithic, neolithic, Nile Valley and Indies Valley civilisations; + relate the development of early civilisations to contemporary society; + evaluate the view that classifications of various civilisations are culturally determined The Emergence of Civilisation Early societies developed as hunting and fishing societies. These were called palaeolithie societies. In these societies humankird had to follow their food and, as a result, they were forced to live a largely nomadic life. Often, within the literature, historians have referred to these civilisations as ‘hunters and gatherers’. However, beginning about 2,500 B.C.E, the arts of animal husbandry and plant cultivation were discovered. AS a result humans no longer had to wander around hunting and gathering their food. They could now establish villages and begin to expand their civilisations. This move from nomadic (palaeolithic) to settled (neolithic) communities was called the Neolithic Revolution. (See Box 1.1 below)Neolithic agricultural villages and herding cultures gradually replaced Palaeolithic culture in much of the world. Then, beginning between 4000 and 3000 B.C.E., another major shift occurred, the emergence of civilisation. In the African-Eurasian landmass, civilisation ...appeared in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the region called Mesopotamia, (and)... in the valley of the Nile River in Egypt, and somewhat later in the Indus Valley in India and the Yellow River basin in China (see Map 1-1 below), =a] Source: Crag at al (1997) It was marked by the appearance of urban centers, monumental architecture, complex hierarchical societies, and the invention of writing. The period in which these first Old World civilisations arose is known as the Bronze Age because it coincided with the discovery of the technique for smelting tin and copper to make bronze, a stronger and more useful metal The Nile Valley Civilisation and the Indus Valley Civilisation These are important civilisations to the Caribbean region because, to this day, descendents from these two civilisations make up the majority of the people living in the contemporary Caribbean. (How these people came to the Caribbean and the ways in which they interacted throughout the history of the region will be covered in Units 4, 5 and 6) Introducing Nile Valley Civilisation The earliest accounts of African civilisation and the African continent, written by European travellers, explorers, missionaries and traders often summed up Africa and its inhabitants as the ‘dark continent’. This ‘darkness’ was said to be applicable for a number of reasons. Firstly, the continent was described as ‘dark’ because of the skincolour of the native people which was of a darker hue than that of the European explorers and, secondly, because it was commonly believed that these African people had no real culture or civilisation and so were in cultural ‘darkness’. This latter myth of ‘darkness’ has so pervaded the literature that even today, with indisputable evidence that points to Africa as being the cradle of all human civilisation, there are still many who are not aware of the rich heritage of Africa, which existed long before its existence was made known to Europe. In this context and as students of civilisations, we note the existence of the Nile Valley civilisation, located on the banks of the Nile River in northern Africa (Egypt), which was cne of the earliest world civilisations and which, to this day, is still little understood. The Nile River is approximately 6,500 kilometres long and has rich resources of fish and waterfowl. It originates in South Central Burundi, and flows all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, where it has formed a vast delta. Two main tributaries feed the Nile: the Blue Nile, which rises in Lake Tana, Ethiopia, and the White Nile, which rises in Southern Sudan. Both flow separate courses until they merge at Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, The river periodically overflows its banks during floods which occur between June and October. These annual floods cover the surrounding lands with rich river silt, which facilitates agriculture. This flooding is important to the region as much of the area is arid being covered by the Sahara desert, which is the largest desert in the world, with an average rainfall of less than 250 millemetres per year. The ancients referred to this time of flooding in the Sahara as Akhet'’ and this season of flood was followed by the season of planting called ‘Perel’ Following the planting and maturing of the crops, the settlers would then harvest their crops during the season of ‘Shemu’ which fell between the months of March and May. It is not surprising then that this desert was the site of the earliest and most successful human civilisations, Indeed, the ancisnt Africans used a variety of techniques to trap water, using canals, basins, dams and dykes. Additionally, their ability to develop techniques of irrigation created the fertile environment that provided the foundation for the great civilisations that followed. The fertile land of the Nile valley and delta was called ‘Kemet’ (black) by the ancient Africans of the region. The Nile thus provided the river vallzy civilisations with water for drinking and domestic use. Additionally, the mud from the river was the basis for building materials as well as clay for pottery. The river also facilitated trade and transport throughout the entire area as the current easily afforded travel northwards while, with sails, one could just as easily sail southwards. “he ease of travel within the Nile valley allowed communities to be closely linked and facilitated far-reaching trade. Indeed, the Nile facilitated the massive building projects undertaken by the ancient Africans who would quarry the best stone available from distant quarries (uch as pink granite from Aswan), and then transport these huge stones along the Nile on a flotilla of ships. The settlement pattern of ancient Egypt was largely determined by access to resources, with the distribution of the settlemerts closely reflecting the shape of the favourable land. The combination of the desert periphery and the Nile allowed a highly civilised culture to flourish