| A | B |
|---|
| artifact | a human made object, such as a weapon, tool, or piece of jewelry |
| archaeologist | studies remains left behind by early people |
| anthropologist | studies origin and cultures of people |
| hominid | a member of a biological group including human beings and related species that walk upright |
| homo habilis | hominid--"man of skill" = used tools of lava rock |
| homo erectus | hominid--"upright man" = made more sophisticated tools than previous man |
| technology | the ways in which people apply knowledge, tools, and invention to meet their needs |
| prehistoric | before written history |
| nomad | member of a group that has no permanent home, wondering from place to place in search of food and water |
| domestication | taming of animals for human use |
| civilization | form of a culture characterized by cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology |
| artisan | a skilled worker, such as a weaver or potter, who makes goods by hand |
| scribe | one of the professional record keepers in early civilizations |
| cuneiform | system of writing with wedge shaped symbols, invented by Sumerians about 3000 BC |
| Bronze Age | period in human history, beginning 3000 BC in some areas, during which people began using bronze rather than copper or stone, to make tools and weapons |
| barter | form of trade in which people exchange goods and services without using money |
| ziggurat | a tiered, pyramid-shaped structure that formed part of a Sumerian structure |
| Fertile Crescent | an arc of rich farmland in southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea |
| Mesopotamia | "land between the rivers" in present-day Middle East, between Tigris and Euphrates Rivers |
| city-state | a city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit |
| dynasty | a series of rulers from a single family |
| polytheism | belief in many gods |
| empire | political unit in which a number of peoples or countries are controlled by a single ruler |
| cataract | waterfall or stretch of rapids in a river |
| delta | marshy region formed be deposits of silt at the mouth of a river |
| pharaoh | king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader |
| theocracy | 1. government in which ruler is viewed as a divine figure 2. gov't controlled by religious leaders |
| pyramid | massive structure with a rectangular base and 4 triangular sides, like those that were built in Egypt as burial places for Old Kingdom pharaohs |
| mummification | embalming and drying a corpse to prevent it from decaying |
| hieroglyphics | ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds |
| papyrus | tall reed that grows in the Nile Delta, used by ancient Egyptians to make paperlike writing material for writing on |
| subcontient | large landmass that forms a distinct part of a continent |
| peninsula | land surrounded on 3 sides of water |
| monsoon | seasonal wind |
| citadel | fortress |
| ancestor worship | belief that spirits could bring good fortune or disaster to the living family, and were owed attention and respect |
| loess | fertile deposits of wind blown soil |
| dynastic cycle | historical pattern of the rise, decline and replacement of dynasties |
| Mandate of Heaven | in Chinese history, the divine approval thought to be the basis of royal authority |
| feudalism | a political system in which nobles are granted the use of land that legally belongs to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land |
