Cultural gepgraphy

In the late 19th century, cultural geography sought to compare and contrast different cultures around the world
and their relationship to natural environments

Cultural Geography is a subfield of Human Geography which focuses “upon the patterns and interactions of
human culture, both material and non-material, in relation to the natural environment and the human
organization of space” (Cosgrove 1994).

Three branches of cultural geography exist: ‘traditional’ cultural geography, sometimes referred to as the
‘Berkeley School,’ ‘new’ cultural geography and, what is now starting to dominate the field (in the UK at least),
‘more-than-representational’ geographies (Lorimer 2005).

Cultural geography is a subfield within human geography.

In broad terms, cultural geography examines the cultural values, practices, discursive and material
expressions and artefacts of people, the cultural diversity and plurality of society, and how cultures are
distributed over space
It also emphasizes on how cultures are distributed over space, how places and identities are produced, how
people make sense of places and build senses of place, and how people produce and communicate knowledge
and meaning.
Relationship wih other social science:

Demography and social statistics, methods and computing

 Demography is the study of populations and population changes and trends, using resources such as
statistics of births, deaths and disease.
 Social statistics, methods and computing involves the collection and analysis of quantitative and
qualitative social science data.
Development studies, human geography and environmental planning

 Development studies is a multidisciplinary branch of the social sciences which addresses a range of
social and economic issues related to developing or low-income countries.
 Human geography studies the world, its people, communities and cultures, and differs from physical
geography mainly in that it focuses on human activities and their impact - for instance on environmental
change.
 Environmental planning explores the decision-making processes for managing relationships within
and between human systems and natural systems, in order to manage these processes in an effective,
transparent and equitable manner.

Economics, management and business studies

 Economics seeks to understand how individuals interact within the social structure, to address key
questions about the production and exchange of goods and services.
 Management and business studies explores a wide range of aspects relating to the activities and
management of business, such as strategic and operational management, organisational psychology,
employment relations, marketing, accounting, finance and logistics.

Education, social anthropology, and linguistics

 Education is one of the most important social sciences, exploring how people learn and develop.
 Social anthropology is the study of how human societies and social structures are organised and
understood.
 Linguistics focuses on language and how people communicate through spoken sounds and words.

Law, economic and social history

 Law focuses on the rules created by governments and people to ensure a more orderly society.
 Economic and social history looks at past events to learn from history and better understand the
processes of contemporary society.

Politics and international relations

 Politics focuses on democracy and the relationship between people and policy, at all levels up from the
individual to a national and international level.
 International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of other
organisations.

Psychology and sociology

 Psychology studies the human mind and try to understand how people and groups experience the world
through various emotions, ideas, and conscious states.
 Sociology involves groups of people, rather than individuals, and attempts to understand the way people
relate to each other and function as a society or social sub-groups.

Science and technology studies

 Science and technology studies is concerned with what scientists do, what their role is in our society,
the history and culture of science, and the policies and debates that shape our modern scientific and
technological world.

Social policy and social work

  Social policy is an interdisciplinary and applied subject concerned with the analysis of societies'
responses to social need, focusing on aspects of society, economy and policy that are necessary to
human existence, and how these can be provided.
 Social work focuses on social change, problem-solving in human relationships and the empowerment
and liberation of people to enhance social justice

2. culture
SOME DEFINITIONS

 Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings,
hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material
objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual
and group striving.
 Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people.
 Culture is communication, communication is culture.
 Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behavior; that is the totality of a person's learned, accumulated
experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly, behavior through social learning.
 A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they
accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and
imitation from one generation to the next.
 Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills, knowledge, attitudes,
values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society
through its institutions.
 Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by
symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in
artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values;
culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other hand, as
conditioning influences upon further action.
 Culture is the sum of total of the learned behavior of a group of people that are generally considered to
be the tradition of that people and are transmitted from generation to generation.
  Culture is a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or
category of people from another.

Culture is the collective programming of the human mind that distinguishes the members of one human group
from those of another. Culture in this sense is a system of collectively held values.” -- Geert Hofstede

“Culture is the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization, that
operate unconsciously and define in a basic ‘taken for granted’ fashion an organization's view of its self and its
environment.” -- Edgar Sachin

According to British anthropologist Edward Taylor, “Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as. a member of society”.

According to Phatak, Bhagat, and Kashlak, “Culture is a concept that has been used in several social science
disciplines to explain variations in human thought processes in different parts of the world.”         ‘

According to J.P. Lederach, “Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for
perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the social realities around them.”

According to R. Linton, “A culture is a configuration of learned behaviors and results of behavior whose
component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society.”

According to G. Hofstede, “Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members
of one category of people from another.”

According to H.T. Mazumdar, “Culture is the total of human achievements, material and non-material, capable
of transmission, sociologically, i.e., by tradition and communication, vertically as well as horizontally.”

Culture has various characteristics. From various definitions, we can deduce the following characteristics of
culture:

 Learned Behavior.
 Culture is Abstract.
 Culture Includes Attitudes, Values, and Knowledge.
 Culture also Includes Material Objects.
 Culture is Shared by the Members of Society.
 Culture is Super-Organic.
 Culture is Pervasive.
 Culture is a Way of Life.
 Culture is Idealistic.
 Culture is Transmitted among Members of Society.
 Culture is Continually Changing.
 Language is the Chief Vehicle of Culture.
 Culture is Integrated.
 Culture is Dynamic.
 Culture is Transmissive.
 Culture Varies from Society to Society.
 Culture is Gratifying.

Learned Behavior
Not all behavior is learned, but most of it is learned; combing one’s hair, standing in line, telling jokes,
criticizing the President, and going to the movie all constitute behaviors that had to be learned.

Sometimes the terms conscious learning and unconscious learning are used to distinguish the learning.

Some behavior is obvious. People can be seen going to football games, eating with forks, or driving
automobiles. Such behavior is called “overt” behavior. Other behavior is less visible.

Culture is Abstract

Culture exists in the minds or habits of the members of society. Culture is the shared ways of doing and
thinking. There are degrees of visibility of cultural behavior, ranging from persons’ regularized activities to
their internal reasons for so doing.

In other words, we cannot see culture as such; we can only see human behavior. This behavior occurs in a
regular, patterned fashion, and it is called culture.

Culture Includes Attitudes, Values, and Knowledge

There is a widespread error in the thinking of many people who tend to regard the ideas, attitudes, and notions
they have as “their own.”

It is easy to overestimate the uniqueness of one’s own attitudes and ideas. When there is an agreement with
other people, it is largely Unnoticed, but when there is a disagreement or difference, one is usually conscious of
it.

Your differences, however, may also be cultural. For example, suppose you are a Muslim, and the other person
is a Christian.

Culture also Includes Material Objects.

Man’s behavior results in creating objects.

Men were behaving when they made these things. To make these objects required numerous and various skills
which human beings gradually built up through the ages. Man has invented something else, and so on.

Occasionally one encounters the view that man does not really “make” steel or a battleship.

All these things first existed in a “state nature.”

The man merely modified their form, changed them from a state in which they were to the state in which he
now uses them. The chair was first a tree which man surely did not make. But the chair is’ more than trees, and
the jet airplane is more than iron ore and so forth.

The Members of Society share culture

The patterns of learned behavior and behavior results are possessed not by one or a few people, but usually by a
large proportion.

Thus, many millions of persons share such behavior patterns as automobiles or the English language. Persons
may share some part of a culture unequally.
Sometimes the people share different aspects of culture.

Culture is Super-Organic

Culture is sometimes called super organic. It implies that “culture” is somehow superior to “nature.” The word
super-organic is useful when it implies that what may be quite a different phenomenon from a cultural point of
view.

For example, a tree means different things to the botanist who studies it, the older woman who uses it for shade
in the late summer afternoon, the farmer who picks its fruit, the motorist who collides with it, and the young
lovers who carve their initials in its trunk.

The same physical objects and physical characteristics, in other words, may constitute a variety of quite
different cultural objects and cultural characteristics.

Culture is Pervasive

Culture is pervasive; it touches every aspect of life. The pervasiveness of culture is manifest in two ways.

First, culture provides an unquestioned context within which individual action and response take place. Cultural
norms govern not only emotional action but relational actions.

Second, culture pervades social activities and institutions.

Culture is a Way of Life

Culture means simply the “way of life” of a people or their “design for a living.” Kluckhohn and Kelly define it
in his sense”, A culture is a historically derived system of explicit and implicit designs for living, which tends to
be shared by all or specially designed members of a group.”

Explicit culture refers to similarities in word and action, which can be directly observed.

For example, adolescent cultural behavior can be generalized from regularities in dress, mannerism, and
conversation. Implicit culture exists in abstract forms, which are not quite obvious.

Culture is Idealistic

Culture embodies the ideals and norms of a group. It is the sum-total of the ideal patterns and norms of behavior
of a group. Culture consists of the intellectual, artistic, and social ideals and institutions that the members of
society profess and strive to confirm.

Culture is Transmitted among Members of Society

Persons learn cultural ways from persons.

Many of them are “handed down” by their elders, parents, teachers, and others. Other cultural behaviors are
“handed up” to elders. Some of the transmission of culture is among contemporaries.

For example, the styles of dress, political views, and the use of recent labor-saving devices. One does not
acquire a behavior pattern spontaneously.
He learns it. That means that someone teaches him, and he learns. Much of the learning process for the teacher
and the learner is unconscious, unintentional, or accidental.

Culture is Continually Changing

There is one fundamental and inescapable attribute (a special quality) of culture, the fact of unending change.

Some societies sometimes change slowly, and hence in comparison to other societies, seem not to be changing
at all. But they are changing, even though not obviously so.

Language is the Chief Vehicle of Culture

Man lives not only in the present but also in the past and future.

He can do this because he possesses a language that transmits what was learned in the past and enables him to
transmit the accumulated wisdom to the next generation.

A specialized language pattern serves as a common bond to the members of a particular group or subculture.

Although culture is transmitted in various ways, language is one of the most important vehicles for perpetuating
cultural patterns.

Culture is Integrated

This is known as holism, or the various parts of a culture being interconnected.

All aspects of a culture are related to one another, and to truly understand a culture, one must learn about all of
its parts, not only a few.

Culture is Dynamic

This simply means that cultures interact and change.

Because most cultures are in contact with other cultures, they exchange ideas and symbols. All cultures change.
Otherwise, they would have problems adapting to changing environments.

And because cultures are integrated, the entire system must likely adjust if one component in the system
changes.

Culture is Transmissive

Culture is transmissive as it is transmitted front one generation to another.

Language is the main vehicle of culture. Language in different forms makes it possible for the present
generation to understand the achievement of earlier generations.

Transmission of culture may take place by imitation as well as by instruction.

Culture Varies from Society to Society

Every society has a culture of its own. It differs from society to society. The culture of every society is unique
to itself. Cultures are not uniform.
 Cultural elements like customs, traditions, morals, values, beliefs are not uniform everywhere. Culture varies
from time to time also.

Culture is Gratifying

Culture provides proper opportunities for the satisfaction of our needs and desires.

Our needs, both biological and social, are fulfilled in cultural ways. Culture determines and guides various
activities of man. Thus, culture is defined as the process through which human beings satisfy their wants.

So we can easily say that culture has various features that embodied it in an important position in organizations
and other aspects.

Functions of Culture

We will review the functions that culture performs and assess whether culture can be a liability for an
organization. Culture performs some functions within an organization.

 First, it has a boundary-defining role; it creates distinctions between one organization and another.
 Second, it conveys a sense of identity for organization members.
 Third, culture facilitates the generation of commitment to something larger than one’s individual self-interest.
 Fourth, it enhances the stability of the social system. Culture is the social glue that helps hold the organization
together by providing appropriate standards for what employees should say and do.
 Finally, culture serves as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and

shapes employees’ attitudes and behavior. It is this last function that is of particular interest to us.

The role of culture in influencing employee behavior appears to be increasingly important in today’s workplace.

As organizations have widened spans of control, flattened structures introduced, teams reduced formalization
and empowered employees. The shared meaning provided by a strong culture ensures that everyone is pointed
in the same direction.

Elements of Culture

Culture is transmitted to employees in many ways. The most significant are stories, rituals, material symbols,
and language.

Society’s culture also comprises the shared values, understandings, assumptions, and goals that are learned
from earlier generations, imposed by present members of society, and passed on to succeeding generations.

There are some elements of culture about which the managers of international operation should be aware of.

 Languages,
 Norms,
 Symbols,
 Values,
 Attitude,
 Rituals,
 Customs and Manners,
 Material Culture,
 Education,
 Physical Artifacts,
 Language, Jargons, and Metaphors,
 Stories, Myths, and Legends,
 Ceremonies and Celebrations,
 Behavioral Norms, and
 Shared Beliefs and Values.

Languages

It is a primary means used to transmit information and ideas. Knowledge of local language can help because-

 It permits a clearer understanding of the situation.

 It provides direct access to local people.
 Understanding of implied meanings.

Religion: The spiritual beliefs of a society are often so powerful that they transcend other cultural aspects.
Religion affect-

 The work habit of people

 Work and social customs
 Politics and business

Norms

Cultures differ widely in their norms, or standards and expectations for behaving. Norms are often divided into
two types, formal norms and informal norms.

Formal norms, also called mores and laws, refer to the standards of behavior considered the most important in
any society.

Informal norms, also called folkways and customs, refer to standards of behavior that are considered less
important but still influence how we behave.

Symbols

Every culture is filled with symbols of things that stand for something else, which often suggests various
reactions and emotions.

Some symbols are actually types of nonverbal communication, while other symbols are, in fact, material
objects.

Values

Values are a society’s ideas about what is good or bad, right or wrong – such as the widespread belief that
stealing is immoral and unfair.

Values determine how individuals will probably respond in any given circumstances.

Attitude

Attitude is a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way.

 Actually, it is the external displays of underlying beliefs that people use to signal to other people.

Rituals

Rituals are processes or sets of actions that are repeated in specific circumstances and with a specific meaning.
They may be used in rites of passage, such as when someone is promoted or retires.

They may be associated with company events such as the release of a new event. They may also be associated
with a day like Eid day.

Customs and Manners

Customs are common and establish practices. Manners are behaviors that are regarded as appropriate in a
particular society. These indicate the rules of behavior that enforce ideas of right and wrong.

They can be the traditions, rules, written laws, etc.

Material Culture

Another cultural element is the artifacts, or material objects, that constitute a society’s material culture. It
consists of objects that people make. Like-

 Economic infrastructure (transportation, communication, and energy capabilities)

 Social infrastructure (Health, housing, and education systems)
 Financial infrastructure (Banking, insurance, and financial services)

Education

It influences many aspects of culture.

