*History 8 Neolithic Revolution Concepts

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Work must be supported with citation of source. Manual may be noted with CF Manual and page number(s). Any information from class notes may be cited as Class notes (date of lecture). Name of Video. You may not use Wikipedia as a source. Please sign your entry.

1. Describe the physical and social changes brought about by the end of the Younger Dryas.

• • The social changes brought about by the Younger Dryas were:
• They lived in the same place all year.
• They had permanent dwellings.
• They cultivated crops of oats, wheat and barley.
• They owned domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs.
• Settlements of villages were created.
• Homo Sapiens were now producing their food, instead of hunting for it. They had domestication.
• There was specification differentiation and stratification within societies.
• The Neolithic people settled near rivers where the soil was rich for farming and animal domestication.
• pg. 52 and 53

Augie Avery

2. Describe the role of women in horticultural societies.

• The women planted and harvested the foods such as nuts, berries,and fruits.
• They also dug for roots and tubers.
• The women decided where the pack would go, or whether they would settle.
• they took care of the children and the animals, while the men were out hunting.
• they cultivated the fields.
• They harvested grains and cereal.

info gotten from our Manual and the video in class on 10/16/12, and what Ms. Beniretto (classnotes or video notes?) RB said in class on 10/16/12

-Emma Boehme

3. Where and why did the switch from hunting/gathering to plant cultivation and animal husbandry occur. What social change happened?

The switch from hunting/gathering to plant cultivation and animal husbandry occurred in a place where both the Paleolithic hunting and gathering and Neolithic gardening ways of life could exist together at the same time. (The Fertile Crescent RB) These places had lands of river masses with rich alluvial soils. The switch occurred because food became available in relative abundance for the first time in thousands of years, and there was no longer a need to travel long distances to find food. Another reason why the switch from hunting/ gathering to plant cultivation and animal husbandry occurred was because of the animals that began appearing in the lives of people. Goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs were all easy to manage within close proximity to their dwellings because the animals had temperaments and dispositions(which had been domesticated RB). The transition to horticulture resulted in the settlement of villages around garden plots, and hunting expeditions rarely happened from the settled home basis. One of the social changes that occurred was the control that the men took over of land and animals. The men had a dominant position in society over women which was very different to the previous lifestyle of these people. Women used to own and manage the garden plots, and they also had political power and authority in their society. Furthermore, the community was no longer working for a few hours a day, but they worked all day long in organized schedules. Another large social change that developed during the switch is the transformation of Homo sapiens from a mere consumer of natural goods to becoming a producer. The development of "agriculture drastically changed the role of humanity within its environment," along with changing man kind. It involved the rise of more complex human communities and settlements and a demographic increase. This significant switch made the "urban revolution" that was soon to follow very possible.

Sources: CF Manual 52 and 53 and Class Notes on 10/15/12. http://www.ranprieur.com/readings/origins.html

-Camila Chabayta

4. What was the role of irrigation in the urban revolution?

Irrigation is the process in which people supply dry land with water, usually in the form of a ditch. The people needed to use irrigation in order to figure out where to settle down because they needed a water source in the dry land that they lived in. Irrigation had an important role in the urban revolution. In order to make a village, an irrigation project must be conducted. A lot of laborers had to be assembled to make sure that everyone in the village would have enough access to the water. This created mental growth because of the increase in political and economic organization. Laws were now being made to help conduct the project. By using irrigation, the people produced more with certainty, and they also had a new way of organization and economics which would help in the future.

Sources: History 8 Manual pgs. 53-54 -By Ellie Davidson

5. Sedentary life had some challenges:

• • a. Disease

When many people, animals, and trash are grouped together in a small area, diseases spread from one to the next very easily. Hunter-gatherers could easily find a new site when their temporary shelters became contaminated, but sedentary farmers could not. They had permanent dwellings and crops that rooted them to the spot. Therefore, large numbers of the human population were infected with diseases like smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis, measles, malaria, and cholera.

Helen Dodd

Sources:

Manual page 54, [1]

• • b. Property

With settled agriculture comes some sort of feeling of property ownership. This distinguishes one plot of land or garden from another. Once there was ownership over material items, people felt the need to make improvements or better their instruments and tools so they could pass on the finest equipment to their ancestors. When ownership of property is introduced, more rules and government are required. This caused the enforcement of new laws, broadening their small government. These new agricultural habits opened up new possibilities like the opportunity for trade.

Helen Dodd

Sources:

Manual page 54, [2]

• • c. security

As the Neolithic Revolution continued, a new problem arose: security. People now had objects that they wanted to protect, and so a secure system was necessary. Theft was now possible, so people needed a way to be sure their items wouldn't be stolen. Walls and other barriers were made in order to give the people a sense of ownership. Soldiers also emerged in society, and tried to keep things better, eventually leading to the legal system. Metal weapons were also invented in order to help people guard their possessions, and used by soldiers to help others protect their possessions. People were now making items they needed not for practical use, but instead for luxury, and these were usually the items stolen. Security was a huge issue in the Neolithic Revolution, and this was something brand new for it's time.

• • d. economics

Economics also began, causing a new type of life for people. The markets were organized into groups such as land, labor, and money. Money was used to buy and sell products. This way of life is known as capitalism, and it was a huge breakthrough in society. This type of culture is known as material culture, which includes human products like technology. This is also known as an economy. Economies caused the rise of social classes. Your social class was determined by your job or craft (farmer, weaver, priest...). Certain jobs such as priests were usually higher class, whereas farmers made up the lower class. You were also able to tell somebody social class by what they wore or looked like. Someone wearing beautifully died fabrics and lived in a larger home would be part of the upper class. These classes could lead to things such as theft because some people now rose above others.

