Overview

• Scholars define prehistory as events that occurred before the existence of written records in a given

culture or society.

• History refers to the time period after the invention of written records in a given culture or society.

• Archaeologists have discovered written records in Egypt from as early as 3200 BCE, which is the accepted

date at which history "begins" there.

• Written records give historians resources to deal with that are more detailed in some ways than other

records, such as archaeological or biological remains.

The scope of history

Historians currently think that anatomically modern humans have been around for between 200,000 and 300,000

of the planet’s 4.5 billion years. And even though 200,000 years is less than one 20,000th of the history of the

planet, it is still a very long time!

For context, 200,000 years would represent at least 6,000 generations of your ancestors (your grandparents are

only 2 generations from you). 200,000 years is also nearly 1,000 times as long as the United States has been a

country. It is 100 times as distant in the past as the time of Jesus and the Roman Empire. It's also 40 times as

distant in the past as the earliest written records we have found.

Think about the scope of what must have happened during that time: adventures, sorrows, environmental change,

and the rise and fall of civilizations. As historians, we have the privilege of exploring this vast expanse of human

experience.

Written records

Our main tool as historians is what has been written by those who came before us. In fact, this is what formally

defines history and sometimes sets it apart from archaeology and anthropology. For example, the oldest written

records archaeologists have discovered in Egypt are from over 5,000 years ago; the date when they were created is
the currently accepted date at which formal history (as opposed to "prehistory") begins in that part of the world.

Of course, we might one day find older records!

Even with written records, though, we have to be careful and thoughtful. The writing may be in a dead language

that we know little about. If one tribe conquers another, we might only get the biased, one-sided story of those

who won and wrote about it.

Many times, narratives are only written down after generations of being transmitted orally, through speech, with

every transmitter of the story consciously or unconsciously changing the specifics. Even for events that happened

yesterday, two direct observers could have two completely different perceptions of what happened, how, and

why.

You can imagine that things get even tougher for prehistory, or the events that occurred before the existence of

written records. But we still have many tools. Archaeologists can excavate ancient structures and burial sites and

begin to infer how the people lived from fossils (like human remains) and artifacts (human-made items).

Archaeologists can estimate the age of fossils and artifacts through several techniques.

Carbon dating measures the amount of radioactive carbon in fossils to place them in time. Age can also be

determined by identifying the age of the layer of rock that the artifacts are buried in. This is called stratigraphic

dating, from the Latin word stratum, meaning "layer."

Linguists can often piece together possible human migrations and connections based on similarities in modern,

living languages.

Similarly, geneticists can piece together how humanity may have spread and intermingled based on genetic

similarities and differences in populations today. ^11start superscript, 1, end superscript

Uncertainty remains

By putting all of these pieces together, we can construct surprisingly rich narratives of the distant past. But we

should never let the tools and knowledge we have make us overconfident. After all, every piece of historical
evidence needs to be closely read, sourced, interpreted, contextualized, and compared with other available

sources. These kinds of thinking and questioning are the historians' toolkit.

Even today, we can only piece together a tiny fragment of all that has occurred. And a lot of that understanding

could very well be wrong because it is inevitably partial and incomplete. Many things that historians take as a given

today will be questioned by future historians armed with new tools and new evidence.

Photograph of skeletons at an archaeological dig in Whithorn Priory, Scotland. The skeletal remains of about five

humans are visible in a wide expanse of hilly dirt.

Overview

Homo sapiens, the first modern humans, evolved from their early hominid predecessors between 200,000 and
300,000 years ago. They developed a capacity for language about 50,000 years ago.

The first modern humans began moving outside of Africa starting about 70,000-100,000 years ago.

Humans are the only known species to have successfully populated, adapted to, and significantly altered a wide
variety of land regions across the world, resulting in profound historical and environmental impacts.

Where do we begin?
Before we tell the stories that make up world history, it is useful to ask: where do we begin? Where did our human
stories start?

Homo sapiens is part of a group called hominids, which were the earliest humanlike creatures. Based on
archaeological and anthropological evidence, we think that hominids diverged from other primates somewhere
between 2.5 and 4 million years ago in eastern and southern Africa. Though there was a degree of diversity among
the hominid family, they all shared the trait of bipedalism, or the ability to walk upright on two legs. ^1

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Evolution

Scientists have several theories about why early hominids evolved. One, the aridity hypothesis, suggests that early
hominids were more suited to dry climates and evolved as the Africa’s dry savannah regions expanded.

According to the savannah hypothesis, early tree-dwelling hominids may have been pushed out of their homes as
environmental changes caused the forest regions to shrink and the size of the savannah expand. These changes,
according to the savannah hypothesis, may have caused them to adapt to living on the ground and walking upright
instead of climbing. ^2

squared

Hominids continued to evolve and develop unique characteristics. Their brain capacities increased, and
approximately 2.3 million years ago, a hominid known as Homo habilis began to make and use simple tools. By a
million years ago, some hominid species, particularly Homo erectus, began to migrate out of Africa and into
Eurasia, where they began to make other advances like controlling fire. ^3

cubed

Picture of a _Homo habilis_ skull on a blue background. Skull is missing two of its front teeth.

Picture of a Homo habilis skull on a blue background. Skull is missing two of its front teeth.

Homo habilis skull. Image courtesy Wikimedia commons.

Picture of a _Homo erectus_ skull on a white background. The cranium is more shallow than that of a _Homo
sapiens_ skull.

Picture of a Homo erectus skull on a white background. The cranium is more shallow than that of a Homo sapiens
skull.

Homo erectus skull. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Though there were once many kinds of hominids, only one remains: Homo sapiens. Extinction is a normal part of
evolution, and scientists continue to theorize why other hominid species didn’t survive. We do have some clues as
to why some species were less successful at surviving than others, such as an inability to cope with competition for
food, changes in climate, and volcanic eruptions. ^4

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Migration and the Peopling of the Earth

How and why?

Between 70,000 and 100,000 years ago, Homo sapiens began migrating from the African continent and populating
parts of Europe and Asia. They reached the Australian continent in canoes sometime between 35,000 and 65,000
years ago.