Actually, culture is the entire accumulation of artificial objects, conditions, tools, techniques, ideas, symbols,
and behavior patterns peculiar to a group of people, possessing a certain consistency of its own and capable of
transmission from one generation to another.

Physical Artifacts

These are the tangible manifestations and key elements of organizational culture.

If you visit different organizations, you’ll notice that each is unique in terms of its physical layout, use of
facilities, centralization or dispersion of common utilities, and so on.

This uniqueness is not incidental; instead, they represent the symbolic expressions of an underlying meaning,
values, and beliefs shared by people in the organization. The workplace culture greatly affects the performance
of an organization.

Language, Jargons, and Metaphors

These elements of organizational culture play an important role in identifying a company’s culture.

While the language is a means of universal communication, most business houses tend to develop their own
unique terminologies, phrases, and acronyms.
For instance, in the organizational linguistics code, “Kremlin” may mean the headquarters; in Goal India
Limited, the acronym. J.I.T. (Just In Time) was jokingly used to describe all the badly planned fire-fighting
jobs.

Stories, Myths, and Legends

These are, in a way, an extension of organizational language. They epitomize the unwritten values and morals
of organizational life.

If you collect the various stories, anecdotes, and jokes shared in an organization, they often read like plots and
themes, in which nothing changes except the characters.

They rationalize the complexity and turbulence of activities and events to allow for predictable action-taking.

Ceremonies and Celebrations

These are consciously enacted behavioral artifacts which help in reinforcing the organization’s cultural values
and assumptions.

For example, every year, Tata Steel celebrates Founder’s Day to commemorate and reiterate its adherence to the
organization’s original values.

Stating the importance of ceremonies and celebrations, Deal and Kennedy (1982) say, “Without expressive
events, and culture will die. In the absence of ceremony, important values have no impact.”

Behavioral Norms

This is one of the most important elements of organizational culture. They describe the nature of
expectations, which impinge on the members’ behavior.

Behavioral norms determine how the members will behave, interact, and relate with each other.

Shared Beliefs and Values

All organizations have their unique set of basic beliefs and values (also called moral codes), shared by most of
its members. These are the mental pictures of organizational reality and form the basis of defining the
organization’s right or wrong.

For instance, in an organization, if the predominant belief is that meeting the customers’ demands is essential
for success, any behavior that supposedly meets these criteria is acceptable, even if it violates the established
rules and procedures.

Values and beliefs focus organizational energies toward certain actions while discouraging the other behavioral
patterns.

Types of cultural geography

Real Culture
Real culture can be observed in our social life. We act upon on culture in our social life is real, its part which
the people adopt in their social life is their real one. The whole one is never real because a part of it remains
without practice. How far we set upon Islam is our real culture. Being a Muslims, Christian and related to
another religion we do not follow Islam, Christianity etc. fully in our social life. It means the part of religion
which we follow is our real culture.

Ideal Culture
The culture which is presented as a pattern or precedent to the people is called ideal. It is the goal of the society.
It can never be achieved fully because some part of it remains out of practice. It is explained in textbooks, our
leaders’ speeches and guidance. The part of ideal culture practiced in social life is called real culture. Islam is
our ideal one. We claim to be true Muslims and this claim is our ideal culture but how far we are Muslims in
practice is our real culture. Both the real and ideal cultures are related together and different from each other.

Material Culture
Material culture consists of man-made objects such as furniture, automobiles, buildings, dams, bridges, roads
and in fact, the physical matter converted and used by man. It is closely related with the external, mechanical as
well as useful objects. It includes, technical and material equipment like a railways engines, publication
machines, a locomotive, a radio etc. It includes our financial institutions, parliaments, insurance policies etc.
and referred to as civilization.

Non-Material Culture
The term ‘culture‘ when used in the ordinary sense, means non-material culture’. This term when used in the
ordinary sense, means non-material. It is something nonphysical ideas which include values, beliefs, symbols,
organization and institutions etc. Nonmaterial culture includes words we use, the language we speak, our belief
held, values we cherish and all the ceremonies observed.
Material and Nonmaterial Culture Examples
Material means physical object (i.e. buildings, vehicles, transportation, clothes, houses and schools). Non-
Material means something you invisible, untouchable (i.e. education, language, feelings, religion, beliefs,
sports, and feelings)

3.Processes of Change

All Cultures are inherently predisposed to change and, at the same time, to resist change.  There are dynamic
processes operating that encourage the acceptance of new ideas and things while there are others that encourage
changeless stability.  It is likely that social and psychological chaos would result if there were not the
conservative forces resisting change.

There are three general sources of influence or pressure that are responsible for both change and resistance to it:

1. forces at work within a society

 2. contact between societies
3. changes in the natural environment

Within a society, processes leading to change include invention and culture loss.  Inventions may be either
technological or ideological.  The latter includes such things as the invention of algebra and calculus or the
creation of a representative parliament as a replacement for rule by royal decree.  Technological inventions
include new tools, energy sources, and transportation methods as well as more frivolous and ephemeral things
such as style of dress and bodily adornment.

Culture loss is an inevitable result of old cultural patterns being replaced by new ones.  For instance, not many
Americans today know how to care for a horse.  A century ago, this was common knowledge, except in a few
large urban centers.  Since then, vehicles with internal combustion engines have replaced horses as our primary
means of transportation and horse care knowledge lost its importance.  As a result, children are rarely taught
these skills.  Instead, they are trained in the use of the new technologies of automobiles, televisions, stereos,
cellular phones, computers, and iPods.

Within a society, processes that result in the resistance to change include habit and the integration of culture
traits.  Older people, in particular, are often reticent to replace their comfortable, long familiar cultural patterns. 
Habitual behavior provides emotional security in a threatening world of change.  Religion also often provides
strong moral justification and support for maintaining traditional ways.  In the early 21st century,
this is especially true of nations mostly guided by Islamic Law, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan.

The fact that cultural institutions are integrated and often interdependent is a major
source of resistance to change.  For instance, in the second half of the 20th century,
rapidly changing roles of North American and European women were resisted by
 
many men because it inevitably resulted in changes in their roles as well.  Male and
female roles do not exist independent of each other.  This sort of integration of 21st century professional
cultural traits inevitably slows down and modifies cultural changes.  Needless to woman working in a job
say, it is a source of frustration for both those who want to change and those who not open to women in her
do not. grandmother's generation

The processes leading to change that occur as a result of contact between societies are

1.   diffusion  
2. acculturation  
3. transculturation  

Diffusion is the movement of things and ideas from one culture to another.  When diffusion occurs, the form of
a trait may move from one society to another but not its original cultural meaning.  For instance, when
McDonald's first brought their American style hamburgers to Moscow and Beijing, they were accepted as
luxury foods for special occasions because they were relatively expensive and exotic.  In America, of course,
they have a very different meaning--they are ordinary every day fast food items.

Acculturation is what happens to an entire culture when alien traits diffuse in on a large scale and substantially
replace traditional cultural patterns.  After several centuries of relentless pressure from European Americans to
adopt their ways, Native American cultures have been largely acculturated.  As a result, the vast majority of
American Indians now speak English instead of their ancestral language, wear European style clothes, go to
school to learn about the world from a European perspective, and see themselves as being a part of the broader
American society.  As Native American societies continue to acculturate, most are experiencing a
corresponding loss of their traditional cultures despite efforts of preservationists in their communities.
While acculturation is what happens to an entire culture when alien traits
overwhelm it, transculturation is what happens to an individual when he or she  
moves to another society and adopts its culture.  Immigrants who successfully
learn the language and accept as their own the cultural patterns of their adopted
country have transculturated.  In contrast, people who live as socially isolated
expatriates in a foreign land for years without desiring or expecting to
become assimilated   participants in the host culture are not transculturating.
   Sequoyah 
 
   (ca. 1767-1843)

There is one last process leading to change that occurs as an invention within a society as a result of an idea that
diffuses from another.  This is stimulus diffusion  --a genuine invention that is sparked by an idea from
another culture.   An example of this occurred about 1821 when a Cherokee   Indian named Sequoyah   
saw English writing which stimulated him to create a unique writing system for his own people.  Part of
his syllable based system is illustrated below.  Note that some letters are similar to English while others are not.

Discoveries and inventions, which may originate inside or outside a society, are ultimately the sources of all
culture change. But they do not necessarily lead to change. If an invention or discovery is ignored, no change in
culture results. Only when society accepts an invention or discovery and uses it regularly can we begin to speak
of culture change. The new thing discovered or invented, the innovation, may be an object—the wheel, the
plow, the computer—or it may involve behavior and ideas—buying and selling, democracy, monogamy.
According to Ralph Linton, a discovery is any addition to knowledge, and an invention is a new application of
knowledge..

Unconscious Invention In discussing the process of invention, we should differentiate between various types of
inventions.

One type is the consequence of a society’s setting itself a specific goal, such as eliminating tuberculosis or
placing a person on the moon.

Another type emerges less intentionally. This second process of invention is often referred to as accidental
juxtaposition or unconscious invention. Linton suggested that some inventions, especially those of prehistoric
days, were probably the consequences of literally dozens of tiny initiatives by “

1. Ability - innovative ability

In order to generate ideas and turn them into sustainable innovations, employees must be supported and
promoted in developing and unfolding their creative potential. This requires, on the one hand, innovation-
promoting management and, on the other hand, increasing the innovative ability of employees through the
development of specialist knowledge:

 Make innovation culture a top priority and establish top-down processes throughout the company

 Training of employees in modern methods and tools for brainstorming, idea evaluation and idea realization
(innovation crash course, creativity techniques, innovation management)

 Trend and future workshops

 Development of the technical, technological and economic knowledge of employees

 Cross-departmental and cross-divisional innovation workshops with moderation by an external innovation

consultant

 Internal knowledge transfer through transfer of newly acquired or already existing knowledge in internal
training courses

 Use of external know-how (cooperation with universities, research institutions, other companies, external
innovation consultants; Internet research and specialist literature; expert interviews, patent research)

 Use of new techniques and technologies

Creativity is not a privilege for individuals, but an ability that all people possess. Prejudices in this regard and a
lack of knowledge of innovation methods very often inhibit the innovative ability of employees. Time pressure
and stress that make it difficult to think beyond the daily business are also inhibiting for "ability".

2. Willingness - willingness to innovate

Innovative action cannot be ordered. It must be intrinsically motivated in order to establish a lasting culture of
innovation in the company. This means that committed and imaginative employees are needed in the company,
who are also willing to leave the usual paths of thinking and acting in order to develop an innovation from an
idea. Motivated managers and the development of an innovation culture increase the willingness to innovate:

 Raising awareness of the importance of innovation in companies (communication and awareness-raising

training, annual Innovation Day)

 Openness to employees' ideas (e.g. gathering employees' ideas in a "ideas box" and joint idea evaluation)

 Encouraging change and risk taking by establishing a climate of innovation in which employees can make
mistakes and learn from them

 Creation of motivation through incentives and appreciation of innovation contributions (bonuses, career
perspectives, gifts in kind, pitching contests, innovation contests, praise and recognition)
  Review and change of the role understanding of superiors within the framework of the creative process
(boss becomes moderator and coach)

The "willingness" is also positively influenced by the increase in the ability to innovate, since employees are
more self-confident, more willing to take risks and more motivated to approach an innovation. In addition to
"ability", however, motivated employees also need "permission".

3. May - Opportunity for innovation

Permission is the necessary prerequisite for actually moving from "ability" and "will" to action. Within a
company, therefore, framework conditions must be created that offer employees the opportunity to think and act
innovatively and creatively.

 Creation of time resources by making part of the working time available to employees for the
implementation of promising ideas.

 Creation of financial resources by providing an innovation budget

 Definition of clear goals, responsibilities and competencies and processes with regard to the development
and implementation of ideas

 Ensuring fast and efficient communication across all hierarchical levels and the creation of free space for
informal communication (e.g. break rooms)

 Fast and effective decision-making structures

 Formation of cross-divisional creative teams for the joint development of ideas

 Involvement of employees in the innovation process right from the start (cross-divisional and cross-
hierarchy project teams, cascade workshops)

 Promotion of personal initiative and entrepreneurial action by conveying confidence in the willingness to
perform, the commitment and the performance of the employees

Diffusion
The source of new cultural elements in a society may also be another society. The process by which cultural
elements are borrowed from another society and incorporated into the culture of the recipient group is called
diffusion
Patterns of Diffusion
The following are the three basic patterns of diffusion:

Relocation Diffusion
Relocation Diffusion occurs when people move from their original location to another and bring their innovations
with them. Immigration from country to country, city to city, etc. As they relocate to a new location, they bring their
ideas, cultural tradition such as food, music, and more. As masses of individuals immigrate to a new environment,
they bring along their cultural connections, influencing others in the new environments. Relocation diffusion can
also be forced rather than chosen.

Examples
Many cultural components of Southern US architecture, cuisine, and music have African and Caribbean origins due
to the forced relocation and enslavement of African people during the trans-atlantic slave trade.
Another example is the cultural diffusion from when over two million persecuted Jewish people fled Eastern Europe
between 1881 and 1914 to live in Britain or the United States.

Expansion Diffusion

Expansion Diffusion is the spread of an idea through a population where the amount of those influenced grows
continuously larger. There are three sub-types of Expansion diffusion: Stimulus, Hierarchical, and Contagious.

Contagious Diffusion
Contagious Diffusion is defined as distance-controlled spreading of an idea through a local population by contact
from person to person. Similarly to a disease, it spreads rapidly from one source to others from person to person.
Another way to think of it is like the spreading of a forest fire. 
Examples of contagious diffusion
 religions when people are in contact with belief systems especially universalizing religions such as
Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. Missionaries spread christianity.
 the globalization of social networking, media platforms.
 when videos or songs go viral, they contagiously diffuse like wildfire through the help of modern
technological innovations.  All memes exhibit contagious diffusion!

Hierarchical Diffusion
Hierarchical Diffusion is when an idea spreads by passing first among the most connected individuals, then
spreading to other individuals. Think of the chain of command in businesses, and the government. There’s
somewhat of a hierarchy in terms of position of authority.
Examples of hierarchical diffusion
1. The Federal government such as the president, vice president, cabinet members are the first to be informed
of governmental matters before the general public and state government employees.
2. A business CEO is more informed on matters within their company before the spread of that information to
employees and the general public.
3. You can also think about popular music first reaching urban centers, city communities in New York, LA,
Chicago before gaining popularity among the wider public. 

Stimulus Diffusion
Stimulus Diffusion is when an idea diffuses from its cultural hearth outward, but the original idea is changed by the
new adopters. Almost all cultural diffusions will have some aspect of stimulus diffusion because of the ways culture
adapts to new environmental, social, and political conditions.
Examples of stimulus diffusion
  The McDonalds fast food chain originating in the US midwest having developed different menu items in
different regions of the world.
 The changing interpretations of religious texts as they are translated into other languages.

