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History test 1
Vocab. for test 1
95
History
Undergraduate 1
09/14/2011

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Term
Hominids
Definition
a family including humans and their immediate ancestors
Term
Australopithecines
Definition
early hominids living in eastern and southern africa about 3 to 4 million years ago
Term
Homo habilis
Definition
"handy human" a direct ancestor of humans named because of increased brain size and the ability to make and use simple stone tools for hunting and gathering
Term
Homo erectus
Definition
"erect human" a hominid that emerged in east africa probably between 1.8 and 2.2 million years old
Term
Homo sapiens
Definition
"thinking humans" a hominid who evolved around 400,000 to 500,000 years ago and from whom anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) evolved around 100,000 years ago
Term
Neanderthals
Definition
hominids who were probably descended from Homo erectus populations in Europe and who later spread into western and central Asia
Term
Cro-Magnons
Definition
The First modern, tool using humans in Europe
Term
Paleolithic
Definition
the Old Stone Age, which began 100,000 years ago with the first modern humans and lasted for many millennia
Term
Mesolithic
Definition
the middle stone age, which began around 15,000 years ago as the glaciers from the final Ice Age began to recede
Term
Neolithic
Definition
The New Stone Age, which began between 10,000 and 11,500 years ago with the transition to farming
Term
matrilineal kinship
Definition
a pattern of kinship that traces descent and inheritance through the female line
Term
animism
Definition
the belief that all creatures as well as inanimate objects and natural phenomena have souls and can influence human well-being
Term
polytheism
Definition
a belief in many spirits or deities
Term
shamans
Definition
specialists in communicating with or manipulating the supernatural realm
Term
horticulture
Definition
the growing of crops with simple methods and tools
Term
pastoral nomadism
Definition
an economy based on breeding, rearing, and harvesting livestock
Term
tribes
Definition
associations of clans that traced descent from a common ancestor
Term
Indo-Europeans
Definition
Various tribes who all spoke related languages that derived from some original common tongue and who eventually settled in Europe, Iran, and northern India
Term
Fertile Crescent
Definition
a large semicircular fertile region that included the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers stretching northwest from the Persian Gulf, the eastern shores of the mediterranean sea, and, to some scholars, the banks of the Nile River in North Africa
Term
Ziggurat
Definition
a stepped, pyramidal-shaped temple building in Sumerian cities, seen as the home of the chief god of the city
Term
patriarchy
Definition
a system in which men largely control women and children and shape ideas about appropriate gender behavior
Term
cuneiform
Definition
"wedge-shape" a latin term used to describe the writing system invented by the sumerians
Term
Harappan
Definition
name given to the city-states and the widespread Bronze Age culture they shared that were centered in the Indus River Valley and nearby rivers in northwest India between 2200 and 1800
Term
Dravidian
Definition
A language family whose speakers are the great majority of the population in southern India
Term
Shiva
Definition
The Hindu god of destruction and of fertility and the harvest
Term
steppes
Definition
the plains of Central Asia
Term
Aryans
Definition
Indo-Eurpoean-speaking nomadic pastoralists who migrated from Iran into northwest India between 1600 and 1400
Term
Vedas
Definition
The Aryans' "book of knowledge," the principal source of religious belief for Hindus: a vast collection of sacred hymns to the gods and thoughts about religion, philosophy, and magic
Term
sanskrit
Definition
the classical language of north India, originally both written and spoken but now reserved for religious and literary writing
Term
Mahabharata
Definition
"Great Bharata" an Aryan epic and the worlds longest poem
Term
Indo-Aryan Syntheses
Definition
the fusion of Aryan and Dravidian cultures in India over many cultures
Term
Brahmans
Definition
The Universal Soul, or Absolute Reality, that Hindus believe fills all space and time
Term
Kshatriyas
Definition
Warriors and landowners headed by the rajas in the Hindu caste system
Term
Vaisyas
Definition
The merchants and landowners headed by the rajas in the Hindu caste system
Term
sudras
Definition
the mostly poor farmers, farm workers, and menial laborers in the Hindu caste system
Term
Caste System
Definition
The four-tiered Hindu social system comprising hereditary social classes that restrict the occupation of their members and their relations with members of other castes
Term
Pariahs
Definition
The large group of outcasts or untouchables below the official Hindu castes
Term
Bhagavad Gita
Definition
"Lord's Song" A poem in the Mahabharata that is the most treasured piece of ancient Hindu literature
Term
Brahmanas
Definition
Commentaries on the Vedas that emphasize the role of priests
Term
Upanishads
Definition
Ancient Indian philosophical writings that speculate on the ultimate truth of the creation of life
Term
Hieroglyphics
Definition
The ancient Egyptian writing system, which evolved from pictograms into stylized pictures expressing ideas
Term
Ma'at
Definition
Ancient Egyptian terms for justice, the correct order of things
Term
Monotheism
Definition
the belief in a single, all-powerful god
Term
Sudan
Definition