Scientists studying land masses and climate know that the Pleistocene Ice Age created a land bridge that
connected Asia and North America (Alaska) over 13,000 years ago. A widely accepted migration theory is that
people crossed this land bridge and eventually migrated into North and South America. ^6

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How were our ancestors able to achieve this feat, and why did they make the decision to leave their homes? The
development of language around 50,000 years ago allowed people to make plans, solve problems, and organize
effectively. We can’t be sure of the exact reasons humans first migrated off of the African continent, but it was
likely correlated with a depletion of resources (like food) in their regions and competition for those resources.
Once humans were able to communicate these concerns and make plans, they could assess together whether the
pressures in their current home outweighed the risk of leaving to find a new one. ^5

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Map of the world showing the spread of _Homo sapiens_ throughout the Earth over time. _Homo sapiens_ are
reflected with red arrows (shown populating the entire world over time), _Homo neanderthalensis_ is reflected in
orange in what is Europe and the Middle East today, and _Homo erectus_ is represented in yellow in Africa, South
Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Map of the world showing the spread of Homo sapiens throughout the Earth over time. Homo sapiens are
reflected with red arrows (shown populating the entire world over time), Homo neanderthalensis is reflected in
orange in what is Europe and the Middle East today, and Homo erectus is represented in yellow in Africa, South
Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Spread of Homo sapiens. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Adaptation and effects on nature

When humans migrated from Africa to colder climates, they made clothing out of animal skins and constructed
fires to keep themselves warm; often, they burned fires continuously through the winter. Sophisticated weapons,
such as spears and bows and arrows, allowed them to kill large mammals efficiently. Along with changing climates,
these hunting methods contributed to the extinction of giant land mammals such as mammoths, giant kangaroos,
and mastodons. Fewer giant mammals, in turn, limited hunters’ available prey.

In addition to hunting animals and killing them out of self-defense, humans began to use the earth’s resources in
new ways when they constructed semi-permanent settlements. Humans started shifting from nomadic lifestyles to
fixed homes, using the natural resources there. Semi-permanent settlements would be the building-blocks of
established communities and the development of agricultural practices. ^8

8
Overview

Paleolithic societies were largely dependent on foraging and hunting.

While hominid species evolved through natural selection for millions of years, cultural evolution accounts for most
of the significant changes in the history of Homo sapiens.

Small bands of hunter-gatherers lived, worked, and migrated together before the advent of agriculture.

Sociocultural evolution

Paleolithic literally means “Old Stone [Age],” but the Paleolithic era more generally refers to a time in human
history when foraging, hunting, and fishing were the primary means of obtaining food. Humans had yet to
experiment with domesticating animals and growing plants. Since hunter-gatherers could not rely on agricultural
methods to produce food intentionally, their diets were dependent on the fluctuations of natural ecosystems.
They had to worry about whether overfishing a lake would deplete a crucial food source or whether a drought
would wither up important plants. In order to ensure enough food production for their communities, they worked
to manipulate those systems in certain ways, such as rotational hunting and gathering.

This was the case for much of human history; it was not until about 11,000 years ago that these hunter-gatherer
systems began to transform. As humans began migrating and adapting to new environments, they began
developing tools and methods that equipped them to make the best of their respective environmental constraints.

The study of early humans often focuses on biological evolution and natural selection. However, it is also equally
important to focus on sociocultural evolution, or the ways in which early human societies created culture.
Paleolithic humans were not simply cavemen who were concerned only with conquering their next meal.
Archaeological evidence shows that the Neanderthals in Europe and Southwest Asia had a system of religious
beliefs and performed rituals such as funerals. A burial site in Shanidar Cave in modern-day northeastern Iraq
suggests that a Neanderthal’s family covered his body with flowers, which indicates a belief in something beyond
death and a deep sense of spirituality. They also constructed shelter and tools.

An opening to a cave, surrounded by greenery and some simple roads and structures.

An opening to a cave, surrounded by greenery and some simple roads and structures.

Shanidar Cave, an archaeological site in the Zagros Mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan in northern Iraq. Image courtesy
Flickr.

Cultures evolved and developed in specific environmental contexts, enabling their communities to not only survive
but to flourish in unique and dynamic ways. But what exactly is culture? Culture is a broad term which
encompasses the full range of learned human behavior patterns, behaviors which are often linked to survival.

Homo sapiens has not changed much anatomically over the last 120,000 years, but it has undergone a massive
cultural evolution. Accordingly, cultural creativity rather than physical transformation became the central way
humans coped with the demands of nature.

Nevertheless cultural evolution cannot be divorced from biological evolution, as the evolution of a more highly
developed and advanced human brain, more highly attuned to social structures, enabled cultural growth. In fact,
the very large size of a human brain itself necessitated certain cultural adaptations: many scientists have theorized
that more difficult births, due to larger skulls, longer gestation periods, and longer periods of infant dependency,
required more advanced social organization and communication, which played a big role in the cultural evolution
of humans.
Homo sapiens’ unique aptitude for creativity allowed for symbolic expression, particularly in cultural and spiritual
contexts, such as artwork and burial rituals. This creative activity is the hallmark of the subspecies Homo sapiens
sapiens (wise, wise human), which is what we are today, a subspecies that is distinctive for its intellectual abilities.

Small communities

Eventually, with the expansion of the human population, the density of human groups also increased. This often
resulted in conflict and competition over the best land and resources, but it also necessitated cooperation. Due to
the constraints of available natural resources, these early communities were not very large, but they included
enough members to facilitate some degree of division of labor, security, and exogamous reproduction patterns,
which means marrying or reproducing outside of one’s group.

Anthropologists were able to draw these conclusions about Paleolithic people by extrapolating from the
experiences of modern hunter-gatherer communities, such as the Khoisan of the African Kalahari Desert. Based on
the experiences of modern hunter-gatherer societies, who typically have around 500 members, and based on
theoretical mathematical models of group process, Paleolithic bands of people were likely around twenty-five
members each, and typically about twenty bands constituted a tribe.