Maladaptive Diffusion

Maladaptive Diffusion is the adoption of diffusing traits that are not practical or reflective of a region's
environment or culture.
Examples of maladaptive diffusion:
 the spread of grass lawns and monoculture crops which are both actively very harmful to the environment

 the popularity of wearing blue jeans in any weather despite the impracticality of wearing them in the winter
season

This image depicts the Diffusion S Curve by Hagerstrand specifically in the model of the adoption of technology.
The stages include innovators, early adopters (small groups of those that can afford), followed by majority adopters
(faster rate of adoption once price decreases) and lastly laggards/late adopters (rate of adoption slows down). The
trend resembles the letter S therefore is called an S curve.
Watchlist: Fiveable Reviews on the meaning of cultural diffusion and the defini

5.stone age
The Stone Age marks a period of prehistory in which humans used primitive stone tools. Lasting
roughly 2.5 million years, the Stone Age ended around 5,000 years ago when humans in the Near
East began working with metal and making tools and weapons from bronze.

During the Stone Age, humans shared the planet with a number of now-extinct hominin relatives,
including Neanderthals  and Denisovans .

When Was the Stone Age?

The Stone Age began about 2.6 million years ago, when researchers found the  earliest evidence of
humans using stone tools , and lasted until about 3,300 B.C. when the Bronze Age  began. It is
typically broken into three distinct periods: the Paleolithic Period, Mesolithic Period and  Neolithic
Period .

Did you know? Humans weren’t the first to make or use stone tools. Some 3.3 million years ago, an ancient
species that lived on the shores of Lake Turkana in Kenya earned that distinction – a full 700,000 years before
the earliest members of the Homo genus emerged.

Some experts believe the use of stone tools may have developed even earlier in our primate
ancestors, since some modern apes, including bonobos, can also use stone tools to get food.

Stone artifacts tell anthropologists a lot about early humans, including how they made things, how
they lived and how human behavior evolved over time.

Stone Age Facts

Early in the Stone Age, humans lived in small, nomadic groups. During much of this period, the
Earth was in an Ice Age —a period of colder global temperatures and glacial expansion.

Mastodons, saber-toothed cats, giant ground sloths and other megafauna roamed. Stone Age humans
hunted large mammals, including wooly mammoths, giant bison and deer. They used stone tools to
cut, pound, and crush—making them better at extracting meat and other nutrients from animals and
plants than their earlier ancestors.

About 14,000 years ago, Earth entered a warming period. Many of the large Ice Age animals went
extinct. In the Fertile Crescent , a boomerang-shaped region bounded on the west by the
Mediterranean Sea and on the east by the Persian Gulf, wild wheat and barley became plentiful as it
got warmer.

Some humans started to build permanent houses in the region. They gave up the nomadic lifestyle
of their Ice Age ancestors to begin farming.

Human artifacts in the Americas begin showing up from around this time, too. Experts aren’t
exactly sure who these first Americans were or where they came from, though there’s some
evidence these Stone Age people may have followed a footbridge between Asia and North America,
which became submerged as glaciers melted at the end of the last Ice Age.

Stone Age Tools

Much of what we know about life in the Stone Age and Stone Age people comes from the tools they
left behind.
Hammerstones are some of the earliest and simplest stone tools. Prehistoric humans used
hammerstones to chip other stones into sharp-edged flakes. They also used hammerstones to break
apart nuts, seeds and bones and to grind clay into pigment.

Archaeologists refer to these earliest stone tools as the Oldowan toolkit. Oldowan stone tools
dating back nearly 2.6 million years were first discovered in Tanzania in the 1930s by
archaeologist Louis Leakey .

Most of the makers of Oldowan tools were right-handed, leading experts to believe that handedness
evolved very early in human history.

6
GALLERY
6 IMAGES

As technology progressed, humans created increasingly more sophisticated stone tools. These
included hand axes, spear points for hunting large game, scrapers which could be used to prepare
animal hides and awls for shredding plant fibers and making clothing.

Not all Stone Age tools were made of stone. Groups of humans experimented with other raw
materials including bone, ivory and antler, especially later on in the Stone Age.

Later Stone Age tools are more diverse. These diverse “toolkits” suggest a faster pace of innovation
—and the emergence of distinct cultural identities. Different groups sought different ways of
making tools.

Some examples of late Stone Age tools include harpoon points, bone and ivory needles, bone flutes
for playing music and chisel-like stone flakes used for carving wood, antler or bone.

Stone Age Food

People during the Stone Age first started using clay pots to cook food and store things.
The oldest pottery known was found at an archaeological site in Japan. Fragments of clay
containers used in food preparation at the site may be up to 16,500 years old.

Stone Age food varied over time and from region to region, but included the foods typical of  hunter
gatherers : meats, fish, eggs, grasses, tubers, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts.

Stone Age Wars

While humans had the technology to create spears and other tools to use as weapons, there’s little
evidence for Stone Age wars.

Most researchers think the population density in most areas was low enough to avoid violent
conflict between groups. Stone Age wars may have started later when humans began settling and
established economic currency in the form of agricultural goods.

Stone Age Art

The oldest known Stone Age art dates back to a later Stone Age period known as the Upper
Paleolithic, about 40,000 years ago. Art began to appear around this time in parts of Europe, the
Near East, Asia and Africa.

The earliest known depiction of a human in Stone Age art is a small ivory sculpture of a female
figure with exaggerated breasts and genitalia. The figurine is named the Venus of Hohle Fels, after
the cave in Germany in which it was discovered. It’s about 40,000 years old.

Humans started carving symbols and signs onto the walls of caves during the Stone Age using
hammerstones and stone chisels.

These early murals, called petroglyphs, depict scenes of animals. Some may have been used as
early maps, showing trails, rivers, landmarks, astronomical markers and symbols communicating
time and distance traveled.

Shamans, too, may have created cave art while under the influence of natural hallucinogens.

The earliest petroglyphs were created around 40,000 years ago. Archaeologists have discovered
petroglyphs on every continent besides Antarctica.

The paleolithic
In the Paleolithic period (roughly 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 B.C.), early humans lived in
caves or simple huts or tepees and were hunters and gatherers. They used basic stone and bone
tools, as well as crude stone axes, for hunting birds and wild animals. They cooked their prey,
including woolly mammoths, deer and bison, using controlled fire. They al Ancient humans in the
Paleolithic period were also the first to leave behind art. They used combinations of minerals,
ochres, burnt bone meal and charcoal mixed into water, blood, animal fats and tree saps to etch
humans, animals and signs. They also carved small figurines from stones, clay, bones and antlers.
so fished and collected berries, fruit and nuts.

The end of this period marked the end of the last  Ice Age , which resulted in the extinction of many
large mammals and rising sea levels and climate change  that eventually caused man to migrate.

1. Lower Paleolithic:
The time span of the Lower Palaeolithic was the maximum covering the whole of Lower Pleistocene and bulk
of the Middle Pleistocene epoch. During this span many river valleys and terraces were formed. Early men
preferred to live near the water supply, as the stone tools are found mainly in or adjacent to the river valleys.

 the tool-making traditions of the Lower Palaeolithic in Western Europe can be divided into two groups, such as
Hand-axe traditions and Flake traditions basically the Hand-axe traditions contained the core tool cultures while
the flake traditions consisted with the flake tool cultures.

A few sites of flake traditions are devoid of hand-axes where the flake tools are produced by specific techniques
to present definite forms and purposes In fact, these two groups of tool traditions

{hand-axe tradition and flake tradition) are further subdivided into different cultures.

The hand-axe tradition is sub-divided into three cultures

Pre-Chellean Chellean

Abbevillian

and Acheulean while the

flake tradition is sub-divided into two cultures’

such as

Clactonian and Levalloisian.

2. Middle Palaeolothic:
The Middle Palaeolithic period is differentiated mainly from the typological point of view where the presence
or absence of hand-axes or biface is critically important. The core-tool cultures have totally been transferred to
the flake-tool cultures in this level. Therefore, Chellean-Acheulean hand- axes are no more found. Instead,
implements have been made on flakes that are knocked off from the nodule.
3. Upper Palaeolithic:
The last part of the Old Stone Age gave rise to the Upper Palaeolithic culture, which covers approximately
1/10th of the time span of entire Palaeolithic period. During this short span of time, the prehistoric man made
his greatest cultural progress.

This phase of Palaeolithic period shows diversified and specialized tools made on blades by replacement of the
hand-axes and flake-tools of earlier cultures. It is also notable that, not only flint and similar rocks were used as
tools bone was also taken as a material for making tools.

The Mesolithic period

the Mesolithic Period, or Middle Stone Age, is an archaeological term describing specific cultures that fall
between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic Periods. While the start and end dates of the Mesolithic Period vary
by geographical region, it dated approximately from 10,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE.

The Paleolithic was an age of purely hunting and gathering, but toward the Mesolithic period the development
of agriculture contributed to the rise of permanent settlements. The later Neolithic period is distinguished by the
domestication of plants and animals. Some Mesolithic people continued with intensive hunting, while others
practiced the initial stages of domestication. Some Mesolithic settlements were villages of huts , others walled
cities.

The type of tool used is a distinguishing factor among these cultures. Mesolithic tools were generally composite
devices manufactured with small chipped stone tools called microliths and retouched bladelets. The Paleolithic
utilized more primitive stone treatments, and the Neolithic mainly used polished rather than chipped stone tools

Art from this period reflects the change to a warmer climate and adaptation to a relatively sedentary lifestyle,
population size, and consumption of plants—all evidence of the transition to agriculture and eventually the
Neolithic period. Still, food was not always available everywhere, and Mesolithic populations were often forced
to become migrating hunters and settle in rock shelters. It is difficult to find a unique type of artistic production
during the Mesolithic Period, and art forms developed during the Upper Paleolithic (the latest period of the
Paleolithic) were likely continued. These included cave paintings and engravings, small sculptural artifacts, and
early architecture.

Characteristics of Mesolithic Age

The Mesolithic Age was a transitional phase between the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age. It has the
characteristics of both the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age. The people of this age lived on hunting,
fishing, and food gathering while at a later stage they also domesticated animals.
Tools: The people of this age used microliths. Microliths are very small in size and their lengths range from 1
to 8 cm. Backed blade, core, point, triangle, lunate and trapeze are the main Mesolithic tools. However,
some tools used earlier, like scraper, burin and choppers, continue.
 Art: The people of this age practiced painting. Their paintings depicted birds, animals, and human beings.
List of Indian Mesolithic sites, their locations, and characteristics
Name of Location Characteristics
Mesolithic
Sites
Bagor Rajasthan It had a
microlithic
industry and its
people lived on
hunting and
pastoralism.
Adamgarh Madhya It shows the
Pradesh earliest evidence
for the
domestication of
animals.
Bhimbetka Madhya It has more than
Pradesh 500 painted rock
shelters.
Langhnaj Gujarat Provides the
earliest evidence
of burial of the
dead.
Mohrana Mirzapur, Provides the
Pahara Uttar Pradesh earliest evidence
of burial.
After about 10,000 BC the climate gradually became warmer again. Many of the big animals went with the cold
weather to the North. Some animals, like the mammoth, elk, woolly rhino and bison became extinct. Gradually,
the Netherlands were covered with forests, which were rich in animals and plants. These changes were the
beginning of a new age: the Middle Stone Age. It is with this period that the prehistory in Archeon

3.the neolihic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age was a period in human development from around 10,000 BCE until 3,000
BCE. Considered the last part of the Stone Age, the Neolithic period is signified by a progression in behavioral
and cultural characteristics including the cultivation of wild and dom estic crops and the use of domesticated
animals.

 Domestication of animals.
 Agriculture practice.
 Modification of stone tools., and
 Pottery making.

The Neolithic Age is sometimes called the New Stone Age . Neolithic humans used stone tools like
their earlier Stone Age ancestors, who eked out a marginal existence in small bands of  hunter-
gatherers  during the last Ice Age .
The ancient Near East was home to the earliest civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the
modern Middle East, including Mesopotamia , ancient Egypt, ancient Iran, the Levant, and the Arabian
peninsula. Sites in these locations dating to approximately 9500 BCE are considered the beginning of the
Neolithic period.

Causes of the Neolithic Revolution

There was no single factor that led humans to begin farming roughly 12,000 years ago. The causes
of the Neolithic Revolution may have varied from region to region.

The Earth entered a warming trend around 14,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. Some
scientists theorize that climate changes drove the Agricultural Revolution.

In the Fertile Crescent , bounded on the west by the Mediterranean Sea and on the east by the
Persian Gulf, wild wheat and barley began to grow as it got warmer. Pre-Neolithic people called
Natufians started building permanent houses in the region.

Other scientists suggest that intellectual advances in the human brain may have caused people to
settle down. Religious artifacts and artistic imagery—progenitors of human civilization—have been
uncovered at the earliest Neolithic settlements.

The Neolithic Era began when some groups of humans gave up the nomadic,  hunter-
gatherer  lifestyle completely to begin farming. It may have taken humans hundreds or even
thousands of years to transition fully from a lifestyle of subsisting on wild plants to keeping small
gardens and later tending large crop fields.

Neolithic Humans

Rather than the small family groups of the Old Stone Age, we have evidence that the people of the New Stone
Age settled in large city complexes. Catal Hoyuk, Turkish for "fork mound," in the modern country of Turkey
is an outstanding example of a Neolithic city. In Neolithic cities, people living close together had to cooperate;
they most likely created rules to live by to get along with each other. This led to civilization, which actually
means "to live in a city."

The archaeological site of Çatalhöyük in southern Turkey is one of the best-preserved Neolithic
settlements. Studying Çatalhöyük has given researchers a better understanding of the transition
from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering to an agriculture lifestyle.

Archaeologists have unearthed more than a dozen mud-brick dwellings at the 9,500 year-old
Çatalhöyük. They estimate that as many as 8,000 people may have lived here at one time. The
houses were clustered so closely back-to-back that residents had to enter the homes through a hole
in the roof.

The inhabitants of Çatalhöyük appear to have valued art and spirituality. They buried their dead
under the floors of their houses. The walls of the homes are covered with murals of men hunting,
cattle and female goddesses .
Agricultural Inventions

Plant domestication: Cereals such as emmer wheat, einkorn wheat and barley were among the first
crops domesticated by Neolithic farming communities in the Fertile Crescent. These early farmers
also domesticated lentils, chickpeas, peas and flax.

Domestication is the process by which farmers select for desirable traits by breeding successive
generations of a plant or animal. Over time, a domestic species becomes different from its wild
relative.

Neolithic farmers selected for crops that harvested easily. Wild wheat, for instance, falls to the
ground and shatters when it is ripe. Early humans bred for wheat that stayed on the stem for easier
harvesting.