successfully for thousands of years. The relative ease of the agrarian 1920 life allowed for greater hours away from the fields and thus provided a pool of labour for the building projects of the Pharaoh. Undoubtedly one of the key reasons for the rise of Egyptian civilisation was the development by early settlers of a way to control the flooding of the river Nile. Box 1.2 explotes a controversial issue concerning the race of, people of the Nile Historiographical note: Many scholars are today involved in a process of clarifying the issue as to whether the ancient peoples of the Nile Valley were in fact ‘black’, as much of the evidence suggests by modem day scientific techniques or ‘white’, as argued by many of the leading early Egyptologists. Indeed leading the research on this point of the ethnicity of the Egyptians is the Senegalese historian Cheikh Anta Diop (1974) who argues, unequivocally, that Ancient Egypt was a Negro civillsation. The history of Black Africa will remain suspended in the air and cannot be written correctly until African historians dare to connect it with the history of Egypt. The African historian who evades the problem of Egypt is neither modest ror objective nor unrulfled. He is ignorant cowardly and neurotic. The ancient Egyptians were Negroes. The moral fruit of their civilisation is to be counted among the assets of the Black world Diop’s argument is based on his interpretation of the writings of several Greek and Latin writers who had described the appearance of the ancient Egyptians as being (black) Africans. Additionally, Diop points out thet the Egyptians themselves described their race as black and that there were close affiniteas between the ancient Egyptian tongue and the languages of Africa. The issue was given more impetus with the publication in 1987 of Martin Bernal’s Black Athena in which he argued that Classical civilisation had it roots deep in Atroasiatic cultures which had been systematically suppressed for mainly racist reasons, Introducing Indus Valley Civilisation The Indus River Valley civilisation, dating back to about 3,000 B.C., consisted of over a hundred ancient cities and villages, chief of which were Mohenjodaro and Harappa The Indus River civilisation was a highly advanced urban society and historians today still marvel at the achievements of these early people. The ruins of this civilisation were first discovered in the 1920s, and were thought to have been confined to the valley of the river Indus, hence the name given to it was the ‘Indus Valley civilisation’. Subsequent archaeological excavations established that the contours of this civilisation were not restricted to the Indus valley but spread to a wide area in north-western and western India. Thus this civilisation is now also referred to as the Harappan civilisation. The Indus River flows between the Himalayan and Hindu Kush mountains and from here empties into the Arabian Sea. Like the soil of the Nile Valley, the fertility of the soil in this river valley also allowed for successful agriculture, This fertility was based on rich silts that were washed down from the mountains by snow melts. As a result, thepeople of the Indus Valley were highly productive farmers who not only relied on the region’s natural fertility and the river's fish, but also instituted irrigation schemes of their own. As a result of the irrigation schemes the settlers were able to grow a wide range of crops that included wheat, barley, peas, sesame, and dates, as well as rice, mustard, melons, and other fruits. They also cultivated cotton and were probably among the first people in the ancient world to make clothes frem cotton. They also domesticated animals and kept herds of sheep, pigs, zebu cattle, water buffalo, camels, goats and chickens. The people of the Indus River Valley civilisation were also skilled traders. They used camels, oxen. and elephants to travel over land. They also developed and used carts with wooden Wheels and, for more distant travel and trade, they had single-masted ships, which they probably used to sail around the Arasian Sea. In their trades their craftsmen became very important and their trading items included jewellery, cloth, razors, mirrors, toys, and fish hooks. Discoveries suggest that the Indus Valley civilisation had extensive trade relations with the neighbouring regions in India and with distant lands in the Persian Gulf and Sumer (Iraq). The cities of the Indus Valley were well planned. These cities were precisely Laid out with streets at right angles facing north, south, east, or west, and these streets had covered drains. Town planning included a fairly clear division of localities and houses were earmarked for the uppe: and lower strata of society. There were public buildings, the most famous being the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro and the vast granaries. Production of several metals such as copper, bronze, lead and tin was undertaken, and some remnants of furnaces provide evidence of this fact. The discovery of kilns to make bricks support the fact that burnt bricks were used extensively in domestic and public buildings. ‘The people of the Indus Valley took pride in their personal appearance. The men sported trimmed beards and shaven upper lips, women wore ornate and finely crafted jewelry and both sexes wore well-made clothes and well-arranged hair. The Indus civilisation had a polytheistic religion. They worshipped gods and goddesses in male and female form. Hindu scriptures that were written at this time included the Vedas, Puranas and Upanishads. This civilisation was known to have a script, but it has not been deciphered s0 far. Additionally, archaeological evidence suggests that these people would have had organised governments. (See Box 1.3) istoriographical note: Historians are not sure why the Indus Valley civilisation went into dectine and the people abandoned the area. Perhaps people fled because of floods, which may have ravaged low lying vilages, or because ecological conditions changed, leading to soil infertility, famine and drought. Historians have also not ruled out the possibilty of attack by conquering ‘barbarian’ tribes from the northwest. Whatever the reason, by about 1,500 B.C. the