12. What item flowed from Europe back to the Middle East? What bound daily life?

Return to *History 8 The End of the Stone Age Video Notes

Amber was a valuable product that connected Europe and the Middle East through trade. In Europe, people, often women, collected bits of amber from the seaweed they found on the coasts of large lakes. Amber is defined by dictionary.com as "a pale yellow...fossil resin of vegetable origin". Amber is commonly known as fossilized tree resin. It had great value as jewelry, and its high prices made it a symbol of power for the Upper Class.

Daily life in these early cultures and towns we have studied was bound by sharing and obligation. The people believed they were obligated to certain duties, such as doing someone a favor if they had been nice to you, or, on a larger scale, a rich person protecting a poor man for the work he had done. Also, these people believed in a communal lifestyle, and they shared many things in their lives.

Sources:

"End of the Stone Age" Video

http://www.gemstonebuzz.com/meaning/amber (image)

http://www.humanjourney.us/NeolithicEra.html

For Further Reading About Amber, go to:

http://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-neolithic-period/neolitic-amber/

By Jack Curtin