Around the same time that farmers were beginning to sow wheat in the Fertile Crescent, people in
Asia started to grow rice and millet. Scientists have discovered archaeological remnants of Stone
Age rice paddies in Chinese swamps dating back at least 7,700 years.

In Mexico , squash cultivation began about 10,000 years ago, while maize-like crops emerged
around 9,000 years ago.

Livestock: The first livestock were domesticated from animals that Neolithic humans hunted for
meat. Domestic pigs were bred from wild boars, for instance, while goats came from the Persian
ibex. Domesticated animals made the hard, physical labor of farming possible while their milk and
meat added variety to the human diet. They also carried infectious diseases: smallpox, influenza
and the measles all spread from domesticated animals to humans.

The first farm animals also included sheep and cattle. These originated in  Mesopotamia  between
10,000 and 13,000 years ago. Water buffalo and yak were domesticated shortly after
in China , India  and Tibet.

Draft animals including oxen, donkeys and camels appeared much later—around 4,000 B.C.—as
humans developed trade routes for transporting goods.

Toward the end of the Neolithic Era, people began to use tools made from metal. Copper was the first metal
used for tools. Eventually copper replaced stone, leading to the Copper Age. We will talk in class about an
amazing early Copper Age discovery in the mountains near the Italian and Austrian border

Effects of the Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution led to masses of people establishing permanent settlements supported by
farming and agriculture. It paved the way for the innovations of the ensuing  Bronze Age  and Iron
Age , when advancements in creating tools for farming, wars and art swept the world and brought
civilizations together through trade and conquest.

Age of metals:
The Metal Ages started about six thousand years ago. During the Metal Ages people began to make tools and
weapons utilizing metals such as tin, copper, iron and bronze by heating the metals in hot furnaces and moulded
them.
People were also making jewellery using precious metals, including silver and gold.
Through these changes, people’s lives became smoother. Villages and towns also became more massive and
further prospered. People started building the cities in this period.

Classification of Metal ages

The Metal Age is classified into three stages

 The copper age

 The Bronze Age
 The Iron Age

Use of Metal ages

 People made several metal objects during the Metal Ages.

 Also ew techniques were developed for producing clay potter examples is
 Beaker pots and it appear like upside-down bells.
 Some areas of the Iberian Peninsula prospered during the Metal age in the southeast region(El Argar)
 Argaric towns had strong defensive walls and canals were also available to irrigate farmers’ crops.
 During the Metal Ages, people began constructing monuments using large blocks of stone called megaliths.
 From this time the most famous megalithic monuments are labelled dolmens.

The copper age:

The 1,000-year-long Copper Age is also known as the Chalcolithic Period. It lasted from about 4500 B.C. to
3500 B.C., overlapping with the early Bronze Age. Some cultures and individuals used Copper Age technology
after the Copper Age was over. The word Chalcolithic is derived from the Greek words “chalco” (copper) and
“lithos”(stone). The oldest copper ornament dates back to around 8700 B.C. and it was found in present-day
northern Iraq. 

The Chalcolithic or Copper Age is the transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.[1] It is
taken to begin around the mid-5th millennium BC, and ends with the beginning of the Bronze Age proper, in
the late 4th to 3rd millennium BC, depending on the region.

In other parts of the Middle East, archaeologists have discovered copper axes, nails, roofing tiles, crowns, and
even weapons like the head of a mace, a bludgeoning weapon with a rounded, metal, or stone head attached to a
short handle
The Vinča culture was the first to develop the knowledge and skills to process copper, i, the late 6th
millennium BC.[2]
Edged weapons such as knives, swords, spearheads, and axes were made of copper, as
were brooches, pins, belt boxes and vessels for food and drink.[

The bronze age

the Bronze Age is a prehistoric period, approximately 3300 BC to 1200 BC, that was characterized by the use
of bronze, in some areas proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the
second principal period of the three-age Stone-Bronze-Iron system, as proposed in modern times by Christian
Jürgensen Thomsen, for classifying and studying ancient societies and history.
An ancient civilization is defined to be in the Bronze Age either by producing bronze by smelting its
own copper and alloying with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or by trading for bronze from production areas
elsewhere. Bronze is harder and more durable than other metals available at the time, allowing Bronze Age
civilizations to gain a technological advantage.

Bronze Age Tools

When ancient humans first realized that they could melt copper, add some tin, and create a much stronger metal
called bronze, it was a big deal. Suddenly, they could create all sorts of new tools. They could make better axes,
and knives, and nails, and pots, and hammers and even, yes, instruments.
Bronze age societies were no exception, and their new technologies meant that the age of rock was over. It was
time for the age of metal.

Archaeological evidence suggests the transition from copper to bronze took place around 3300 B.C.
The invention of bronze brought an end to the Stone Age , the prehistoric period dominated by the
use of stone tools and weaponry.

Different human societies entered the Bronze Age at different times. Civilizations in Greece began
working with bronze before 3000 B.C., while the British Isles and China entered the  Bronze
Age  much later—around 1900 B.C. and 1600 B.C., respectively.

The Bronze Age was marked by the rise of states or kingdoms—large-scale societies joined under a
central government by a powerful ruler. Bronze Age states interacted with each other through trade,
warfare, migration and the spread of ideas. Prominent Bronze Age kingdoms included Sumer
and Babylonia  in Mesopotamia  and Athens in Ancient Greece .

The Bronze Age ended around 1200 B.C. when humans began to forge an even stronger metal: iron.
Bronze Age Civilizations

A map of Europe during the late bronze age, circa 1100 B.C.
Xoil/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0

Sumer: By the fourth millennium BCE, Sumerians had established roughly a dozen city-states
throughout ancient Mesopotamia, including Eridu and Uruk in what is now southern Iraq.

Sumerians called themselves the Sag-giga, the “black-headed ones.” They were among the first to
use bronze. They also pioneered the use of levees and canals for irrigation. Sumerians invented
cuneiform script, one of the earliest forms of writing and built large stepped pyramid temples called
ziggurats.

Sumerians celebrated art and literature. The 3,000-line poem “Epic of Gilgamesh” follows the
adventures of a Sumerian king as he battles a forest monster and quests after the secrets of eternal
life.

Babylonia: Babylonia rose to prominence in the Bronze Age around 1900 B.C., in present-day Iraq.
Its capital, the city of Babylon, was first occupied by people known as the Amorites.

The Amorite King Hammurabi  created one of the world’s earliest and most-complete written legal
codes. The Code of Hammurabi  helped Babylon surpass the Sumerian City of Ur as the region’s
most powerful city
Assyria: Assyria was a major political and military power in ancient Mesopotamia. At its peak, the
Assyrian Empire stretched from modern-day Iraq in the east to Turkey in the west and Egypt in the
south. The Assyrians frequently warred against the pharaohs of  Ancient Egypt  and the Hittite
Empire of Turkey.

Assyria is named after its original capital, the ancient city of Assur, situated on the west bank of
the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq.

Bronze Age Tattoos: Equipment and Styles

During the Bronze Age, the earliest appearance of tattoos that we can determine, dark pigments were most
common. The style of tattoos also indicates that people used tattoos for different reasons during the Bronze
Age. One design style using dots, lines, and crosses most likely marked the skin for medicinal purposes. These
marks identify places of injury or pain as we shall see in the example of Oetzi, the ancient man preserved in ice.
Another style of tattoo purpose and design involves specifically selected images with associated meaning,
whether personal or mythical, indicating the person wearing them was of an elite status. We will see this kind of
tattoo in our example of Ukok, the preserved remains of a Bronze Age ''princess'' discovered in Siberia.

Trading in the Bronze Age

 ancient innovators started smelting copper with tin in order to create a stronger metal called bronze. As the
Bronze Age began, other innovations developed, including more advanced societies, stronger political
structures, and improved sailing technology. Societies around the world grew faster than ever before. At the
center of this growth was trade. Societies were in greater contact, and they exchanged products with each other
on a greater scale. It was a changing world, and trade was at the center of it all.

1.local

2.long distance

Bronze age cloth:

We also learned that during the Bronze Age, both men and women wore long tunics with a covering over
their tops. These tunics were typically woven of wool or hemp. However, in China, the wealthier wore silk
garments. People also wore hats, belts, and leather shoes.

Dynasty
The era of the Shang and the Zhou dynasties is generally known as the Bronze Age of China, because
bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, used to fashion weapons, parts of chariots, and ritual vessels, played an
important role in the material culture of the time.

House :
The average farmer in the Bronze Age lived in houses made of mud and sticks. This style, known as wattle and
daub, weaves sticks around posts like you might see in a wicker basket. Then, they fill in the space between the
sticks with mud and clay, creating a stucco-like finish. The roof of the house was thatched, made by layering
plant stalks or grasses and tying them down to make a waterproof finish. Because the house was round, the roof
was conical. Some of these houses had a hole at the peak of the roof to allow smoke from the cooking fire to
escape, while others layered the thatch in a way to allow smoke to escape without letting water in.

2.the iron age

The Iron Age was a period in human history that started between 1200 B.C. and 600 B.C.,
depending on the region, and followed the Stone Age and Bronze Age. During the Iron Age, people
across much of Europe, Asia and parts of Africa began making tools and weapons from iron and
steel. For some societies, including Ancient Greece, the start of the Iron Age was accompanied by a
period of cultural decline.

Humans may have smelted iron sporadically throughout the  Bronze Age , though they likely saw
iron as an inferior metal. Iron tools and weapons weren’t as hard or durable as their bronze
counterparts.

The use of iron became more widespread after people learned how to make steel, a much harder
metal, by heating iron with carbon. The Hittites—who lived during the Bronze Age in what is now
Turkey—may have been the first to make steel.

When Was the Iron Age?

The Iron Age began around 1200 B.C. in the Mediterranean region and Near East with the collapse
of several prominent Bronze Age  civilizations, including the Mycenaean civilization  in Greece and
the Hittite Empire in Turkey. Ancient cities including Troy and Gaza were destroyed, trade routes
were lost and literacy declined throughout the region.

The adoption of iron and steel directly impacted changes in society, affecting agricultural procedures
and artistic expression, and also coincided with the spread of written language. In historical
archaeology, the earliest preserved manuscripts are from the Iron Age. This is due to the introduction of
alphabetic characters, which allowed literature to flourish and for societies to record historic texts.
The beginning of the Iron Age differs from region to region. It is characterized by the use of iron in
tools, weapons, personal ornaments, pottery and design. The differences from the preceding age of
bronze were due to more advanced ways of processing iron. Because iron is softer than bronze, it could
be forged, making design move from rectilinear patterns to curvilinear, flowing designs.

smelting is much more difficult than tin and copper smelting. These metals and their alloys can be cold-
worked, but smelted iron requires hot-working and can be melted only in specially designed furnaces.
Iron fragments found in present day Turkey (c. 1800 BC) show the use of carbon steel. These iron
fragments are the earliest known evidence of steel manufacturing.
It is believed that a shortage of tin forced metalworkers to seek an alternative to bronze. Many bronze
objects were recycled into weapons during this time. The widespread use of the more readily available
iron ore led to improved efficiency of steel-making technology. By the time tin became available again,
iron was cheaper, stronger and lighter, and forged iron replaced bronze tools permanently.
During the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons were made from steel, particularly carbon alloys. Steel
weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze, but much stronger.

Iron Age: Daily Life

Before the Industrial Revolution, which would take place centuries later, the majority of people lived an
agrarian lifestyle. Most people were farmers, and their lives revolved around the farming seasons.
Societies consisted of villages where communities of families worked the land and made necessities for
living by hand. All essentials were made or grown locally.
The production of iron tools helped make the farming process easier and more efficient. Farmers could
plow tougher soil, making it possible to harvest new crops and freeing time for more leisure. New
varieties of crops and livestock were introduced at different times over the span of the Iron Age.
More time also meant that people could make extra supplies to sell or exchange. Some farming families
spent part of their time making salt, quern stones or iron. Most settlements have evidence of making
clothes, woodworking and even blacksmithing.
Iron has been enhancing the quality of life for centuries. As more advanced technologies for processing
iron were discovered, the world would experience the most rapid period of growth.

Just as civilizations experienced rapid advancement during and after the Iron Age, the fourth industrial
revolution of today is changing the dynamics of markets and industries. Find out more about  how
companies should adapt and capitalize on the change , including steel companies.

6.mesopotamian:
Mesopotamia is a region of southwest Asia in the Tigris and Euphrates river system that benefitted
from the area’s climate and geography to host the beginnings of human civilization. Its history is
marked by many important inventions that changed the world, including the concept of time, math,
the wheel, sailboats, maps and writing. Mesopotamia is also defined by a changing succession of
ruling bodies from different areas and cities that seized control over a period of thousands of years.

Mesopotamia is located in the region now known as the Middle East, which includes parts of
southwest Asia and lands around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the  Fertile Crescent , an
area also known as “Cradle of Civilization” for the number of innovations that arose from the early
societies in this region, which are among some of the earliest known human civilizations on earth.

The word “mesopotamia” is formed from the ancient words “meso,” meaning between or in the
middle of, and “potamos,” meaning river. Situated in the fertile valleys between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, the region is now home to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey and  Syria .
Geographical condition:

The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert in the north which gives way to a 5, sq mile region
of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, and reed banks in the south.

Weather condition

Ancient Mesopotamia used to have about 10 inches of rain per year and very hot temperatures – in summer
average temperatures reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Modern-day Iraq and Syria have an arid climate.
They have hot, dry summers and short cool winters.

Language of Mesopotamian:

The principal languages of ancient Mesopotamia were Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian (together sometimes
known as 'Akkadian'), Amorite, and - later - Aramaic.  They have come down to us in the "cuneiform" (i.e.
wedge-shaped) script, deciphered by Henry Rawlinson and other scholars in the 1850s.  The subject which
studies Mesopotamian languages and the sources written in them is called Assyriology.

Literature:w hile most of the tablets discovered have been government and financial records, some of the
writings are literature. This literature includes mythology of the Mesopotamian gods, tales of their heroes,
poetry, and songs. Some of the writings include sayings of wisdom The most famous and epic of all the
Mesopotamian literature is the story Gilgamesh.

technology
Mesopotamian people developed many technologies, among them metalworking, glassmaking, textile weaving,
food control, and water storage and irrigation.
They were also one of the first Bronze age people in the world.
Early on they used copper, bronze and gold, and later they used iron
culture
The cultures of Mesopotamia are considered civilizations because their people: had writing, had settled
communities in the form of villages, planted their own food, had domesticated animals, and had different orders
of workers.

