Period I 8000-600BCE Review

River Valley Civilizations

Second MAJOR change in human history after AGRICULTURE

• URBANIZATION! Cities! • WHEREIN many of the joys and woes of

humankind were first felt…

BUT outside of Afro-Eurasia…

Most early leaders though of as divine

Or as intermediaries to the gods

Technology gave some states the edge!

Early areas of state expansion & creation of empires

Pastoralists spread new weapons…

And modes of transportation

The RVCs built monumental architecture

And urban planning

And promoted arts and artisanship

They kept records

And developed legal codes

And had ruling bureaucracies

New religious beliefs emerged from them

And traded with each other