A grassland region stretching along the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert from the western tip of Africa to the Nile valley
Term
Desertification
Definition
the transformation of once-productive land into useless desert
Term
Bantu
Definition
Sub-African peoples who developed a cultural tradition based on farming and iron metallurgy, which they spread widely through great migration
Term
messianism
Definition
The Hebrew belief that their God, Yahweh, had given them a special mission in the world
Term
Loess
Definition
The dust blown in from the Mongolian desert that enriched the soils of northern China
Term
Mandate of Heaven
Definition
A Chinese belief from ancient times that rulers had the support of the supernatural realm as long as conditions were good, but rebellion was justified when they were not
Term
Dynastic Cycle
Definition
the view of Chinese historians that dynasties rise and fall in a cyclical fashion, largely based on the collection of taxes and the morale of the government and the armies
Term
Yijing
Definition
the "Book of Changes" an ancient Chinese collection of sixty-four mystic hexagrams and commentaries upon them that was used to predict future events
Term
Lapita
Definition
The ancient western Pacific culture that stretched some 2500 miles from just northeast of New Guinea to Samoa
Term
Jomon
Definition
The earliest documented culture in Japan, known for the ropelike design on its pottery
Term
Clovis
Definition
A Native American culture dating back some 11500 to 13500 years
Term
mound building
Definition
the construction of huge earthen mounds, often with temples on top, by some peoples in the Americas from ancient times to the fifteenth century
Term
Mesoamerica
Definition
the region stretching from central Mexico southeast into northern Central America
Term
Olmecs
Definition
The earliest urban society in Mesoamerica
Term
Chavin
Definition
the earliest known Andean urban society
Term
matriarchal
Definition
a pattern of kinship that traces descent and inheritance through the female line
Term
Horticulture
Definition
the growing of crops with simple methods and tools
Term
Lingua Franca
Definition
French language
Term
ex nihilo
Definition
means "out of nothing"
Term
who came first? Hittites, Summerians, Assyrians, Akkadians
Definition
Summerians
Term
during what time period did most humans begin switching from hunting and gathering to agriculture as a lifestyle
Definition
Neolithic
Term
agriculture is used as a permanent supply of food, where as Horticulture is used when dietary supplements are needed(non permanent, rarely irrigated)
Definition
The difference between horticulture and agriculture is?
Term
Pastoral Nomadism
Definition
an economy based on breeding, rearing, and harvesting livestock
Term
mycenaens
Definition
Works of Homer are associated with?
Term
Demotic
Definition
Writing style for daily use in Egypt(casual language)
Term
Rosetta Stone
Definition
This relic helped scientists decipher Hieroglyphics
Term
Zhou Dynasty
Definition
"Book of Songs" between 1000 & 600 BCE
Term
Chinese
Definition
This society wrote a song that illustrated surplus grain & rice, also mentioned wine, liquor, and religious offerings
Term
Lex Talionis
Definition
Mesopotamian law, and eye for an eye
Term
Sargon of Akkad
Definition
this ruler united all major city states of mesopotamia
Term
Babylon & Hammurabi
Definition
These city states had laws about women
Term
Hittites
Definition
Were not mesopotamians, from around turkey, made the first ever peace treaty with Egypt
Term
Ashurbanipal
Definition
Assyrian king, extremely well educated,
Term
Hebrews
Definition
supported by the bible, Abraham and King Soloman, created christianity and islam, monotheistic
Term
Knossos
Definition
what is the capital of the Minoan Society?
Term
the lost city of Atlantis
Definition
the city of Knossos is also believed to be what mythical lost city?
Term
Mycenaeans
Definition
these are the ancient ancestors of present day Greece
Term
Phoenicians
Definition
built an economic empire in Israel, and has the oldest "pure alphabet" ever recorded. Latin derived from the language of these people.
Term
Huang He (yellow River), Chang Jain (Yangtze River), Xi Jang
Definition
chinas major rivers are?
Term
Yangshao & Longshan
Definition
these early chinese societies were agricultural and left mass graves and believed in an afterlife.
Term
Andean
Definition
Viracocha was a deity of which society?
Term
Bhagavad Gita
Definition
This book states that death should not be feared because it progresses you in the circle of life.
Term
Igbo
Definition
This Nigerian society's thought process draws heavily on perspectives from the Nok and Bantu cultures
Term
Inanna & Ishtar
Definition
what are two names for the regional goddess of Mesopotamia who represented love, fertility, and war?
Term
Thoth
Definition
the Egyptian god of the scribes, has the head of an Ibis
Term
Aton
Definition
What god did Akhenaton want Egyptians to worship monotheistically. Depicted as a disc, he represented the Sun.
Term
Horace
Definition
what god is the son of Osiris and Isis, this god took his father's place as the head of Egyptian gods
Term
Linear A
Definition
this script of Minoan writing has yet to be deciphered.
Term
Oracle Bones
Definition
The earliest example of Chinese writing
Term
Hatshepsut
Definition
She was the first female pharaoh and was depicted as a man in order to maintain an image that Egyptians would accept.
Term
Menes
Definition
First Pharaoh of Egypt, Died by being trampled by a hippo
Term
Taharqa or Tirhaka
Definition
This is the Nubian pharaoh of Egypt who fought against Ashurbanepal (the Assyrians).
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