Compared with the lives of most people at that time, civilization in Mesopotamia was sophisticated and
unusual. The shift from hunting and gathering to civilization allowed Mesopotamians to diversify.
agriculture
Farmers in Mesopotamia grew more than their personal needs. Their surplus food allowed others to specialize
in new duties. Some made tools. Some built homes or cooked food. Some became priests or leaders. Still more
people worked for the leaders, keeping written records of laws, labor, and goods for trade.
Board Games: The ancient Sumerians played with board games. Toys included bows and arrows, sling shots,
boomerangs, throw sticks, spinning tops, rattles, jump ropes, hoops, and balls for juggling and other games.
Button Buzz: They played a game we call buzz button or button buzz.

Some of the most important inventions of the Sumerians were:

 The Wheel
 The Sail
 Writing
 The Corbeled Arch/True Arch
 Irrigation and Farming Implements
 Cities
 Maps
 Mathematics
 Time and Clocks
 Astronomy and Astrology
 Medicinal Drugs and Surgery

In agriculture, the Sumerians created irrigation practices, the seed-drill, the plow, and the pickaxe and seem to
have also invented the device known as the Archimedes' Screw long before the Greeks

The Mesopotamians developed a highly sophisticated mathematical system with a sexagesimal place-notation
(a base of 60 whereas the present-day base is 10). This system included addition, subtraction, multiplication,
division, algebra, geometry, reciprocals, squares, and quadratic equations. The sexagesimal base inspired them
to create time based on the concept of 60, and so an hour was defined as 60 minutes and a minute of 60
seconds. Time was measured by a sundial or a waterclock, and the period of the sun's rising to setting and rising
again was divided into periods of 12 for daylight and 12 for darkness, creating the 24-hour day.

The Sumerian goddess of health and healing was Gula (later known in other regions as Ninkarrak and
Ninisinna) often depicted in the presence of her dog as dogs were also associated with healing, health, and
protection. Along with her dog, Gula cared for the people with the assistance of her consort Pabilsag, her
daughter Gunurra, and her two sons Damu and Ninazu

MESOPOTAMIAN GOVERNMENT

 The Mesopotamians arguably invented the centralized state and the developed kingship. Cities were political
focal points as well as urban center and leadership was passed down by kingly dynasties. As Mesopotamian
culture developed it city-states coalesced into kingdoms.
Mesopotamia economy
The Mesopotamian economy was based on bartering—that is, trading goods and services for other goods and
services. Bartering was necessary for people in Mesopotamia to get the resources they lacked. As a result,
ancient Mesopotamians would trade with people from other areas

Mesopotamian Civilization

Mesopotamia was home to some of the oldest major ancient civilizations, including the Sumerians, Akkadians,
Persians, Babylonians and Assyrians.

Humans first settled in Mesopotamia in the Paleolithic era. By 14,000 B.C., people in the region
lived in small settlements with circular houses.

Five thousand years later, these houses formed farming communities following the domestication of
animals and the development of agriculture, most notably irrigation techniques that took advantage
of the proximity of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Agricultural progress was the work of the dominant Ubaid culture, which had absorbed the Halaf
culture before it.

Mesopotamian Gods

Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic, with followers worshipping several main gods and
thousands of minor gods. The three main gods were Ea (Sumerian: Enki), the god of wisdom and
magic, Anu (Sumerian: An), the sky god, and Enlil (Ellil), the god of earth, storms and agriculture
and the controller of fates. Ea is the creator and protector of humanity in both the Epic of
Gilgamesh and the story of the Great Flood. 

In the latter story, Ea made humans out of clay, but the God Enlil sought to destroy humanity by
creating a flood. Ea had the humans build an ark and mankind was spared. If this story sounds
familiar, it should; foundational Mesopotamian religious stories about the Garden of Eden, the
Great Flood, and the Creation of the Tower of Babel found their way into the Bible, and the
Mesopotamian religion influenced both Christianity and Islam.
Mesopotamian Art

While making art predates civilization in Mesopotamia, the innovations there include creating art
on a larger scale, often in the context of their grandiose and complex architecture, and frequently
employing metalwork.

One of the earliest examples of metalwork in art comes from southern Mesopotamia, a silver
statuette of a kneeling bull from 3000 B.C. Before this, painted ceramics and limestone were the
most common art forms.

Another metal-based work, a goat standing on its hind legs and leaning on the branches of a tree,
featuring gold and copper along with other materials, was found in the Great Death Pit at Ur and
dates to 2500 B.C.

The nile valley:

The term Nile Valley Civilizations is sometimes used in Afrocentrism or Pan-Africanism to group a number of

interrelated and interlocking, regionally distinct cultures that formed along the length of the Nile Valley from its
headwaters in Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to its mouth in the Mediterranean Sea.

Geographical condition

The Nile River flows over 6,600 kilometers (4,100 miles) until emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. For
thousands of years, the river has provided a source of irrigation to transform the dry area around it into lush
agricultural land. Today, the river continues to serve as a source of irrigation, as well as an important
transportation and trade route.

The Nile River flows from south to north through eastern Africa. It begins in the rivers that flow into Lake
Victoria (located in modern-day Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya), and empties into the Mediterranean Sea more
than 6,600 kilometers (4,100 miles) to the north, making it one of the longest river in the world. 

Black world
Weather condition "Ancient Egypt was a Negro
civilisation. The history of
Black Africa will remain
The Nile River Valley is a hot and dry region which registers very little
suspended in the air and cannot
precipitation at any time of the year.  It is generally recommended that
travelers do not go to the area during the hottest summer months, as the area is be written correctly until
African historians dare to
scorching at this time.  The average summer high temperature is over one
hundred degrees from May through September.  During this time, the average connect it with the history of
evening temperature is in the seventies or eighties, which offers a nice respite Egypt. The African historian
who evades the problem of
from the high daytime temperatures
Egypt is neither modest nor
objective nor unruffled. He is
The Peoples of the Nile Valley ignorant, cowardly and
neurotic. The ancient
  Egyptians were Negroes. The
For many years now there has been a debate about whether the ancient moral fruit of their civilisation
peoples of the Nile Valley were 'black' or 'white'. Much Western scholarship, is to be counted among the
assets of the Black world." -
Cheikh Anta Diop, taken from
The African Origin of
Civilisation.
particularly in the early twentieth century, refused to accept that black peoples could have built such a great
civilisation.

In 1930 for example, Charles Seligman (1873-1940), an English ethnologist who wrote a book titled 'The Races
of Africa' said that the ancient civilisation of Egypt was created by a race he called 'Hamites', who he regarded
as coming from Asia.

Some African historians, including the Professor of Anthropology at the University of Nairobi, Simiyu
Wandibba, believe that European writers developed such theories to discredit Africa and make it easier for the
continent to be colonised.

One of the main academic proponents of the view that the ancient Egyptian civilisation was founded by black
Africans was the Senegalese historian Cheikh Anta Diop.

In his two major works Nations Negres et Culture and Anteriorite des Civilizations Negres he profoundly
influenced thinking about Africa around the world.

Cheikh Anta Diop argues that:

 As humankind began in East Africa it was likely that people were black skinned.

 People populated other continents by moving either through the Sahara or the Nile Valley.

 In the period before the start of the great Egyptian dynasties the whole of the Nile river basin was taken over
by these negroid peoples.

 To support his theory, Diop cited the writings of several Greek and Latin writers who had described the
ancient Egyptians.

In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan. Additionally, the Nile is
an important economic river, supporting agriculture and fishing. The Nile has two major tributaries – the White
Nile, which begins at Jinja, Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile.

Food for Thought

Over time, however, despite being in the midst of desert surroundings, people discovered that the Nile River
provided many sources of food. Along the river were fruit trees, and fish swam in the Nile in great numbers.

Prime Time
In order to know when to plant, the Egyptians needed to track days. They developed a calendar based on the
flooding of the Nile that proved remarkably accurate. It contained a year of 365 days divided into 12 months of
30 days each. The five extra days fell at the end of the year
The Egyptian Culture
Egypt is cosmopolitan as it is the perfect fusion of so many cultures. The culture and tradition of Egypt is like a
melting pot where multiple cultures and traditions have created a wonderful picture and a mentality that
embraces new and advanced ideas for creating a liberal ambiance around. This liberal attitude is being
displayed in Egyptians friendly behavior toward foreigners and tourists

Family
In Egypt, family integrity matters a lot and head of the family takes the entire responsibility to run the family in
proper manner and with great focus on behavior. People put special respect for family value and family relation.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons that traveling in the cities of Egypt is safer than any other top global
destinations, even for women traveling alone.

The traditional Egyptian trousers are called “sserual”. They are worn under the gallibaya sometimes, but they
are optional.

The most widespread outerwear in Egypt is a garment called “kaftan” and worn over the gallibaya. It is a long
coat-like piece with long wide sleeves. Kaftan is open in front and belted with a sash called “hizan”. Kaftan is
often made from a striped cloth (half-silk, cotton, satin, brocade, etc.).

Papyrus
The ancient Egyptians invented of type of paper called papyrus, which was made from the river plant of the
same name
Hieroglyphs
The ancient Egyptians used the distinctive script known today as hieroglyphs (Greek for "sacred words") for
almost 4,000 years. Hieroglyphs were written on papyrus, carved in stone on tomb and temple walls, and used
to decorate many objects of cultic and daily life use. Altogether there are over 700 different hieroglyphs,
Hieratic
While hieroglyphs are quite beautiful, they must have been very time consuming for scribes to write. The
Egyptians invented a cursive form of hieroglyphs known as hieratic
Demotic
An even more cursive form of script was invented during the 26th Dynasty (664-525 B.C.). Known as Demotic
Coptic
Late in Egyptian history, the language known as Coptic, the final phase of development of the ancient Egyptian
language
Meroitic
The writing system for the Meroitic language of Nubia appeared around the 2nd century B.C. 
The literature
 Ancient Egyptian literature comprises a wide array of narrative and poetic forms including inscriptions on
tombs, stele, obelisks, and temples; myths, stories, and legends; religious writings; philosophical works;
wisdom literature; autobiographies; biographies; histories; poetry; hymns; personal essays; letters and court
records.

 The Legend of Isis and Osiris.

 The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor.
 Great Hymen to the Aten
 The Maxims of Ptahhotep.
 The Westcar Papyrus
The arctitecture
The best known example of ancient Egyptian architecture are the Egyptian pyramids while excavated temples,
palaces, tombs and fortresses have also been studied. Most buildings were built of locally available mud brick and
limestone by levied workers.

1. The Great Pyramid of Giza. One of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest of
all the surviving pyramids in Egypt. ...
2. The Great Sphinx of Giza. ...
3. Valley of the Kings. ...
4. The Karnak Temple. ...
5. Abu Simbel Temples. ...
6. Colossi of Memnon. ...
7. Luxor Temple. ...
8. Temple of Hatshepsut
religion
The ancient Egyptians were a polytheistic people who believed that gods and goddesses controlled the forces of
the human, natural, and supernatural world.  Ancient pagan beliefs gradually faded and were replaced by
monotheistic religions. Today, the majority of the Egyptian population is Muslim, with a small minority of Jews
and Christians.
Economy and agriculture
The civilization of ancient Egypt was indebted to the Nile River and its dependable seasonal floodingEgyptians are
credited as being one of the first groups of people to practice agriculture on a large scaleTheir farming practices
allowed them to grow staple food crops, especially grains such as wheat and barley, and industrial crops, such as
flax and papyrus. They excelled in horticulture.
The Pyramids

Writing
.
Papyrus Sheets

Black Ink

The Egyptians mixed vegetable gum, soot and bee wax to make black ink. They replaced soot with other
materials such as ochre to make various colours.
The Ox-drawn Plough

The Sickle

The sickle is a curved blade used for cutting and harvesting grain, such as wheat and barley.
Irrigation

Shadoof

weight on one end and a bucket on the other. The bucket is filled with water and easily raised then emptied onto
higher ground.
The Calendar

The Egyptians devised the solar calendar by recording the yearly reappearance of Sirius (the Dog Star) in the
eastern sky. It was a fixed point which coincided with the yearly flooding of the Nile. Their calendar had 365
days and 12 months with 30 days in each month and an additional five festival days at the end of the year.
However, they did not account for the additional fraction of a day and their calendar gradually became
incorrect. Eventually Ptolemy III added one day to the 365 days every four years.
Clocks

In order to tell the time Egyptians invented two types of clock.

Obelisks were used as sun clocks by noting how its shadow moved around its surface throughout the day. From
the use of obelisks they identified the longest and shortest days of the year.

Surgical Instruments

Wigs

Cosmetic Makeup

Toothpaste

Mummification

Transport

the Egyptians still cross the Nile by boat. The vessel they use is the fellucca, a small boat with a large
triangular sail. The roads in ancient Egypt were little more than paths. To get around on land, people walked,
rode donkeys or travelled by wagon.

6.3 the indus valley:

The Indus Valley Civilization existed through its early years of 3300-1300 BCE, and its mature period of 2600-
1900 BCE. The area of this civilization extended along the Indus River from what today is northeast
Afghanistan, into Pakistan and northwest India. The Indus Civilization was the most widespread of the three
early civilizations of the ancient world, along with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Harappa and Mohenjo-
daro were thought to be the two great cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, emerging around 2600 BCE along
the Indus River Valley in the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. Their discovery and excavation in the
19th and 20th centuries provided important archaeological data about ancient cultures.

The geographical condition of indus valley:

The Harappan civilization was located in the Indus River valley. Its two large cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-
daro, were located in present-day Pakistan's Punjab and Sindh provinces, respectively. Its extent reached as
far south as the Gulf of Khambhat and as far east as the Yamuna (Jumna) River.

The weather condition of indus valley:

Across the Indus basin, the average maximum temperature is about 30°C in summer and 13°C in winter.
Average minimum temperatures range from 18°C in summer to –0.3°C in winter. The coldest month is January
and the warmest is June.