A man standing and looking off into the distance. In the background, there is sandy terrain, some green shrubbery,
and a wooden rod. He is wearing a kind of beaded necklace and is not wearing a shirt.

A man standing and looking off into the distance. In the background, there is sandy terrain, some green shrubbery,
and a wooden rod. He is wearing a kind of beaded necklace and is not wearing a shirt.

A San man from Namibia. Many San still live as hunter-gatherers. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

How much land did these bands of people need to provide the necessary food and water to support life?
Anthropologists have estimated that the technology available to Paleolithic humans who lived between 150,000
and 12,000 years ago would have required over seventy miles of relatively unproductive land, with a low density of
resources, or over seven miles of fertile land to meet the basic needs of each small community. However,
considering how limited these communities were, this land requirement is extremely inefficient compared to
modern productivity levels. At such densities, the area of the modern-day United States could sustain no more
than 600,000 people, and the entire planet only 10 million. For comparison, the current population of the United
States is well over 300 million, and there are 7 billion people on the planet!

Division of labor

Before the advent of agriculture, Paleolithic humans had little control of the environment, so they focused on
staking out territory and negotiating relationships with nearby communities. Eventually, groups created small,
temporary settlements, often near bodies of water. These settlements allowed for division of labor, and labor was
often divided along gender lines, with women doing much of the gathering, cooking, and child-rearing and men
doing much of the hunting, though this was certainly not the case across all Paleolithic societies. For example,
some archaeological evidence suggests that Middle Paleolithic cultures in Eurasia split work fairly equally between
men and women.

However, it is important to note that gender dynamics in Paleolithic times were likely drastically different from our
own, and as such, the division of labor between men and women does not necessarily indicate differences in
equality or power. There are competing theories about whether hunting or gathering contributed more to group
nutrition, but both seemed to have played an important role.

Overview
Paleolithic groups developed increasingly complex tools and objects made of stone and natural fibers.

Language, art, scientific inquiry, and spiritual life were some of the most important innovations of the Paleolithic
era.

Technological innovation

Stone tools are perhaps the first cultural artifacts which historians can use to reconstruct the worlds of Paleolithic
peoples. In fact, stone tools were so important in the Paleolithic age that the names of Paleolithic periods are
based on the progression of tools: Lower Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), and
Neolithic (New Stone Age).^1

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Stone tools also give us insight into the development of culture. Anthropologists think Paleolithic people likely
hunted, foraged, and employed a communal system for dividing labor and resources. Anthropologists have
inferred this by drawing analogies to modern hunter-gatherer groups and by interpreting cave art which depicts
group hunting.

Seven tools which appear to be made of stone displayed against a grey backdrop. Four tools are in the top row and
appear to be sharpened to a point. Three relatively smaller tools are in the bottom row and are not as sharp.

Seven tools which appear to be made of stone displayed against a grey backdrop. Four tools are in the top row and
appear to be sharpened to a point. Three relatively smaller tools are in the bottom row and are not as sharp.

Paleolithic tools found in Bernifal cave in Meyrals, Dordogne, France, estimated to be 12,000 - 10,000 years old.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

By approximately 40,000 years ago, narrow stone blades and tools made of bone, ivory, and antler appeared,
along with simple wood instruments. Closer to 20,000 years ago, the first known needles were produced.
Eventually, between 17,000 and 8,000 years ago, humans produced more complicated instruments like barbed
harpoons and spear-throwers.

It is likely that many tools made out of materials besides stone were prevalent but simply did not survive to the
present day for scientists to observe. One exception is the Neolithic “Ice Man”, found by two hikers in the Ötztal
Alps, who was preserved in ice for 5,000 years! He was found with a robust set of stone and natural-fiber tools,
including a six-foot longbow, deerskin case, fourteen arrows, a stick with an antler tip for sharpening flint blades, a
small flint dagger in a woven sheath, a copper axe, and a medicine bag.

An image of a model of a pre-historic man. He is wearing garments made of fur and hide and carries a stick. He has
significant facial hair.

An image of a model of a pre-historic man. He is wearing garments made of fur and hide and carries a stick. He has
significant facial hair.

Naturalistic reconstruction of Ötzi the Paleolithic Ice Man in South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. Image courtesy
Wikimedia Commons.

Language, culture and art

Language was perhaps the most important innovation of the Paleolithic era. Scientists can infer the early use of
language from the fact that humans traversed large swaths of land, established settlements, created tools, traded,
and instituted social hierarchies and cultures. Without the aid of language, these things would likely have been
impossible.

Examinations of the craniums of archaic Homo sapiens suggest large brains with indentations that imply the
development of brain areas associated with speech. Exactly how humans developed a capacity for language is a
matter of considerable debate. However, the historical record shows that language allowed for increasingly
complex social structures, with an enhanced capacity for deliberation, morality, spirituality, and meaning-making.

Artwork such as cave painting and portable art demonstrates creativity and group structures as well. They show an
interest in sharing knowledge, expressing feelings, and transmitting cultural information to later generations.
Though artwork from over 35,000 years ago is rare, there is ample evidence of cave paintings and statuettes from
later periods.

A bison figure painted with red pigment on a smooth tan-colored surface with some visible cracks. The painter also
utilized black strokes to add detail.

A bison figure painted with red pigment on a smooth tan-colored surface with some visible cracks. The painter also
utilized black strokes to add detail.

Reproduction of a bison illustration nearly 14,000 years old, from the Cave of Altamira located near Santillana del
Mar in Cantabria, Spain. The cave was first rediscovered in 1868 Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

In addition to cave art, portable figurines dated to Paleolithic times have been found. Many of these include finely
carved facial features, while others accentuate sexual organs and buttocks, such as the 25,000 year old figurine
found at Dolni Vestonice in the modern-day Czech Republic. Such an object shows a desire to create beautiful
figurines, but some also suggest that objects like this are tied to an interest in human fertility.

