Early River Valley Civilizations: Indus

The Neolithic Revolution & Early Civilizations

Let's review what we learned together during our 1st class.

Multiple Choice

What is the main reason the Neolithic Revolution is considered a turning point in world history?

• Fire was used as a source of energy for the first time.

• Spoken language was used to improve communication.

• Domestication of animals and cultivation of crops led to settled communities.

• Stone tools and weapons were first developed.

Brief Timeline of Humanity

Multiple Choice

The farming communities that grew into cities were able to support their growing populations because they had - 

• occasional food shortages and easy access to hunting. 

• high crop yields that produced a food surplus. 

• strong religious beliefs to unite the people.

• strong trade networks. 

Multiple Select

Which 2 challenges would growing communities have faced during the Neolithic Revolution as they settled into permanent homes?

• Conflict between growing groups citizens & crime within growing city.

• Poor protection from animal predators.

• Improved access to food & permanent housing.

• Sanitation & health problems from people living, eating, using the restroom in a shared space.

Multiple Choice

Based on the map, which geographic feature most influenced where the first civilizations developed?

• rivers

• forests

• ocean access

• mountain ranges

Open Ended

Name 1-2 things that rivers would provide for growing cities.

Fill in the Blanks

Open Ended

What do you think of when hear the word "civilization?"

Share 2-3 things that come to mind.

civ·i·li·za·tion

​the stage of human social and cultural

development and organization

that is considered most advanced

Open Ended

What kinds of things would an archaeologist look for in order to identify a "civilization?"

Name 1-2 things you think ALL "civilizations" have in common.

​Margaret Mead on Civilization

• ​Mead was a cultural anthropologist prominent during the 1960s & 1970s

• she studied the peoples of Oceania

• developed the theory of imprinting, the idea that children learn by watching adult behavior

​A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead, “What is the earliest sign of civilization?”

• The student expected her to say a clay pot, a grinding stone, or maybe a weapon. Margaret Mead thought for a moment, then she said, “A healed femur.”

• A femur is the longest bone in the body, linking hip to knee. In societies without the benefits of modern medicine, it takes about six weeks of rest for a fractured femur to heal.

• A healed femur shows that someone cared for the injured person, did their hunting and gathering, stayed with them, and offered physical protection and human companionship until the injury could mend.

• "Where the law of the jungle — the survival of the fittest — rules, no healed femurs are found. The first sign of civilization is compassion, seen in a healed femur.”

Multiple Choice

What is Not one of the 5 Characteristics of a Civilization?

• Literature

• Record Keeping

• Advanced Cities

• Advanced Technology

The Indus River Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization

• 2 great cities : Harappa + Mohenjo-Daro

• Well planned / organized

• Built thick walls + raised mounds of earth/brick

• Protected from flooding

Multiple Select

Identify the TWO famous cities of the Indus Valley civilization.

• Mohenjo-Daro

• Sumer

• Mesopotamia

• Harappa

Multiple Choice

Indus Valley Civilization is also known as ___________.

• Roman Civilization

• Greek Civilization

• Harappan Civilization

• Egyptian Civilization

Achievements

• Worlds 1st city-wide sewer system

• The Great Bath

• Cities = wide/straight streets in a grid pattern

• Traded w/ other groups (Mesop.)​

• System of weights/measurements

• Multiples of 10 (decimals --> modern metric system)

Multiple Choice

Mohenjo-daro designed and built one of the first 

• building complex

• park system 

• drainage and sewage system

• plows

Multiple Choice

Buildings and streets in Indus Valley cities were arranged in a:

• hill

• grid system

• circle

• citadel

Farming

• built irrigation canals + ditches

• wheat and barley

• surplus grain --> granaries

• 1st to grow cotton for cloth?

• raised animals - food/pull carts

Multiple Choice

True or False: The people of the Indus Valley domesticated animals 

• True

• False

Trade

• rich in resources (jewelry/teak wood)

• traveled by sea

• stone seals identified goods

• accurate weights/measures

• spread ideas b/w civilizations

Multiple Choice

Indus Valley people used large ships to travel to and trade with Mesopotamia

• TRUE

• FALSE

Multiple Choice

What was a "seal"?

• Stamp to mark an object made by someone

• A way to hold an envelope together

• A barking animal

Government

• evidence suggest strong central gov.

• no royal statues/tombs found

• unlikely ruled by kings

• unknown kind of gov.

• citadel = center of gov.? religious ceremonies?

Multiple Choice

What were two things that these ancient people developed in the Indus River Valley that cause historians to believe there was a strong, central government?

• sewer system, grid - like streets

• written language, temples

• roads, irrigation

• royal statues, tombs

Religion

• no evidence of temples

• no sign of religious leaders

• carvings/statues found

• practices of early Hinduism?

Multiple Choice

Why do historians think Indus Valley people may have practiced an early form of Hinduism?

• they found sacred writings

• they found many temples

• they found statues that look like Hindu gods

• they found burial sites

Mysterious Disappearance???

• began to abandon cities

• declined rapidly

• spread of disease?

• severe flooding?

• major earthquake?

• climate change?

• *moved away toward Ganges* (regular rainfall)

Multiple Choice

Why do we know less about the Indus Valley than other civilizations?

• We haven't found ancient artifacts and ruins.

• We have not discovered the location of the civilization.

• We can't interpret their writing.

• We do not have anyone who has survived from the civilization to ask.

Multiple Choice

How did the Civilization come to the end?

• A destructive earthquake happened.

• There is no conclusive evidence to say how it ended.

• They ran out of food.

• The river changed course.