Inventions[edit]

 Button, ornamental: Buttons—made from seashell—were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for

ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE.
 Cockfighting: Cockfighting was a pastime in the Indus Valley Civilization in what today is Pakistan by
2000 BCE[3] and one of the uses of the fighting cock.."[4]
 Stepwell: Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley Civilization's
archaeological site at Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan and Dholavira, Circular saw:
 Bow Drill: Bow drills were used in Mehrgarh between the 4th and 5th millennium BCPublic Baths: The
earliest public baths are found in the ruins in of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
 Grid Plan: Rehman Dheri contains earliest evidences of grid planned cities in south Asia dated c. 3300
BCE.[13][14] By 2600 BC, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, and other major cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation,
were built with blocks divided by a grid of straight streets, running north–south and east–west. Each block
was subdivided by small lanes.[15]
 Flush Toilet: Mohenjo-Daro circa 2800 BC is cited as having some of the most advanced, with toilets built
into outer walls of homes.
 Drainage System: The Indus Valley Civilisation had advanced sewerage and drainage systems.
 Distillation: A terracota distillation apparatus in the Indus Valley in West Pakistan dates from around 3000
BC.[19]
 Cotton industry: The Indus cotton industry was well-developed and some methods used in cotton spinning
and fabrication continued to be used until the industrialization of India.[20]
 Public Litter bins: Archaeologists have found several brick containers that were strategically located along
the street junctions of Mohenjo-Daro specifically for garbage disposal.[21][22]
 Dentistry: The evidence of dentistry being practised as far back as 7000 BC.[23] An IVC site
in Mehrgarh indicates that this form of dentistry involved curing tooth related disorders with bow
drills operated, perhaps, by skilled bead crafters. The reconstruction of this ancient form of dentistry
showed that the methods used were reliable and effective.[24]
 Touchstone: Found in excavations from Banawali, Harayana.[25][26]
 Signboard: One of the most significant discoveries at Dholavira was made in one of the side rooms of the
northern gateway of the city, and is generally known as the Dholavira Signboard., considered first of such
inscription on sand stone at any of Harappan sites.[29]
 Hydraulic Engineering: The kind of efficient system of Harappans of Dholavira, developed for
conservation, harvesting and storage of water speaks eloquently about their advanced hydraulic
engineering,
 Dams: In Neolithic Mehrgarh pre harappan phase (7000-3200 BCE) people had developed water storage
system called Bund to trap rain and torrential waters in their semi arid region of kach in between indus
river and balochistan mountains where seasonal bolan river flows. stone walls were built along the slope of
torrential river beds to serve as reservoir dams, restrict flow of water and for diverting water into canals
for irrigation.[35][36][37]
 Stadium: world's earliest stadium with terraced stands was constructed at Dholavira and Juni Kuran.
[38]
 Two stadiums have been identified at the ancient site, one is considered a ceremonial ground, another, a
small stadium. At Juni Kuran, two separate stadiums for commons and Elite have been discovered.[39][40][41]
[42]

 Bronze sculpture: Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro belonging to the Harappan civilization dating back to
2500 BCE is said to be the first bronze statue.[43][44]
 Lost wax casting: a detailed, full-field photoluminescence study of a 6,000 year old copper "wheel" amulet
from Mehrgarh in Balochistan has opened the door to many new facts about this period of history. This
study by Ipanema, the European center for the study of ancient materials, believes that this is the oldest
known example of the "lost wax" casting technique, one of the most important innovations in the history of
metallurgy[45][46]
 Shampoo: Pre-Harappan level of Banawali (2750-2500 BC), Haryana have revealed traces of a mixture of
shikakai with soap nuts and Amla (Indian Gooseberry) of what would constitute herbal shampoo, exhibiting
ancient roots of South Asian hygiene.[47]
 Mordant (Dye Fixing): Mordants for fixing dyes were used since Indus valley civilization, it exhibited
Indian mastery over clothes dyeing which was unrivalled until the invention of western chemical dyes.[48]
 Stoneware: Earliest stonewares, predecessors of porcelain have been recorded at Indus Valley Civilization
sites of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, they were used for making stoneware bangles.[49][50][51]
 Seven Stones: An Indian subcontinent game also called Pitthu is played in rural areas has its origins in the
Indus Valley Civilization.[52]
 English Bond: This bond has alternating stretching and heading courses, with the headers centred over the
midpoint of the stretchers, and perpends in each alternate course aligned. Harappan architecture in South
Asia was the first use, anywhere in the world, of so-called English bond in building with bricks.
 Saw, modern: True saws with modern teeth were Harappan invention.[53]
 Needle's eye: Eye Needle was another Harappan contribution.[53]
 Etched Carnelian beads: are a type of ancient decorative beads made from carnelian with an etched design
in white. They were made according to a technique of alkaline-etching developed by the Harappans during
the 3rd millennium BCE and were widely disperced from China in the east to Greece in the west.[54][55][56]
 Finished Ivory Goods: Finished Ivory products like kohl sticks, pins, awls, hooks, toggles, combs,
gamesmen, dice, inlay and other personal ornaments are considered to have its origin form Harappan sites.

Technology:
Indus valley civilization was technically very much developed and possessed good knowledge of
metallurgy and used standardized burnt bricks, accurate weights, and cotton. There was a standardized system
of weights and measurements along with calibration in multiple subdivisions.

language

The Harappan language is the unknown language or languages of the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC)
Harappan civilization (Indus Valley Civilization, or IVC) indus valley people spoke ancient Dravidian
language, claims new research.
Religion

The Indus Valley religion is polytheistic and is made up of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. There are
many seals to support the evidence of the Indus Valley Gods. Some seals show animals which resemble the two
gods, Shiva and Rudra. Other seals depict a tree which the Indus Valley believed to be the tree of life

Architecture

The Harappan city was divided into two or more parts of which the part to the west was smaller, however higher,
known to be as a citadel. Also, the part to the east was comparatively larger but lower and the archaeologists called
it ‘the lower town’. The citadel comprised granaries, religious buildings, public buildings, and assembly halls while
the lower town was divided into rectangular sections cut by wide roads at right angles to each other.

Farming

Some of the farming methods and rearing as followed by the Harappan farmers and herders are –

1. Harappans grew wheat, barley, pulses, peas, rice, sesame, linseed, and mustard. They also developed some
new tools known as plough and was used to dig earth for planting the seeds and turning the soil. A method
of irrigation was used due to less rainfall.

2. The Harappan reared cattle sheep, goat, and buffalo. Water and pastures were present around many sites.
People collected fruits, fish and hunted wild animals.

Indus Valley Civilization family

Wealthy Indus Valley families lived in comfortable houses built around courtyards. Stairs led to a flat roof
where there was extra space to work and relax. Although there was not much furniture, the homes had wells for
water and bathrooms with pipes that carried waste into the main drains.
Indus Valley Civilization medicine
Archeological evidence of Harappa and Mohanjodaro suggested the presence of a traditional medicinal system
at that time. It was interpreted that use of plants, animals and mineral based drugs were done by Indus
people.
Astronomy in Indus Valley Civilization
Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley Civilization or earlier.
Astronomy later developed as a discipline of Vedanga or one of the "auxiliary disciplines" associated with the
study of the Vedas, dating 1500 BCE or older.
Transportation

The main form of transportation were bullock carts and boats. Traders traveled in carts or by boat. Indus valley
boats were long and narrow. They had a cabin in the middle and were rowed. People did not travel much at all.
They would usually walk everywhere they needed to go.

Arts and crafts

The artists and craftsmen of the Indus Valley were extremely skilled in a variety of crafts—metal casting,
stone carving, making and painting pottery and making terracotta images using simplified motifs of
animals, plants and birds.
Cloths

The fashion of the Indus Valley people consisted of loin cloth for men, wrap skirts and shoulder shoals for
women, sandals made of cloth and wood and clothes made of cotton and woollen yarn. Others include
ornaments, necklaces, fillets, armlets as well as finger rings

Government and law.

 The Indus river valley civilization is a theocracy government and a theocracy is run by a priest so that means
their religion was very important to them. In ancient Indus karma played a big role in their laws. The Indus
valley civilization had social laws, human laws, and personal laws. The Indus river valley did not have any
courts

8.Races:
 any one of the groups that humans are often divided into based on physical traits regarded as common
among people of shared ancestry

A race is a grouping of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into categories generally viewed as
distinct by society.[1] The term was first used to refer to speakers of a common language and then to
denote national affiliations. 

Hooton’s Classification

In 1931, American anthropologist, E.A. Hooton has suggested a four fold classification of
composite races, which is the result of cross breeding amongst the primary races. In 1947,
however, he modified his classification
White (European, Eur-African, caucosoid): This group includes six primary and two composite sub races.
The primary sub-races include Mediterranean

Ainu, Keltic, Nordic, Alpine and East Baltic while composite sub races include Armonoid and
Dinaric.

1) Negroid: This group includes African Negro, Nilotic Negro and Negrito (Pygmies)
belonging to the primary sub-races.

2) Mongoloid: This group include Classic and Arctic Mongoloid (Eskimoid), Primary sub-
races.

3) Composite Races: This group further classified into three categories:

i) Predominantly White – This group includes Australian, Indo-Dravidian and

Polynesians.

ii) Predominantly Mongoloid – This group includes American Indian and Indonesian
Mongoloid or Indonesian-Malay.

iii) Predominantly Negroid – This group includes Melanesian Papuan or Oceanic

Negroids, Bushmen - Hottentot and Tasmanians.

Hooton’s classification has been criticized for the inclusion of Negrito or Pygmy Racial
Classification element into the formation of Indo-Dravidians, Tasmanians, Bushman and
Indonesians inclusion of Archiaic types, viz., Tasmanians and Bushman as hybrid group and the
origin of Dinaric and Armenoid sub-race.

Denikar’s Classification: In 1889 Deniker proposed a classification and divided mankind into
twenty one races depending on hair form and chose nose form and skin colour as secondary traits.
This classification is classic and widely accepted scheme. The brief description of this
classification is as follows:

1) Woolly Hair, Broad Nose: This group include Bushmen, Negrito, Negro Bantu,
Melanesian-Papuan, on the basis of their skin colour they may be further classified into.

a) Yellow skinned: They are streatopygous, short statured and

dolichocephalic like Bushmen.

b) Dark skinned: They may be further classified into three groups:

• Reddish Brown: They are very short statured, subbrachycephalic or

subdolichocephalic like Negrito Negrillo.
Black, tall statured, dolichocephalic like Negro Bantu
• Brownish black, medium statured, dolichocephalic like Melanesian - Papuan.

2) Curly or wooly hair: This group includes people with dark skin grouped into three
categories:

i) Reddish Brown, narrow nose, tall statured, dolichocephalic represented by Ethiopians.

ii) Chocolate-brown, broad nose, medium stature and dolichocephalic represented by
Australians.
iii) Brownish Black, broad or narrow nose, short stature, dolichocephalic like Dravidians.
In addition to these another group with tawny white skin, narrow hooked nose with
thick tip, branchycephalic represented by Assyroids are also included in this group.

3) Wavy Brown or black hair and dark eyes: This group of people includes:

i) Indo-Afghan having brown skin, black hair, narrow nose, which may be straight or
convex, tall stature and dolichocephalic.

ii) Another group of people have tawny white skin, black hair, tall stature, elongated
face represented by Arab or Smite, Berber, Littoral European, Ibero-Insular and
Western European and Adriatic.

4) Fair, wavy or straight hair, light eyes, reddish white skin: This group of people
includes Northern Europeans and Eastern Europeans.

5) Straight or wavy hair, dark black eyes: This group includes Ainu, Polynesians, and
Indonesians.

6) Straight hair: This group includes diversified people such as South Americans, North
 Americans, Central Americans, Petagonians, Eskimos, Lapps, Ugrians, Turks and Mongols.

Physical Characteristics of Major Racial Groups:

1. Skin Colour:
The Caucasoid have pale reddish white to olive brown skin colour. Among the Mongoloids, the skin colour
ranges between saffron to yellow brown, while some individuals have reddish brown skin colour. The Negroids
have brown to brown-black or yellow-brown skin colour.

2. Stature:
The Caucasoids have a medium to tall stature, while the Mongoloids are medium tall to medium short and
Negroids, tall to very short.

3. Head Form:
Among the Caucasoids, head is generally long to broad and short and medium high to very high. Among the
Mongoloids, head is predominantly broad and medium high, while it is predominantly long and low to medium
high among Negroids.

4. Face:
It is narrow to medium broad and tends to be high with no prognathism, among the Caucasoids. Among the
Mongoloids, it is medium broad to very broad and medium high. The face is medium broad to narrow and tends
towards medium high with strong prognathism among Negroids.

5. Hair:
Among the Caucasoids, hair colour is light brown to dark brown, texture is fine to medium and the form is
straight to wavy. The body hair among the Caucasoids is moderate to profuse. Among the Mongoloids, the
colour of hair is brown to brown black, texture is coarse, form is straight and body hair sparse. Among the
Negroids, hair colour is brown black, texture is coarse, form is woolly or frizzly and body hair, sparse.

6. Eye:
The colour of eyes, among the Caucasoids, is light blue to dark brown while the lateral eye- fold is occasional.
Among the Mongoloids, the eye colour is brown to dark brown and the medial epicanthic fold is very common.
Among the Negroids, eye colour is brown to brown black and vertical eye-fold is common.

7. Nose:
Among the Caucasoids, the nasal bridge is usually high and the form, narrow to medium broad. The nasal
bridge, among the Mongoloids, is usually low to medium and the form, medium broad. Among the Negroids,
the nasal bridge is usually low and the form, medium broad to very broad.

8. Body Shape:
Among the Caucasoids, it is linear to lateral and slender to rugged. Among the Mongoloids, it tends to be lateral
with some linearity and among the Negroids, the body shape is lateral and muscular.
9. Blood Group:
Among the Caucasoids, frequency of A is more than that of B, while the Mongoloids have more B than A and
the Negroids have both A and B.
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestral language or
parental language, called the proto-language of that family.

A language family is a grouping of linguistically linked languages, stemming from a common ancestral mother-
language called Protolanguage.
Most languages in the world belong to a specific family. Languages that have no demonstrable relation with
others, and cannot be classified within a specific family, are generally known as language isolates.
Creole languages are the only ones to be neither isolates, nor members of a linguistic family. They form their
own different type of languages

According to the field of historical linguistics, just as human beings can be grouped together into genealogical
families, so can human languages.
 50

Bangladesh is a combination of the Bengalis words bangle and desh, meaning the country or land
where the Bangla language is spoken.
 Land of river, agricultural and the land of lots of religion and love.
The cultural diversity of several social groups of Bangladesh.

It straddles the Bay o Bengal in south Asia .To the west and north.
It is bounded by India and to the southeast, it borders Myanmar.

Meaning of culture

 According to Majid Hassan, cultural Geography is the study of spatial variations

among cultural groups and the spatial functioning of society.
 The ideas, customs and social behavior of particular people or society are generally
known as culture.
 A culture is a way of life of group of people.
 The away of life, especially the general customs and beliefs of a particular group of
people at a particular time.