A statue made of polished dark stone representing a female figure with exaggerated breasts and hips. There are no
defined facial features and distinct arms are not visible.

A statue made of polished dark stone representing a female figure with exaggerated breasts and hips. There are no
defined facial features and distinct arms are not visible.

Venus of Dolní Věstonice, a Venus figurine, a ceramic statuette of a nude female figure dated to 29,000–25,000
BCE. It was found at the Paleolithic site Dolní Věstonice in the Moravian basin south of Brno, in the base of Děvín
Mountain. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Overview

Agriculture likely began during the Neolithic Era before roughly 9000 BCE when polished stone tools were
developed and the last ice age ended.

Historians have several theories about why many societies switched from hunting and foraging to settled
agriculture.

One of these theories is that a surplus in production led to greater population. Not everyone needed to be focused
on food production, which led to specialization of labor and complex societies.

The world before agriculture

Based on current archeological evidence, anatomically modern humans have existed roughly 200,000-300,000
years. However, before roughly 15,000-20,000 years ago, we have no evidence that our ancestors had agriculture.
Instead, we believe they strictly hunted or foraged for food. There were times when they had a big kill and had
more food than they knew what to do with. There were other times when they overforaged or hunted and they
didn’t know how many days it would be until their next meal. If they didn’t find food, they or their families would
starve. Even when there was food, it might take miles of walking to find it. For many of these preagricultural
societies, a good bit of their energy went into just getting more energy—in other words, food—to keep going and
reproduce.

There also couldn’t be too many humans living in one area since there was only so much food to be found or killed.
Because of this, a tribe of 100 hunter-foragers would have needed to be the only humans on 50 to 500 square
kilometers to survive—places lush with life, like tropical rain forests, could support a higher density. With only
hunting and foraging to support human populations, it is estimated that the Earth could only support about 10
million people. Historians estimate the world population was around six to ten million 10,000 years ago.

The birth of agriculture

About 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, humans began to mold nature to their needs and agriculture emerged in
multiple places around the planet. We believe that it emerged independently and spread from places as varied as
Mesopotamia, China, South America and sub-Saharan Africa. As we explore more, it is likely that scientists will find
more places where agriculture may have emerged even earlier. The birth of agriculture is often referred to as the
Neolithic Revolution since it seems to coincide with the Neolithic period—or new stone age. The Neolithic period’s
name stems from the fact that stone artifacts were more smooth and refined than those of the Paleolithic period,
or old stone age. Many of these tools facilitated early agriculture.^1

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Five agricultural tools found in the Iberian settlement Bastida of Alcusses, ca. late 5th century B.C.E. to the 4th
century B.C.E. Tools are textured and brown. .

Five agricultural tools found in the Iberian settlement Bastida of Alcusses, ca. late 5th century B.C.E. to the 4th
century B.C.E. Tools are textured and brown. .

Agricultural tools found in the Iberian settlement Bastida of Alcusses, ca. late 5th century B.C.E. to the 4th century
B.C.E. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

The first agriculture was likely cultivation of wild species of plants and basic herding of livestock. As time went on,
humans became more and more sophisticated at breeding the plants and livestock that best met our needs. The
corn you see in the grocery store and the pigs, cows, and sheep you see at a farm did not evolve independently in
the wild. They are the product of thousands of years of human selection and breeding from original, wild forms.

Why did agriculture emerge when and where it did?

The simple answer is that we’re not sure. We do, however, have several theories—can you think of more?

End of a glacial period: The last glacial period ended 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. This seems to coincide with the
emergence of agriculture. After the glacial period ended, there was more moisture in the air, less frozen soil, and
better conditions overall for more plant and animal life. These conditions would have also been more suitable for
agriculture. This theory still has several open questions:

1) Why have we not found evidence of agriculture during the last interglacial—warmer—period over 100,000 years
ago? Have we just not found it yet?

2) Even during the glacial period, weren’t there some places on Earth in the tropics that would have still been
suitable for agriculture?
Continued human development: Even though anatomically modern humans have been around for roughly 200,000
years, our brains, language, and culture may have continued to develop and change—including through natural
selection. It is possible that only 10,000 to 20,000 years ago did we first have the right mix of environmental,
mental, and cultural development to implement agriculture. This theory is bolstered by the fact that the dawn of
agriculture seems to coincide with humans being able to make the more sophisticated stone objects which define
the Neolithic period.

Pastoralism: a branch of agriculture

A branch of agriculture—called pastoralism—began around the same time as cultivation of plants. Pastoralism is
the domestication and herding of animals such as goats, sheep, and cattle. In regions where plant cultivation
proved difficult due to rocky terrain or climates that were inhospitable to plants, pastoralists herded animals.
While many pastoralists were nomadic, their lifestyle differed fundamentally from that of hunter-foragers in that
they did not rely exclusively on naturally occurring resources. They milked animals for dairy products and used
their wool to weave textiles, which they could trade with agricultural societies if they lived in close enough
proximity to them.

A mix of cooperation and conflict resulted from the relationship between pastoralists and farmers. Pastoralists’
military-related artifacts suggest that they may have come into conflict with farming societies; however, in other
cases, pastoralists traded goods with farmers in a cooperative relationship. ^2

squared

Impact of agriculture

The impact of agriculture has been profound on humanity, most clearly in terms of population. This is because
breeding plants and animals has significantly increased the availability of human consumable calories per square
kilometer. One way to think about it is that we replaced things that weren’t consumable by humans with things
that were. Through techniques like irrigation, we were also able to make things grow where they might not have
before.

To put this in perspective, before the agricultural revolution experts estimate that there were six to ten million
people, which is about how many hunter-foragers the Earth could sustain. By the time of the Roman Empire, about
10,000 years later, the world population had grown over 25-fold to 250 million. Fast forward 2000 years to the
present, and the population has grown another 28-fold to seven billion. In roughly 10,000 to 15,000 years,
advances in agriculture have allowed the human population to become roughly 1000 times larger!

