The Shapes of Human Communities
A. In 1500, the world still had all types of societies, from bands of gatherers and hunters to empires, but the balance between them was different than it had been in 500.
B. Paleolithic Persistence
1. gathering and hunting societies (Paleolithic peoples) still existed throughout all of Australia, much of Siberia, the arctic coastlands,
and parts of Africa and the Americas
2. they had changed over time, interacted with their neighbors
3. example of Australian gatherers and hunters
a. some 250 separate groups
b. had assimilated outside technologies and ideas, e.g., outrigger canoes, fish hooks, netting techniques, artistic styles, rituals, mythological concepts
c. had not adopted agriculture
d. manipulated their environment through “firestick farming”
e. exchanged goods over hundreds of miles
f. developed sophisticated sculpture and rock painting
4. northwest coast of North America developed very differently
a. abundant environment allowed development of a complex gathering and hunting culture
b. had permanent villages, economic specialization, hierarchies,chiefdoms, food storage
5. elsewhere, farming had advanced and absorbed Paleolithic lands
C. Agricultural Village Societies
1. predominated in much of North America, in Africa south of the equator, in parts of the Amazon River basin and Southeast Asia
2. their societies mostly avoided oppressive authority, class inequalities, and seclusion of women typical of other civilizations
3. example of forested region in present-day southern Nigeria, where three different political patterns developed
a. Yoruba people created city-states, each ruled by a king (oba), many of whom were women and who performed both religious and political functions
b. kingdom of Benin: centralized territorial state ruled by a warrior king named Ewuare
c. Igbo peoples: dense population and trade, but purposely rejected kingship and state building
i. relied on other institutions to maintain social cohesion
ii. system was made famous in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart
d. Yoruba, Benin, and Igbo peoples traded among themselves and beyond
e. the region shared common artistic traditions
f. all shifted from matrilineal to patrilineal system
4. in what is now central New York State, agricultural village societies
underwent substantial change in the centuries before 1500
a. Iroquois speakers had become fully agricultural (maize and beans) by around 1300
b. population growth, emergence of distinct peoples
c. rise of warfare as key to male prestige (perhaps since women did the farming, so males were no longer needed for getting food)
A. In 1500, the world still had all types of societies, from bands of gatherers and hunters to empires, but the balance between them was different than it had been in 500.
B. Paleolithic Persistence
1. gathering and hunting societies (Paleolithic peoples) still existed throughout all of Australia, much of Siberia, the arctic coastlands,
and parts of Africa and the Americas
2. they had changed over time, interacted with their neighbors
3. example of Australian gatherers and hunters
a. some 250 separate groups
b. had assimilated outside technologies and ideas, e.g., outrigger canoes, fish hooks, netting techniques, artistic styles, rituals, mythological concepts
c. had not adopted agriculture
d. manipulated their environment through “firestick farming”
e. exchanged goods over hundreds of miles
f. developed sophisticated sculpture and rock painting
4. northwest coast of North America developed very differently
a. abundant environment allowed development of a complex gathering and hunting culture
b. had permanent villages, economic specialization, hierarchies,chiefdoms, food storage
5. elsewhere, farming had advanced and absorbed Paleolithic lands
C. Agricultural Village Societies
1. predominated in much of North America, in Africa south of the equator, in parts of the Amazon River basin and Southeast Asia
2. their societies mostly avoided oppressive authority, class inequalities, and seclusion of women typical of other civilizations
3. example of forested region in present-day southern Nigeria, where three different political patterns developed
a. Yoruba people created city-states, each ruled by a king (oba), many of whom were women and who performed both religious and political functions
b. kingdom of Benin: centralized territorial state ruled by a warrior king named Ewuare
c. Igbo peoples: dense population and trade, but purposely rejected kingship and state building
i. relied on other institutions to maintain social cohesion
ii. system was made famous in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart
d. Yoruba, Benin, and Igbo peoples traded among themselves and beyond
e. the region shared common artistic traditions
f. all shifted from matrilineal to patrilineal system
4. in what is now central New York State, agricultural village societies
underwent substantial change in the centuries before 1500
a. Iroquois speakers had become fully agricultural (maize and beans) by around 1300
b. population growth, emergence of distinct peoples
c. rise of warfare as key to male prestige (perhaps since women did the farming, so males were no longer needed for getting food)
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