Culture of Bangladesh

 The culture of Bangladesh refers to the way of life the people of Bangladesh.
 It has evolved over the centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of
several social groups of Bangladesh.
 The Bengal renaissance of the 19th and early 20th centuries noted Bangladesh
writers, authors, scientists, researchers, thinkers, music composer, painters and
film makers have played a significant role in the development of Bengali
culture.
 It is manifested in various form including music, dance and drama, art and craft,
folk, languages and literature, philosophy and religion, festivals and celebration as
well as in a distinct cuisine and culinary tradition.
 51

I. Music ,Dance,Drama

The music, and dance style of bangladesh may be divided into three categories, namely

1. Classical
2. Folk
3. Modern

1. The Classical music and dance

 The classical style has been influneced by other prevalent classical forms of music and
dance of the India subcontinent.Accordingly show some influences dance form like
Bharata Natyam Katha and kucipudi

2. Folk Music and Dance

 The folk and tribal music and dance forms of Bangladesh are of indigenous origin and
rooted of the soil of Bangladesh.
 Several dancing styles in vouge in the north eastern part of the India subcontient
like Monipuri and Santal dances are also practical in Bangladesh
 52

 Bangladesh has a rich of folk songs and music tradition include Bhatiali, Baul,
Marfti,Murshidi and Bhawaiya lyricists like Lalon Shah, Hason Raja, Kangal Harinath,
Romesh Shill, Abbas Uddin and many more unknown anonymous lyrists have been
enriched the tradition of folk songs of Bangladesh.

3. Dance and Music in Modern

 In relatively modern context Robindra sangeet and Nazrul geet form precious
cultural heritage of Bangladesh.
 In recent time western influences have given rise toseveral quality rock bands particularly
in urban centers like Dhaka.
 Several musical instrument, some of them of indigenous origine are used in Bangladesh
and major musical instrument used are bamboo flute, drums a single stringed instrument
named Ektara, a four stringed instrument called Dotara, a pair of meal bauls used for rhthm
effect called Mandira. Currently several musical instrument of western origin like guiter,
drums, and saxophone are also used sometime alongside the traditional instrument.

Drama

 Drama remains popular in Bngladesh including performances of plays by local

playwrights as well as adaptation from writers of western origin.
 Jatra that is folk drama, is also a part of culture os Bangladesh.
 In jatra legendary plays of herosim, mythological stories, folktales of love and tragedy
and similar countless theme are enacted in open air theatre and continue to be a popular
form of entertainment in spite ofmodern infuences.

II. Arts and crafts of Bangladesh

1. Fine arts of Bangladesh
2. Handicrafts of Bangladesh.

1.Fine arts of Bangladesh

 Several artists originated from Bangladesh have gained world-wide famliarity for their
artistic contribution.The works of painters like Zainul Abedin,SM Sultan,Quamrul Hassan,
Shahabuddin Ahmed, Ronobi and Hashem Khan syambolizes the culture of the
country.

2.Handicrats of Bangladesh
 Handicrafts and cottage industries play a vital role in sustaning the cultural heritage
of Bangladesh.
 The prominent handicrafts in early and middle ages were textiles, metal
works,jewelary,wood works, cane and bamboo works and clay and
pottery.
 Later jute and leather become the major raw materials for handicraft.
 53

 Nakshi kantha a very popular form of handicraft is side to be indigenous to

Bangladesh.The rural women of the country put together pieces of old cloth with
crafty stiches o prepare these quites to be used in the winter.
 Several Bangladesh organizations like Arong and Probortona export handicraft
from Bangladesh t all over the world.

III. Architecture and Heritages

Bangladesh has appealing arcitecture from historical treasures to contemporary landmarks. It has
over centuries and assimilated influences from social, religious and exotic communities. Bangladesh
has many architectural rlics and mounments dating back thousand of years.

 Lalbaghfort: a Mughal architecture of Bangladesh.

 Ahsan Manzi : a Inde-saraenic revial architecture of Bangladesh.
 Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban : the house of parliament of Bangladesh.
 Somapura Mahavihara : A pala Buddist architecture
 Shat Gombuj Masjid : Indo- islaic architecture.
 Kantajew Temple : terracotta architecture.

IV. Sports of Bangladesh

Sports in Bangladesh is a popular form of entertainment as well as an essential part of bangladeshi

culture.

 Kabaddi is the national sport of Bangladesh.

 Cricket and Football are considered as the ost popular sports in Bangladesh.
 Traditional sports like Kabaddi,Kho-Kho,Lathi khela,Bull fight,Boat racing are
mostly played in the rural areas.

V. Festivals and Celebrations

Festivals and celebrations are integral part of the culture of Bangladesh. Prominent and
widely celebrated festivals are

 Pohela Boishakh
 Navanno
 Independence day
 Eid-ul fitr
 Eid-ul adha
 Durga puja
 Buddha purnima
 Christmas
 Language movement day etc.
 54

 Pohela Boishakh
 Pohela boishakh is the first day of the Bengali calender.It is
usually celebrated on 14 April. Pohela boishakh marks the start day
of the crop season.
 Many fair are arranged throughout the entire country.Women of
all ages wears colourful saree and mans wears panjabi.
 A special dish is cooked to honour this day called panta ilish. This
dish consist of state rice and slich of fish accompanied by dried fish
chillis onion and prickles.

 Nabanna
 The harvest festivals is called the Nabbanna.It is usually celebrated on
the first day of Ageahayan the first day of havesting.
 The main festival is organizing by jatiya nabanna utshab udjapon
parishad at charukala in dhaka university with a song, dance, cake,
sweet, colourfull procession and many traditional presentations.
 Once upon a time the first day of agrahayan was the first day of
bangla calendar.
Eid-ul-Fitr
 Eid-ul-fitr is the greatest islamic festival which is observed with the
sighting of the showal moon.
 This is held following muslim lunar calender no other day is as pleasant
as one this.
 After month long fasting throughout ramadan Eid comes as a good
reprive. Every muslim celebrate this day with great joy and
happiness.
 Eid-ul-Adha
 Eid-ul-Adha is the second most important religious festivals. The
celebration of this festivals similar to eid-ui-fitr.The only big difference is
the Kurbani or secrifice of domestic animals.
Wedding
 Relatives decorating the bride with traditional wedding turmeric in
a Bangladeshi Gaye Holud ceremony in Dhaka.
 Bengali weddings are traditionally in five parts: first, it is the bride and
groom's Mehendi Shondha (also called Pan Chini), the bride's Gaye Holud,
the
 55

groom's Gaye Holud, the Biye, and the Bou Bhaat. These often take place
on separate days.
Durga Puja
 The biggest hindu festivals observed throughout the world.This
festivals continues for 10days. As we said before in Bangladesh hindu
and muslim live in relative harmony, although everyone take part in
these puja.
 The hindu temple are decorated with lights and beautiful flowers.
Its celebrated during october. This program is celebrated with song
and dance.
Christmas
 It’s the main festivals for christmas and its also popular and enjoyable
festivals of all.
 Churches are decorated so beautifully. The most fasinatng thing
is making the celebration the christmas tree and going for
midnight mass. They offers different types of cakes to people
from different religion.
Buddha Purnima
 Buddhist celebrates this festival in a blissful way.
 In this day buddha was born, he was enlighted and died. These
made the day very special to all Buddhist in every means.
Independence day
Its one of the biggest festivals in Bangladesh. Everyone dresses up in the colours
of the national flag.This day is observed throughout the country to pay respect to the martyrs of
Language Movements of 1952.Most people commemorate the fallen souls by putting up flowers at
shahid minar. In midnight people start their procession towards shahid minar by singing the song
Amer vaiyer roktay rangano ekushay February.

VI. Foods of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is famous for rice production which has been the chief occupation of its
people. Rice therefore the main food of Bangladesh.The bangladeshi eat rice, not just
a small quantity but a lot. They eat rice every day and at every meal with great tasty and
spicy curry of vegetables, fishes and meat.
 The common vegetables from Bangladesh are Caulflower, Cabbage,Tomato,
Potato,Beans,Reddish, Peas,CarrotPumpkin,Eggplant,Drumstick,Bitter-ground,Arum-
root,Bind-weed and many more.
 The remarkable pithas are chitoi, pati-sapta,vapa,teler pitha, pua,Nakshi pitha,Puli etc.
 Hilsa,Eel, Butter fish,Ruhi, Katla,Reetha,Pungas,Walking fish etc are very tasty and common
fish in Bangladesh.
 56

 Jack-fruits is the national fruits of Bangladesh. The remarkable fruits of Bangladesh are
Fazli aam,Litchis,Guava,Plum,Palm,Banana,Water-melon etc.
 In snacks mostly we eat singara,Samosa,Dallpuri,Naan, Muglai parata, tandori etc. In
old Dhaka they use to eat Sola-vaja,Shahi jilapi,Bakorkhani.
 Misti Dhohi,flat chana,sweetened yogurt,sandesh,Rasgolla, Rasmalai, Kalojam,Pudding etc
are unique milk based dessert.

VII. Lifestyles of Bangladesh

Dress: Women wear a traditional saree like Jamdani, Musline etc.men in village wear a lungi with
a genji. Some them wear pajama, panjabi.
Family:Extended families usually live together and the children, especially the sons are expected to
look after their older.In urban slum areas people live in small clusters of bamboo or muds
huts.most people live in apartment buildings.

Cultural change in Bangladesh:

 Culture change” is the common name given to the national movement for the
transformation of older adult services, based on person-directed values and
practices where the voices of elders and those working most closely with them are
solicited, respected and honored. Core person-directed valuesare relationship, choice,
dignity, respect, self-determination and purposeful living. modification of a society
through innovation, invention, discovery, or contact with other societies

Causes of cultural changes:

 The mechanisms of culture change include innovation, diffusion, cultural loss,
and acculturation.
 Innovation is the discovery of something that is then accepted by fellow members in a
society.
 Diffusion is borrowing something from another group. Syncretism is a form of Diffusion
 Cultural loss is the abandonment of an existing practice or trait, with or without replacement.
 Repressive Change People don’t always have the liberty to make their own choices and
changes are forced upon them by some other group, in the course of conquest and
colonialism. Subcategories include: Acculturation, Ethnocide, Genocide

Innovation
 The ultimate source of change: some new practice, tool, or principle.
 Other individuals adopt the innovation, and it becomes socially shared.
 Primary innovations are chance discoveries of new principles (i.e.
the wheel).
 Secondary innovations are improvements made by applying
known principles (i.e. the Iphoned )
 57

Diffusion

 Diffusion is the spread of ideas, customs, or practices from one culture to another.

 Cultures that are geographically close in proximity are known to have a lot of diffusion
between them.

 Travel, trade, modern communication can all help diffusion to occur and slowly change
certain aspects of a culture

Cultural loss

 Cultural loss is the abandonment of an existing practice or trait.

 This replacement can result in cultural change, although not all cultural losses result
in a replacement.
 If a trait is lost and not replaced it can hinder a cultures growth and thus still causes
change

Technology In other ways, technology complicates life. Pollution is a serious problem in a

technologically advanced society (from acid rain to Chernobyl and Bhopal)The increase in
transportation technology has brought congestion in some areasNew forms of danger existing as a
consequence of new forms of technology, such as the first generation of nuclear reactors New forms
of entertainment, such as video games and internet access could have possible social effects on
areas such as academic performance. Increased probability of some diseases and disorders, such as
obesity Social separation of singular human interaction. Technology has increased the need to talk to
more people faster. Structural unemployment.

9.2. Ethnic communities of Bangladesh

Introduction: National ethnic communities most simply and briefly means national unity.It
means unifying all the forces in the country so as to give the ideas of one nation.If a country
integrated, it can develop itself and protect its soverignty. So Bangladesh has to integrated the
indigenous people with the main stream culture and has to give ideas to the entire citizen as a
unique nation.

Meaning of ethnic communities

 58

Ethnic communities as a tribal group are uesd to describe an aggregate of people who are distinct
in religion, language, or nationalityfrom other member of the society and who think of themselves and
by others as being separate and distinct.According to ILO, United Naton Human bodies and world
bank

 They self-identify as indigenous or tribal.

 Indigenous peoples usually live within geographicallydistinct ancestral territories.
 They tend to maintain distinct social,economic,and political instritutions within
their territories.
 They typically aspire to remain distinct culturally, geographically and
institutionally, rather than assimilate fully inti a national society.

Various ethnic communities in Bangladesh

There are 45 ethnic communities in Bangladesh. Among these 45 communities most popular
chakma, santal,tripuri,garo,khasi,marma,munda,murang,rakhaine etc. Most ethnic people live in
rural settings of Chittagong Hills and in the regions of Mymensingh, Sylhet,Patuakhali,Barguna
and Rajshahi. Life of the ethnic people is extremely fascinating. Majority of them are Buddhists,
and rest are Hindus, Christians, and Animists. Despite the bondage of religion, elements of
primitive ness are strongly displayed in their rites, rituals and everyday life. The ethnic families
are matriarchal. The women-folk are more hardworking than the males and they are the main
productive force.

Chakma:

The chakma are the largest ethnic group in Bangladesh. According to the Census of 1991, the total
number of chakma in the CTH was 239417. In addition, an estimated 150000 Chakma live
scattered about in the states of Tripura, Mizoram, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in india. A
small number of Chakma also live in Cox's Bazar district and in Myanmar(Burma). The Chakma
language belongs to the Indo-European family of languages and has close links with Pali,
Assamese, and Bengali. The Chakma have their own script in which their ancient Religious
literature is preserved in palm leaves. The script has similarities with Mon Khmer and Burmese.
Although many elderly Chakma still signs their names in the Chakma script, most Chakma youths
no longer use the script. At school, Chakma children study in Bengali and English. The Chakma
have perhaps proved to be the most adaptive and innovative of all the indigenous people of
Bangladesh. By nature, most Chakma are down to earth and socially shy, but nevertheless
romantic, although they will seldom admit it. The head of Chakma society is the Chakma chief
who is descended from the general who led the resistance movement against the British East India
Company’s forces in the 1770s. The Chakma brand of Buddhism always had room for
indigenous gods and spirits, including some from the hindu pantheon. Today, the Chakma are
almost 100% Theravada Buddhist.
 59

Marma:

The marma are the 2nd largest indigenous ethnic group in Bangladesh. The 1991 census puts the
total number of marma in CTH as 142334. They have been theravadan Buddhists, like the
Burmese, thai, and srilankan, for many centuries. The marma in the southern CHT, including all
of bandarban traditionally owe loyalty to the Bohmong chief, Bohmongri, who traces his lineage
from Burmese generals.

The marma have their own script and speak a language which is almost identical to that of
the rakhaing of coxs bazar and patuakhali districts in Bangladesh and arakan state in Myanmar.
The marma language is soft and poetic and even people who do not understand Marma love
to hear Marma songs. As with the Tripura and other people speaking a Tibeto-Burman tongue,
the marma start out with a disadvantage with the medium of instruction in schools being in
the Bengali language. Introduction of primary education in the marma language is believed to be
a necessary step for the progress of education among the marma. They have a beautiful
language which deserves official recognition.

The marma are great loves of music and drama. Before the advent of cinema and televation,
throngs of marma youth in their best attire would pass the better part of a night watching folk
dances and operatic performance. The marmas are very found of fairs. They have the
particular knack of converting even their religious festivals into occasions of fun and gaiety.
Traditionally, both men and women are found of smoking pipes and cigars, all locally made. Rice
beer or distilled rice spirits are very popular among men.