Agriculture also has had environmental impacts. Farmers used complex tools to cultivate and irrigate their fields
and to build settlements. To expand their amount of usable land, agriculturalists cleared forests using the slash and
burn technique; they would remove a ring of bark from the trees, drying out the trees and allowing them to burn
more quickly. The ash from the trees acted as a fertilizer for the soil.

Pastoralism also brought challenges to the environment and people. Herds of animals concentrated in one area
could overgraze the land, ultimately rendering it unusable or subject to erosion. In addition, with a closer proximity
to animals, came a higher likelihood that diseases could be transmitted from animals to humans.^3

cubed

By actively managing their food supplies, agricultural societies were able to produce more food than hunter-
foragers and support denser populations. Having a large population nearby made it worthwhile for farmers to
grow more food than they needed for themselves, as they could trade this surplus for other goods. For non-
farmers, this meant that they could focus on making other goods and trading these goods for food and other
things. People could specialize—focus on doing one thing—which led to increased productivity. Increased
productivity led to the creation of better buildings, tools, weapons, and also to the rise of governments to oversee
this activity and military forces to protect people and resources.

Many population centers evolved into the first wave of city-states that emerged within a few thousand years of
the agricultural revolution. Eventually those states began to have complex bureaucracies to tax and administer
their people, a significant catalyst for the birth of writing, which was transformational for civilization.

Overview

The term civilization refers to complex societies, but the specific definition is contested.

The advent of civilization depended on the ability of some agricultural settlements to consistently produce surplus
food, which allowed some people to specialize in non-agricultural work, which in turn allowed for increased
production, trade, population, and social stratification.

The first civilizations appeared in locations where the geography was favorable to intensive agriculture.

Governments and states emerged as rulers gained control over larger areas and more resources, often using
writing and religion to maintain social hierarchies and consolidate power over larger areas and populations.

Writing allowed for the codification of laws, better methods of record-keeping, and the birth of literature, which
fostered the spread of shared cultural practices among larger populations.

Degrees of complexity

Today, almost every city has a supermarket with a wide variety of available foods. We take for granted the fact
that people have different types of jobs and that governments exist. But, reliable food sources, specialized work,
and governments did not exist for most of human history! They are the products of historical processes that began
with the first civilizations several thousand years ago.

A civilization is a complex society that creates agricultural surpluses, allowing for specialized labor, social hierarchy,
and the establishment of cities. Developments such as writing, complex religious systems, monumental
architecture, and centralized political power have been suggested as identifying markers of civilization, as well.
When we see these changes occur, we should stop and ask, “Did people institute these practices because they
were beneficial, or were they forced on them?” Historians debate this very question, trying to determine whether
civilization was a bottom-up or top-down development.^1

start superscript, 1, end superscript Most likely, it was a bit of both.^2

squared

Some people think civilization is an advanced stage in the progression of human cultural evolution. But, when
historians or anthropologists use the term civilization, they mean a society has many different, interconnected
parts. So, rather than thinking about different forms of social organization as completely separate models, it’s
helpful to think in terms of a spectrum of complexity. On one end, we have hunter-forager societies—which have
little complexity—and on the other end, we have civilizations—which are highly complex. In between lie a wide
variety of social structures of varying types and levels of complexity.

Spectrum of social organization: This flow chart shows the least complex form of organized society (hunter-
forager) moving to the pastoral/horticultural and finally to civilization as the most complex.

Spectrum of social organization: This flow chart shows the least complex form of organized society (hunter-
forager) moving to the pastoral/horticultural and finally to civilization as the most complex.

First civilizations

The first civilizations appeared in major river valleys, where floodplains contained rich soil and the rivers provided
irrigation for crops and a means of transportation. Foundational civilizations developed urbanization and
complexity without outside influence and without building on a pre-existing civilization, though they did not all
develop simultaneously. Many later civilizations either borrowed elements of, built on, or incorporated—through
conquest—other civilizations. Because foundational civilizations arose independently, they are particularly useful
to historians and archaeologists who want to understand how civilization first developed.

Gray world map showing probable areas of independent development of agriculture, in green, in the Middle East,
sub-Saharan Africa, China, Peru, Mexico, and North America. Possible routes of diffusion across the globe are
drawn in blue.

Gray world map showing probable areas of independent development of agriculture, in green, in the Middle East,
sub-Saharan Africa, China, Peru, Mexico, and North America. Possible routes of diffusion across the globe are
drawn in blue.

Map showing probable areas of independent development of agriculture, in green, and possible routes of
diffusion. Note that while there is much overlap between these regions and the locations of first civilizations, some
areas—like the Indus Valley in northwest India—appear to have developed agriculture after the practice spread to
the region. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Geography alone cannot explain the rise of the first civilizations. The process of agricultural intensification had
been going on for thousands of years before the first civilizations appeared, and it is important to remember that
while agricultural surpluses were necessary for civilization, their existence in a given place did not guarantee that a
civilization would develop.^3

cubed As civilizations grew, they required increased intensification of agriculture to maintain themselves.^4

start superscript, 4, end superscript

What do civilizations have in common?

Cities were at the center of all early civilizations. People from surrounding areas came to cities to live, work, and
trade. This meant that large populations of individuals who did not know each other lived and interacted with one
another. So, shared institutions, such as government, religion, and language helped create a sense of unity and
also led to more specialized roles, such as bureaucrats, priests, and scribes.

Cities concentrated political, religious, and social institutions that were previously spread across many smaller,
separate communities, which contributed to the development of states.^5

5
 start superscript, 5, end superscript A state is an organized community that lives under a single political structure.
A present-day country is a state in this sense, for example. Many civilizations either grew alongside a state or
included several states. The political structures that states provided were an important factor in the rise of
civilizations because they made it possible to mobilize large amounts of resources and labor and also tied larger
communities together by connecting them under a common political system.

Early civilizations were often unified by religion—a system of beliefs and behaviors that deal with the meaning of
existence. As more and more people shared the same set of beliefs and practices, people who did not know each
other could find common ground and build mutual trust and respect.

