| A | B |
|---|
| Mesopotamia | Name for the river valley civilization that arose between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present day Iraq |
| Indus | river valley around India and Pakistan in which one of the first civilizations arose |
| Nile | river valley in present day Egypt in which on of the first civilizations arose |
| Tigris and Euphrates | river valley in present day Iraq in which one of the first civilizations arose |
| Huang He | river valley in present day China in which one of the first civilizations arose |
| specialization | when a person does only one kind of job or way of making a living (division of labor) |
| civilization | highly organized society marked by advanced knowledge of trade, government, arts, science, and often written language |
| domestication | to tame animals or plants to serve human needs (such as dogs and goats) |
| innovation | something newly introduced to improve life |
| economy | system by which goods and services are produced and distributed to meet people's needs |
| myth | traditional story that explains natural events |
| Neolithic Period | "New Stone Age" - a time period in which the greatest cultural advancements occurred - the time of modern Homo sapiens sapiens (about 8,000 to 5,000 BCE) |
| deities | gods or goddesses |
| agrarian | method of obtaining food by agriculture or the nature of farming - allowed people to settle in one place |
| Catal Huyuk | one of the earliest villages, was located in present day Turkey |
| culture | the way of life of a given people at a given time, including language, behavior and beliefs |
| technology | the skills and knowledge used by people to make tools and do work |
| prehistory | the time period before people developed writing (about 5,500 years ago) |
| radio-carbon dating | modern scientific method for telling the age of once-living material by measuring the amount of radioactive carbon remaining in it |
| nomads | member of group of people with no fixed home, who travel constantly to find food and water |
| BC | Before Christ (now refered to as BCE) |
| AD | Anno Domini - "In the Year of Our Lord" (now refered to as CE) |
| hunter-gathering | method of obtaining food by hunting animals and simply gatherering any food that is available in the area |
| Mesolithic | "Middle Stone Age" - when domestication of animals and early agriculture arise - Homo sapiens sapiens exist at this time (12,000 BCE to about 8,000 BCE) |
| Paleolithic | "Old Stone Age" - time period of Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens neandertalensis, and early Homo sapiens sapiens (about 2.5 million years ago to about 12,000 BCE) |
| Ice Ages | four long period of cold climate that occurred between 2 million and 10,000 years ago - sub-freezing temperatures caused movement of glaciers and formation of land bridges |
| land bridge | area of land that was formed during the Ice Ages by the drop in the level of the oceans - allowed for the migration of early humans |
| Ice Man | 5,000 year old man found in the Italian Alps - wore well made fur and leather clothing and shoes stuffed with grass, the copper ax he was found with shows use of metals no longer just stone and bone |
| egalitarian | society in which power and wealth are distributed equally |
| hierarchical | society in which people are set apart and power and wealth are distributed unevenly |
| matriarchy | society in which women have more power |
| patriarchy | society in which men have more power |
| sedentism | staying in one locality or one place, not being migratory |