Among the marma, there are both swidden agriculturists and sedentary rice farmaers. Many
marma are traders, service-people and professionals such as doctors, enginners, etc. of the
indigenous people of Bangladesh, the marma usually make the best traders although the Chakma
are also trying hard to become retail traders.

Tripura:

According to the census of 1991, the total number of Tripura in CTH was 61129 out of
which more than three quarters lived in the Khagrachari district alone. There are more than half a
million Tripura in the Tripura state of India. A very small number of Tripura also live in the
Bangladesh districts of chittagong, comilla

and Noakhali.The Tripura have about 36 sub-groups or dafas, the most wellknown of which are
the Fatung, Jamatia, Naitong, Ryang, and Usui. The Tripura language belongs to the Bodo
branch of the Tibeto-Burman family of languages. Although many Tripura follow their own
gods, they also venerate such Hindu gods and goddesses as Lakshmi, Ganga, Sarawati, Kali,
and Shiva. The Tripura were traditionally swidden cultivators although they have now
diversified into many occupations.
 60

The Tripura have many University graduates nowadays, but their language is so different
from Bengali that they face disadvantages in studying in Bengali from their earliest
years. The introduction of primary education in the Tripura language will most likely
lead to a vast improvement in the rate of literacy of the Tripura.

Tanchangya tribe:

The thanchangya number 19221 in the CHT according to the census 1991. Most of the
tanchangya live on the borders between the Rangamati and Chittagong and Bandarban districts. A
small number of tanchangya also live in cox’s bazar district. In Arakanese, the word “Taung” or
“Tong” means hill and “Taungya” means hilltop swidden cultivation known locally as jum. The
word Tanchangya or Tongtongya is believed to mean hill swidden farmer.

The Tanchangya are traditionally Buddhist. Despite the fact that the Tahchangya are known
traditionally to be swidden farmers, they were in fact one of the first of the CTH people to take
up wet rice cultivation. Today there are many Tanchangya graduates, both men and woman,
holding private government jobs.

The Tanchangya are known to be very romantic and artistic. It is said that in many cases the
Tanchangya groom is younger.

Khumi:

The khumis maintain that in their Khumi language Kha means man and mi means the best race.
They are there for “khumis” i.e. the best human race. Others tell us that in the Arakanese language
“Khe” means “dog” and “mi” is race. God is a favorite items of food of Khumis so they might
have derived this name from this. According to their oral tradition humankind owes its creation,
and it had saved humans from total annihilation they accordingly pay homage to it.

The Khumis claim to be Buddhists, but their beliefs and religions rites are mostly animists.
Their
chief god is Pathian. They also pay homage to “Nadog” the household deity and “wife-giving”
and “wife-taking” clans. The eldest son inherits all the property. The have an oral language
which belongs to the southern branch of the kukish section. In 1869 their population was
2000.

The Khumis came to the hills of Chittagong from the hills of Arakan and Akyab in the
seventeenth century. They live on the ridges of hills and build their houses on tree-tops.
Their villages are surrounds by bamboo walls. They were a ferocious race who was mostly
engaged in warfare. They are renowned for their loyatlty to the tribute to him through their
village headman. They take the oath of loyalty by touching the blood of a goat, which they’ve
killed with a sharp weapon; they vow that a similar fate would befall if they break the oath of
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loyalty.
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Mro:

In 1869 the Mro population was 1500. They had no chief of their own and owed their
allegiance to the Marma Bohmang chief of bandarban. Each village had a chief who collected
tributes from each head of the family for the Bohmang chief. The village chief’s position was
hereditary. The Mros are animists. Their creator is ”Turai”. They have two other gods:”Oreng”
and “Sungtiang”. They do not have any priesthood or religious books.

They believe that a bull which was sent by god Turai to carry the religious book for them had
eaten up the book on the way. They therefore hold a special ceremony called “Nasyat pa” or
“Kumlang” in which a bull is ceremoniously killed. They have an oral dialect which belongs to
the Tibeto-Burmese linguistic family.

Lushai:

The lushai migrated into chittagong hills from the lushai hills of india some 150 years ago.
Beafore the british conquest of the lushai hills in 1892, the lushais were extremely ferocious they
choose mountain tops as their abodes. The entrance to a village was heavily guarded. They are
animist “pathian” is their chief god; he does no harm to people.

The lusehais are divided into different sects. It is a patriarchal society. The youngest son inherits
all the property of the father. They neither burn nor bury their died. The body is clad in
beautiful clothes and placed in a sitting position inside a bamboo cage. A fire is lit beside the
body for a period of three months. After this, the bones are removed and then buried. They have a
language of their own known as “lushai” or “dolne”. Their language can be written in latin script.
during the british administration missionaries were active among them; as a result most of them
took Christianity.

Khiang:

In 1869 the khiang were a small group of people. Their social organization was similar to those
of the Mros and Khumis. They owed their allegiance to chiefs in Burma. The khiangs call
themselves “Hyou”. They believe that some 200 years ago their chief sought refuge from war in
Burma in the hills of Chittagong. The chief was accompanied by his younger wife who was
pregnant. But he left behind this wife and some soldiers and went back to Burma. The
Khiangs believe that they are descendants of those soldiers left behind in the CHT. They are
Buddhists but they also pay homage to “Nada Ga”(household deity) and “Bogley”(water deity).
Their language belongs to the Kuki-Chin groue.

Bawm & Pankhu:

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The Bawm & Pankhu groups were offshoots of two brothers who belonged to a Lushai group. Their
population in 1869 was about 3000. They owed their allegiance to the Bohmang chief and paid
tribute to him through their

elected headman. The Bawms and Pankhus believe that they are descendants of the "Shan" nation
of Burma. Formerly they were a ferocious people who built their houses on mountain tops.
Their villages were very heavily armed and guarded. They lost their military skills after their
annexation by the British.They were animists. Their main gods were"Pathian" and
"Khozing". But due to missionary activities due to the "KukiChin" group. One can differentiate
between the Pankhus and Bawms tie up their hair at the centre of head. The Pankhus, on the
other hand, tie up their hair at the back of their head.

Chak:

The Chak is considered to be a sub-group of Chakma. But Loffler maintains that the Saks
living in Arakan and the Chaks in CHT descended from the same people as the Chakmas.
The chaks call themselves "Asak" the Sak population in Akakan also calls itself "Asak". Their
language resembles Kadu which is spoken in Myitkhyina district of northern Myanmar, and
also Andro and Sengmai languages of Manipur district in India. The Chaks are divided into two
sects: Andro and Ngarek. They are Buddhists.

9.3 Cultural heritage and conservation with example from Bangladesh.

Definition of Cultural heritage: Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical arte-facts and
intengible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generation, maintained in the
present and bestowed for the benefit of future generation.

Cultural heritage are of two kinds namely

1. Tangiable cultural heritage
2. Intangiablecultural heritage
1. Tangiable heritage inculde buildings and historic places, mounments,artifacts etc which are
considered worthy of preservation for the future.These include objects significants to the
archaeology, architecture, science or technology of a specifiq culture.

Pre-historic city in Wari-Batashar:

The twin village Wari-Batashar in the district of Narsingdi dates back to 450 BC.
According to archaeologists, Wari-Batashar was a commercial city represents the most ancient
civilization in the
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region. Before the discovery of Wari-Batashar, it was widely held view that urbanization started
much later in Bengal region. Excavation of the site has so far unearthed a road, a water
reservoirs, small rooms, punched marked silver coins, earthen pots, iron artifacts, hand axes,
semiprecious stone beads of early historic period

Sompur Bhuddhist Mahavihara at Paharpur:

The most striking Buddhist monument is the colossal monastery at Paharpur known as
Sompur Mahavihara in the northern district of Naogaon. This is the second largest single
monastery in the south of the Himalayas. The Monastery was built the second king of Pala
dynasty Dharmapala in the 8th century AD. According to Tibetan sources, Sompur Mahavihara in
Paharpur was one of the five greatest Buddhist monasteries of ancient time. Sompur Mahavihara
has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985. Many other smaller
monasteries and stupas have been exposed at in Dinajpur, Savar, and in the Lalmai-Mainamati
hill range in Comilla.

Sixty-domed Mosque in Bagerhat:

The majestic Sixty-domed mosque, popularly known as Shait-Gumbuj Masjid, is the southern
district of Bagerhat is the largest mosque of the Sultanate period in the country of Sultanate
period. The same is surrounded by many other mosques and tombs of same period (Bibi
Begni Mosque, Khan Jahan’s tomb, Nine-domed Mosque, etc). The mosque, built by saint ruler
Khan Jahan Ali in mid 15th century AD, has been designated as a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO.

Soto Sona Mosjid in Chapai Nawabganj:

Soto Sona Mosjid (small golden mosque,) in the northern district of Chapai Nawabganj is another
landmark monument of Sultanate period (built by Sultan Hussain Shah between 1493 to 1519).
Stone carving, brick-setting, terracotta, gilding and glazed tiles were used in decorating the building.

Lalbagh Fort:

The impressive Lalbagh Fort is a 17th century Mughal fort complex that still stands proudly in
the bank of river Buriganga in Dhaka. Mughal Prince Muhammad Azam Shah, the third son
of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, started the work of the fort in 1678 during this vice-royalty
in Bengal and stayed in the fort for 15 months. The famous tomb of Pari Bibi, daughter of
Shaista Khan who succeeded Prince Azam Khan, constitutes one of the three major components
of the fort complex.
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Ahsan Manjil Palace:

It is one of the most significant architectural monuments of Bangladesh. The majestic palace was
the residential palace and the seat of Dhaka Nawab family. It was built in the banks of the
Buriganga river during the period from 1859 to 1872. Some portions of the palace complex were
built earlier in the 18th century by the landlord of Jamalpur.

Curzon Hall of Dhaka University:

It is a British colonial period building of majestic architectural design. The building was primarily
intended for town hall and is named after Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India who laid the foundation
stone in 1904. After establishment of Dhaka University in 1921, it became the base of university’s
science faculty.

Kantajew Mandir in Dinajpur:

It is a late-medieval Hindu temple, built by Maharaja Pran Nath in the northern district of
Dinajpur. Its construction started in 1704 and completed in 1722. It boasts one of the greatest
examples of terracotta architecture in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh national parliament complex in Dhaka:

The national parliament building is a modern architectural splendour. The 200 acres
complex, designed by Architect Luis Kahn, is one of the largest legislative complexes in the
world. The building was featured prominently in the film ‘My Architect’ detailing the career and
legacy of its architect, Luis Kahn. Author Robert McCarter has described the building as one
of the most significant buildings of the twentieth century. The construction of the complex began
in 1961 but completed in January 1982.

2. Intangiable heritage is the opposite of culture which is tangible or touchable, whereas

intangible culture includes song, music ,drama, kills, crfts and the others parts of culture that
can be touched and interacted with, without a vehicles for the culture.

Embroidery
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Of the many forms of folk art and crafts in bangladesh the most imaginative and colourfuk work
is the kantha. Kantha embroidery is exclusive the domein of women. Nimatapur is one of the
famous kantha embroidery zone in Naogone.

Gambhira

Gambhira dance drama is a typical ritualistic dance drama which is generally performed in
the greater Nawab gonj- Rjshahi-Naogone region.

Conservation of Cultural heritage in Bangladesh:

Historical places, buildings, objects and manifestation of cultural, scientific, symbolic, spiritual
and religious value are important expressions of the culture and heritage, identity and religious
beliefs of societies. Their role and importance, particularly in the light of the need for cultural
identity and continuity in a rapidly changing world, need to be promoted.

Buildings, spaces, places and landscapes charged with historical, cultural, spiritual and religious value
represent an important element of stable and humane social life and community pride. Without
appropriate restoration / conservation, the architectural evolution in relation to socio cultural
concept of a country’s heritage remains misinterpreted, and can lead to virtual
disappearance.

Conservation:

National legislation and international treaties and regulations aim to strike a balance between
the need for development and the need to conserve the environment for the future. Conservation
can be defined by the following concepts:

❖ Planned management of a natural resource / ecosystem or particular built form or

environment to prevent exploitation, pollution, destruction or neglect to ensure the future
usability of the resource.

❖ Retention of existing buildings or groups of buildings, landscapes etc. taking care not to alter
or destroy character or detail, even though repairs or changes may be necessary.
Conservation conventionally is concerned to preserve as much original fabric as possible.
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In order to promote historical and cultural continuity and to encourage broad civic participation
in all kinds of cultural activities, the Government at the appropriate levels, including the
local authorities, should undertake the following:

1. Identify and document, whenever possible, the historical and cultural significance of areas, sites,
landscapes, ecosystems, buildings and other objects and manifestations

2. Establish conservation goals relevant to the cultural and spiritual development of the society;

3. Promote awareness of heritage in order to highlight its value and the need for its
conservation and the financial viability of rehabilitation;

4. Encourage and support the local heritage and cultural institutions, association and

5. communities in their conservation and rehabilitation efforts and inculcate in children and

6. youth an adequate sense of their heritage;

7. Promote adequate financial and legal support for the effective protection of cultural heritage;

8. Promote education and training in traditional skills in all disciplines appropriate

to theconservation and promotion of heritage.

To integrate development with conservation and rehabilitation goals, the Government at

appropriate levels, including Ministries, local authorities and municipalities, shall undertake the
following:

1. Recognizing that historical and cultural heritage is an important asset, strive to maintain the
social, cultural and economic viability of historically and culturally important sites and communities;

2. Preserve the inherited historical settlement and landscape forms, while protecting the integrity
of the historical urban fabric and thereby guiding new construction in historical areas;

3. Provide adequate legal and financial support for the implementation of conservation and
rehabilitation activities, in particular through adequate training of specialized human resources;

4. Promote incentives for such conservation and rehabilitation to public, private and non‐profit
developers;

5. Promote community based action for the conservation, rehabilitation, regeneration

and maintenance of neighborhoods;

6. Support public and private sector and community partnership for the rehabilitation of inner
cities and neighborhoods;
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7. Ensure the incorporation of environmental concerns in conservation and rehabilitation projects;

Take measures to reduce acid rain and other types of environmental pollution that damage to
buildings and other items of cultural and historical value;

8. Adopt human settlement planning policies, including transport and other infrastructurepolicies, that
avoid environmental degradation of historical and cultural areas;

9. Ensure that the accessibility concerns of people with disabilities are incorporated in
conservation and projects.

Take measures to reduce acid rain and other types of environmental pollution that damage to
buildings and other items of cultural and historical value;

10. Adopt human settlement planning policies, including transport and other infrastructurepolicies,
that avoid environmental degradation of historical and cultural areas;

11. Ensure that the accessibility concerns of people with disabilities are incorporated in
conservation and projects.
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