It was typical for politics and religion to be strongly connected. In some cases, political leaders also acted as
religious leaders. In other cases, religious leaders were different from the political rulers but still worked to justify
and support the power of the political leaders. In Ancient Egypt, for example, the kings—later called pharaohs—
practiced divine kingship, claiming to be representatives, or even human incarnations, of gods.

Both political and religious organization helped to create and reinforce social hierarchies, which are clear
distinctions in status between individual people and between different groups. Political leaders could make
decisions that impacted entire societies, such as whether to go to war. Religious leaders gained special status since
they alone could communicate between a society and its god or gods.

In addition to these leaders, there were also artisans who provided goods and services, and merchants who
engaged in the trade of these goods. There were also lower classes of laborers who performed less specialized
work, and in some cases there were slaves. All of these classes added to the complexity and economic production
of a city.

Writing emerged in many early civilizations as a way to keep records and better manage complex institutions.
Cuneiform writing in early Mesopotamia was first used to keep track of economic exchanges. Oracle bone
inscriptions in Ancient China seem to have been tied to efforts to predict the future and may have had spiritual
associations. Quipu—knotted strings used to keep records and perform calculations—appeared in South America.
In all the places where writing developed—no matter its form or purpose—literacy, or the ability to read and write,
was limited to small groups of highly educated elites, such as scribes and priests.

Black-and-white drawing of quipu. Fifteen vertical pieces of string are attached to one horizontal rope of string.
Each string has one or more knots placed at different junctures along its length.

Black-and-white drawing of quipu. Fifteen vertical pieces of string are attached to one horizontal rope of string.
Each string has one or more knots placed at different junctures along its length.

Is it writing? A quipu was a system of knotted strings that could be used to perform calculations and to record
transactions. Evidence for the use of quipu has been found in many Andean cultures over the past several millenia.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Writing offered new methods for maintaining law and order, as well. The first legal codes, or written collections of
laws, were the Code of Ur-Nammu from Sumer, written around 2100 to 2050 BCE and the Code of Hammurabi
from Babylon, written around 1760 BCE. The benefit of written laws was that they created consistency in the legal
system.

Law Code of Hammurabi inscribed on a black stone slab, rounded at the top and rectangular at the bottom. At the
rounded top of the slab, taking up about a quarter of the space on the front, is a relief sculpture of two people,
one sitting in a throne and wearing an elaborate gown, the other standing with their arms crossed. The lower
portion of the slab has law codes written on it in cuneiform.
Law Code of Hammurabi inscribed on a black stone slab, rounded at the top and rectangular at the bottom. At the
rounded top of the slab, taking up about a quarter of the space on the front, is a relief sculpture of two people,
one sitting in a throne and wearing an elaborate gown, the other standing with their arms crossed. The lower
portion of the slab has law codes written on it in cuneiform.

Law Code of Hammurabi inscribed on basalt stele. If you look closely, you can make out the cuneiform writing in
the center. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

This shift toward writing down more information might not seem like a significant development, especially since
most people were unable to read or write. However, having consistent, shared records, laws, and literature helped
to strengthen ties between increasingly large groups.^6

start superscript, 6, end superscript

Another notable feature of many civilizations was monumental architecture. This type of architecture was often
created for political reasons, religious purposes, or for the public good. The pyramids of Egypt, for example, were
monuments to deceased rulers. The ziggurats of Mesopotamia and the pyramids of early American societies were
platforms for temples. Defensive walls and sewer systems provided defense and sanitation, respectively.^7

start superscript, 7, end superscript Although a few examples of monumental architecture from pre-agricultural
societies exist, the greater organization and resources that came with civilization made it much easier to build
large structures.

There were many features that early civilizations had in common. Most civilizations developed from agrarian
communities that provided enough food to support cities. Cities intensified social hierarchies based on gender,
wealth, and division of labor. Some developed powerful states and armies, which could only be maintained
through taxes.

Civilization is a tricky concept for many reasons. For one thing, it can be difficult to define what counts as a
civilization and what does not, since experts don’t all agree which conditions make up a civilization. For example,
people living in the Niger River Valley in West Africa achieved agricultural surplus, urbanization, and some
specialization of labor, but they never developed strong social hierarchies, political structures, or written
language—so scholars disagree on whether to classify it as a civilization. Also, due to extensive cultural exchange
and diffusion of technology, it can be difficult to draw a line where one civilization ends and another begins.

The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro: Amid the brick ruins of a 3rd-millennium BCE city, stairs descend on two sides
into a large, rectangular brick-lined pit. Wooden stakes and wire encircle the perimeter, preventing entry by
modern-day tourists.

The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro: Amid the brick ruins of a 3rd-millennium BCE city, stairs descend on two sides
into a large, rectangular brick-lined pit. Wooden stakes and wire encircle the perimeter, preventing entry by
modern-day tourists.

Excavated ruins of Mohenjo-daro, with the Great Bath in the foreground and the Buddhist Stupa in the
background. Image courtesy Wikipedia.

Overview

The growth of agriculture resulted in intensification, which had important consequences for social organization.

Larger groups gave rise to new challenges and required more sophisticated systems of social administration.
Complex societies took the forms of larger agricultural villages, cities, city-states, and states, which shared many
features.

Specialized labor gave rise to distinct social classes and enabled creative and innovative developments.

Systems of record-keeping and symbolic expression grew more complex, and many societies had systems of
writing.

A new social order

About 12,000 years ago, human communities started to function very differently than in the past. Rather than
relying primarily on hunting or gathering food, many societies created systems for producing food. By about
10,000 BCE, humans began to establish agricultural villages.

This had massive ramifications on the social sphere, marking an important departure from past social systems;
people lived in larger, denser, and more permanent settlements, and not everyone had to devote their full time to
food production. Since there was no need for all residents to devote themselves full time to producing food,
specialization within society was made possible. Thus, surplus food, food that did not go directly to farmers’
families, was distributed to members of the society.

Another notable effect of this new social order was the evolution of the idea of ownership; contrary to migrating
hunter-gatherer bands, farmers invested a great deal of their time and energy in cultivating specific areas of land,
and as such they were attached to them. As this likely lead to disputes, strong leaders and codes of conduct
evolved in response.