Indus River Valley civilisation’s culture was wiped out. 2122 Religion, Literacy and Civilisation As earlier stated, cultures and civilisations, because of the nuances of ‘otherness’, often become ranked as being either ‘betier’ or ‘worse’ than comparable civilisations. Often, in making these rankings, the advocates of rank rely on certain characteristics of these societies as markers of progress or attainment. While there are many cultural markers that are often used, including the development of fine arts, music and pottery, we focus now on two main markers often used to assess the state of development of civilisations. These being the practice of religion and the art of literacy (writing) Religions are important as they provide insights into the codes of conduct and world views that guided many civilisations. As a consequence of this, the student of civilisation, by being aware of the existence and distribution of various religions all over the world is better able to grasp the meanings and values of the many cultures that make up today’s world. Some of the main world religions like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism, while having followers all over the world, are more popular in some geographical areas than in others. The Middle East, for example, has civilisations that are predominantly Islamic, while in the ‘West’ in places like Spain, the Caribbean and the Americas, Christianity predominates. In India, beliefs such as Hinduism predominate, while in China other belief systems, like Buddhism, have extensive followings. Not only are religious practices often location specific but the art of literacy and in particular its manifestation as writing (which is often taken as a given in many ‘western civilisations), is also location specific in many parts of the world, Cultures that do not rely on a system of writing as their main source of record keeping are often looked down upon as not being fully ‘developed’. This is a worrisome idea as these ‘pre-literate’ societies do in fact have their own, different, ways to record and transmit their culture and civilisation. In this context, we note that these civilisations developed complex and accurate oral ways to record their history. As such, in order to fully understand their system of record keeping, we need also to understand the distinction between oral history and oral traditions Oral History, Oral Traditions and Civilisation Oral history, in brief, is the presentation of source material by word of mouth by one who was witness to the event. This person is often referred to as an ‘informant’ and because the history is often limited to the life span of the informant, itis important that these recollections are collected and passed on while the informant is alive. Oral tradition differs from oral history in the sense that the tradition which is given to the historian, need not be oral information that occurred in the lifespan of the informant. In this sense historical information concerning the cultural norms of a particular civilisation can be passed on for generations, just as effectively as with the use of pen and paper. Why then are ‘pre-literate’ societies considered ‘primitive’? This comes about because of the privileging of text in the western ‘literate’ world. This privileging allows for thecreation of a widely accepted criterion upon which many other civilisations are judged. Indeed, the validity of this standard can be questioned, especially as we know that there are both advantages and disadvantages to both methods of historical recording (i.e oral and written) and it is often a misture of both that provides historians with the real insights that they so dearly want. Itis clear then, that religions and the ability to write reflect not only people's beliefs in the afterlife, or their respect for a particular code of conduct for living, or the different ways that history can be recorded and remembered, but it has also been used by many scholars as a convenient means of classifying various civilisations. From the outset, however, we must note that our classifications are usually culturally determined and ‘so notions of ‘better’ and ‘worse’ should not feature in our discussions of comparative civilisations. This point is helpful in a general academic sense and at the personal level. The students of civilization, through an understanding of the varied world views and value systems that underlie religions and historical expressions in various civilisations, are better able to understand their own value systems and how these compare to others. This leads, ultimately to tolerance, even if not agreement, of the cultural diversity that is inherent in civilisations throughout the world ard, most especially, in our Caribbean region. ACTIVITY 1.4 1. What is meant by i. Acivilised society? ii. An uncivilised society? ii, Adeveloping society? iv. An advanced society? 2. What biases are implicit in each definition? Summary This session identified the emergence and development of early civilisations and reviewed their structures and organisation. In the final section of this session we explored the implications of using characteristics or markers such as religion, literacy and civilisation for perceptions and definitions of civilisation. Wrap up In this unit we emphasised the value of an appreciation of history and the many diverse factors that contributed to the development of both ancient and modern civilisations. ‘The role of historians and the methods used by historians to explore both recorded and unrecorded history were discussed. We recognised that the term ‘pre-history’ is24 inappropriate, since history existed before it was possible to make lasting records, and the case for using the term ‘pre-literate’ was presented. In attempting to define culture and civilisation and in discussing the relationship between the two, the need to assess each culture and civilisation on its own inherent values and merits was highlighted. Currant perspectives on the emergence of civilisations were reviewed, with particular reference to the Nile Valley and Indus Valley civilisations, Finally, important links between civilisation and factors such as religion, literacy and oral history were introduced.