The advent of agriculture did not happen simultaneously and completely everywhere in the world; some
communities adopted farming earlier or more fully than others, and some did not adopt it at all. Despite this
variability, however, farming undeniably revolutionized human history. Farming settlements spread rapidly all over
the world; humans had foraged for over a million years, and yet, within the last 12,000 years, farming has replaced
foraging almost entirely. Very few foraging-based systems survive to this day.

What kinds of social changes resulted from this transformation of food production? The surplus food that
agricultural systems could generate allowed for people to live in larger, more permanent villages. Villages were
more productive not only agriculturally but creatively. People produced textiles, pottery, buildings, tools, metal
work, sculptures, and painting, which were both directly tied to agriculture and to settlement in bigger villages.

A piece of pottery with a geometric design. It is a vessel with a narrow mouth and a wide base, featuring stripes
and zig-zag designs in a contrasting dark color on a tan neutral background.

A piece of pottery with a geometric design. It is a vessel with a narrow mouth and a wide base, featuring stripes
and zig-zag designs in a contrasting dark color on a tan neutral background.

Vessel from Mesopotamia, late Ubaid period (4,500–4,000 BCE). Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Farming began a process of intensification, which meant that many more people could be sustained in a given land
area since more calories could be produced per acre. As a result, the world population rapidly rose. Between
10,000 and 1000 BCE, the population of the world went from about 6 million to about 120 million. With more
people, societies needed to change in unprecedented ways and become more sophisticated with how they
organized human life.

While the agricultural revolution certainly had something to do with the development of increasingly complex
societies, there is considerable debate about why some agricultural societies ultimately developed into advanced
civilizations while others did not. Indeed, in some cases, it seems like complex political orders were the cause
rather than the consequence of the development of agricultural systems. Historians and anthropologists are still
trying to understand what other variables were at play, such as large-scale irrigation projects, warfare, trade,
geography, and competition. Each society grew more complex in response to its own set of environmental, social,
and political stimuli.

Larger social group formation

In various parts of the world, including the valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates, Nile, Indus, and Huang rivers, larger and
denser settlements began to emerge. These large concentrations of people are referred to as complex societies or
civilizations, which share many features, including having a dense population, an agriculture-based economy, a
social hierarchy, a division of labor and specialization, a centralized government, monuments, record-keeping and
writing, and complex systems of belief.

These complex societies most often took the shape of cities or city-states like Uruk and Ur. These first cities were
nexuses of power, production, culture, and innovation. Sustaining these cities was not easy, however. It required
extensive and often irreversible manipulation of the surrounding environment in order to extract energy in the
form of firewood, materials for building like stone, and resources like food and water. Because of this, these cities
were very sensitive to fluctuations in weather and climate. A flood could destroy the entire supply of barley, for
example, and a drought could make water supplies worryingly scarce. Because these societies were densely
populated, disease, conflict, and shortages were felt even more dramatically. An outbreak of a disease could
quickly become an epidemic. In response to these vulnerabilities, these communities developed ways to anticipate
the changes in their natural environments, such as storing food and water.

As these small communities developed from small villages to city-states with thousands of residents, they were
met with greater challenges and needed to develop mechanisms of social organization to address these obstacles
more effectively.

Formation of governments and social classes

Civilizations evoke images of stone walls, monuments, and roads, but they are more than robust physical
infrastructure. To facilitate the organization and administration of these large, dense communities, people began
to create social infrastructures: economic, political, and religious institutions that created new social hierarchies.
These hierarchies were populated with people playing specialized roles, such as professional administrators,
farmers, artisans, traders, merchants, and spiritual leaders. Additionally, due to increased trade and conflict with
external civilizations, cities required diplomats, armies, and centralized rulers.

In the foreground, low walls built with tan-colored brick and stone, forming the perimeter of rectangular rooms. In
the background, a tall copper-colored stone structure, with a wide base and a tapering top.

In the foreground, low walls built with tan-colored brick and stone, forming the perimeter of rectangular rooms. In
the background, a tall copper-colored stone structure, with a wide base and a tapering top.

The ruins of Ancient Ur of Sumer, one of the world's earliest cities, with the Ziggurat of Ur visible in the
background. Located in present-day Tell el-Mukayyar in Iraq. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Most cities grew out of villages, and some ultimately became city-states, which are self-governing urban centers
and the agricultural territories under their control. The surplus food production generated by villages in the vicinity
allowed for some residents not to participate in food production, which led to the development of distinct
specialized roles and associated classes.

In order to facilitate cooperation between these many different classes and to organize large numbers of people to
work together for the large-scale construction of irrigation systems, monuments, and other projects, leaders were
required, comprising a new social class. Political leadership would take many different forms in the first
civilizations, though powerful states, centralized systems of government and command, were the norm.
Overview

Mesopotamian civilizations formed on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is today Iraq and
Kuwait.

Early civilizations began to form around the time of the Neolithic Revolution—12000 BCE.

Some of the major Mesopotamian civilizations include the Sumerian, Assyrian, Akkadian, and Babylonian
civilizations.

Evidence shows extensive use of technology, literature, legal codes, philosophy, religion, and architecture in these
societies.

Civilizations born along rivers

By roughly 6000 to 8000 years ago, agriculture was well under way in several regions including Ancient Egypt,
around the Nile River; the Indus Valley civilization; Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; and
Ancient China, along the Yellow and Yangtze rivers. This is because the regular river floods made for fertile soil
around the banks and the rivers could also supply fresh water to irrigate crops. It’s no coincidence that as
agriculture allowed for denser and denser populations along with more specialized societies, some of the world’s
first civilizations developed in these areas as well.

Ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia—mainly modern-day Iraq and Kuwait—in particular is often referred to as the cradle of civilization
because some of the most influential early city-states and empires first emerged there—although it’s not the only
place! Its modern name comes from the Greek for middle—mesos—and river—potamos—and literally means a
“country between two rivers.” Those two rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates. Not only was Mesopotamia one of
the first places to develop agriculture, it was also at the crossroads of the Egyptian and the Indus Valley
civilizations. This made it a melting pot of languages and cultures that stimulated a lasting impact on writing,
technology, language, trade, religion, and law.

Associated with Mesopotamia are ancient cultures like the Sumerians, Assyrians, Akkadians, and Babylonians.
Learning about this time period can be a little confusing because these cultures interacted with and ruled over
each other over the course of several thousand years. These terms can also be associated with city-states,
languages, religions, or empires—depending on the time and context we are looking at.

Sumerians

Let’s start with Sumer. We believe Sumerian civilization first took form in southern Mesopotamia around 4000
BCE—or 6000 years ago—which would make it the first urban civilization in the region. Mesopotamians are noted
for developing one of the first written scripts around 3000 BCE: wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay tablets. This
cuneiform—another way to say wedge-shaped—script was also adapted by surrounding peoples to write their
own languages for roughly 2000 years, until Phoenician, which the letters you are reading now are based on,
began to become the dominant script in the first millennium BCE. Cuneiform is also the script that one of the
world’s first great works of literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh, was written in. Mesopotamians used writing to
record sales and purchases, to write letters to one another, and to tell stories. The incredibly important invention
of the wheel is also credited to the Sumerians; the earliest discovered wheel dates to 3500 BCE in Mesopotamia.

Sumerians built ships that allowed them to travel into the Persian Gulf and trade with other early civilizations, such
as the Harappans in northern India. They traded textiles, leather goods, and jewelry for Harappan semi-precious
stones, copper, pearls, and ivory.
Sumerian religion was polytheistic—or worshipped multiple gods—many of which were anthropomorphic—they
took human-like form. Temples to these gods were constructed atop massive ziggurats which were in the centers
of most cities. These structures would have taken thousands of people many years to construct.

A black-and-white image of an Epic of Gilgamesh tablet on a black background with cuneiform (wedge-shaped)
writing.

A black-and-white image of an Epic of Gilgamesh tablet on a black background with cuneiform (wedge-shaped)
writing.

A tablet from the Epic of Gilgamesh. Image courtesy Boundless.

Akkadian Empire

Around 3000 BCE, the Sumerians had significant cultural interchange with a group in northern Mesopotamia
known as the Akkadians—named after the city-state of Akkad. The Akkadian language is related to the modern
languages of Hebrew and Arabic. These languages are known as Semitic languages. The term Semitic comes from
the biblical character Shem, a son of Noah, the purported progenitor of Abraham and, accordingly, the Jewish and
Arab people.

Around 2334 BCE, Sargon of Akkad came to power and established what might have been the world’s first dynastic
empire. The Akkadian Empire ruled over both the Akkadian and Sumerian speakers in Mesopotamia and the
Levant—modern day Syria and Lebanon. The Empire of Akkad collapsed in 2154 BCE, within 180 years of its
founding.

The Akkadian Empire is pictured in brown. The directions of the military campaigns are shown as yellow arrows.

The Akkadian Empire is pictured in brown. The directions of the military campaigns are shown as yellow arrows.

Map of the Akkadian Empire. Image courtesy Boundless.

Assyrian Empire

Assyria is named for its original capital, the ancient city of Ašur—also known as Ashur—in northern Mesopotamia.
Ashur was originally one of a number of Akkadian-speaking city states ruled by Sargon and his descendents during
the Akkadian Empire. Within several hundred years of the collapse of the Akkadian Empire, Assyria had become a
major empire.

For much of the 1400 years from the late twenty-first century BCE until the late seventh century BCE, the
Akkadian-speaking Assyrians were the dominant power in Mesopotamia, especially in the north. The empire
reached its peak near the end of this period in the seventh century. At that time, the Assyrian Empire stretched
from Egypt and Cyprus in the west to the borders of Persia—modern-day Iran—in the east. The major exceptions
to Assyrian dominance were the Babylonian Empire established by Hammurabi and some more chaotic dark ages
where there wasn’t a dominant power.

Babylon

Map of Babylonia at the time of Hamurabi. Map is of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the surrounding areas.
Empire highlighted in brown and, near Babylon, red.

Map of Babylonia at the time of Hamurabi. Map is of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the surrounding areas.
Empire highlighted in brown and, near Babylon, red.

The extent of the Babylonian Empire at the start and end of Hammurabi's reign. Image courtesy Boundless.
Babylon was a minor city-state in central Mesopotamia for a century after it was founded in 1894 BCE. Things
changed with the reign of Hammurabi, from 1792 to 1750 BCE. He was an efficient ruler, establishing a centralized
bureaucracy with taxation. Hammurabi freed Babylon from foreign rule and then conquered the whole of southern
Mesopotamia, bringing stability and the name of Babylonia to the region.

One of the most important works of this First Dynasty of Babylon was the compilation in about 1754 BCE of a code
of laws, called the Code of Hammurabi, which echoed and improved upon the earlier written laws of Sumer,
Akkad, and Assyria. It’s similar to the Sumerian king Ur-Nammu of Ur’s code, written from 2100 to 2050 BCE.
Hammurabi’s code is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. Written in about
1754 BCE by the sixth king of Babylon, Hammurabi, the Code was written on stone stele—slabs—and clay tablets.
The Code consists of 282 laws with scaled punishments depending on social status, adjusting "an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth". For example, if a person from a noble class broke an enslaved person’s arm, they would have to
pay a fine, whereas if a noble person broke another noble person's arm, the offending noble would have their arm
broken. Some have seen the Code as an early form of constitutional government, the presumption of innocence,
and the ability to present evidence in one's case.

The Babylonian Empire established by Hammurabi lasted for 260 years until Babylon got sacked by invaders in
1531 BCE. In the period between 626 BCE and 539 BCE, Babylon asserted itself again over the region with the Neo-
Babylonian Empire. This new empire was overthrown in 539 BCE by the Persians who then ruled over the region
until the time of Alexander the Great, 335 BCE.