-Julia Giordano -pages 54-55 Manual -Website: Watkins, Jeffery. "Neolithic Revolution." Regents Prep: Global History: Economic

    Systems. Regents Prep, 2003. Web. 19 Oct. 2012.
    <http://www.regentsprep.org/regents/global/themes/economic/neo.cfm>. 

-Image:Town. Agriculture And The Origins Of Civilization. History World International,

    n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2012. <http://www.google.com/
    imgres?imgurl=http://history-world.org/
    agriculture.jpg&imgrefurl=http://history-world.org/
    agriculture.htm&usg=__5MrNJFtj-JEXtGUq__J0wFIJ-yU=&h=290&w=277&sz=50&hl=en&start=
    4&zoom=1&tbnid=sYpk3dffonWh_M:&tbnh=115&tbnw=110&ei=NF-BUILQJMWQ2QWsoIHQCA&prev=/
    search%3Fq%3Dneolithic%2Brevolution%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%
    3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1>.

6. Explain the causes of the agrarian transformation.

There were many factors in the agrarian transformation starting with climate change that occurred 15,000 years ago. The glaciers melted causing water levels to rise and plants to begin to grow again. Humans living in the fertile crescent found a large amount of eatable plants as well as lots of animals because of this. Among the large amounts of eatable plants were grains, which lead to major cultural change among the humans. Due to the large quantity of grains, and the fact that grains don't decay, the humans no longer needed to be nomadic, they had a prominent food source. The humans settled around the area, building shelters and staying there for generations.

Nyla Jennings- First Farmers Video Notes Manual Page 52

7. Describe the process of the domestication of plants and animals.

During the Neolithic Revolution, humans moved from a hunter gatherer society to start to domesticate plants and animals. The process started about 14,000 years ago, when the Ice Age started to end and food became more abundant. Groups of humans were able to live in the same place throughout the entire year, because they had grown the ability to garden and herd animals. They Natufians had already discovered that they could eat grains, and they had the technology like the sickle to harvest that, but they had to take the grains that they harvested with them, which burdened them. Finally, the Natufians started to live in small villages with houses of sticks and stones so they could eat their grain in thin bread-like pancakes. However, they still were following the migration patterns of animals for meat. A shift occurred when a drought and famine hit the Fertile Crescent where the Natufians lived. Suddenly, the animals the Natufians had once hunted became scarcer and the Natufians had to make a change in their hunting patterns. They moved and adapted to the temperaments of goats, which they herded and became the first domesticated animals. The Natufians had now domesticated both plants and animals, which happened because they had to adapt to climate change to be able to domesticate animals, and because they had to adapt to the burden of carrying grain.

John Kennedy

8. Identify and explain two other forms of lifeways at this time.

9. Name and explain the distinguishing characteristics of culture. Be sure to include culture's essential feature?

10. What are systems of meaning? What is the purpose of language and art?.

Language and other forms a of communication, such as art, or gestures allow people the ability to create, explain, and document new pieces of ideas and emotions. Since their birth, people contain the ability to use language. Language is the system that helped to set, store, communicate, and organize. A system of meaning is a set of relationships between a set of variables (words, shape, symbols, numbers) and the meanings which are attached to them. A set of meaning is much like the connotation of a word; they both give a frame of reference based on our knowledge about words. Relationships are based on the decisions of the humans who created the language. because of this, there is no particular reason why a long, coiled animal should be regarded as a snake. Meaning Systems are not universal or necessary. For example: A native American may not have known the established meaning of the Earth as 17th century Europeans did, however, they thrived on the Earth the same. The Europeans partly saw the world has a scientific wonder and partly as a moneymaking tool. Native Americans saw the world as a loved one and cherished it and all its facets. Both the groups succeeded in their natural habitat, using their own systems of meaning. Another Example: (^__^) Was that figure a smiley face or something else to you? Perhaps you saw a smiley face, but ancient Homo Sapiens may have seen words in their language or small bird. THe above figure could be anything. However, the established system of meaning, even for things that are symbols and not a language, suggests that the figure was a smiling Homo Sapien.

All Notes are taken from Page 59 and 60 of the CF Manual.

Julian Chazz Nicholas Peavy

11. Why is culture learned?

• Culture is learned because people must learn to live by the rules of their society
• Culture is learned because people aren't born with culture. They pick up their culture from the adults around them. (called enculturation)
• culture must be inherited. Culture must be passed down from generation to generation.
  • For example, if you live in a cold place, your culture will instill in you how to survive in that climate. If you live are a part of an island culture, you will learn to eat mainly fish. Even though these things seem like they are just a regular part of life, they are actually key componets in one's culture, and they are not something that someone is born with; they are learned.
  • Another example, people aren't born knowing about Religion, they are taught their religion based on what the people around them believe

Sources

http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~csbell/Courtnay%201.htm picture, viewed October 21st, 2012

Manual for Cultural Foundations of Ancient Civilizations page 59 viewed October 21st, 2012

http://emsc32.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/grade3/whatisa.html last viewed October 21st, 2012

Emily Pedrick

12. What important principles follow from the definition of culture given in the manual?

• If the process of learning is vital to culture, then teaching is also an essential component of culture.

• The approach that used use to teach and reproduce culture is itself a major component of culture.

• The relationship between what is taught and what is learned is not fixed, or absolute, therefore culture is always changing.

What is taught is lost, and new discoveries are constantly being made

• Meaning systems have negotiated arguments. So much that culture consists of not only systems of meaning, but also arguments, and negotiation.

Meanings systems contain relationships that are not essential and universal. For example people shaking hands when meeting, or looking someone in the eye while they are talking. Different societies agree on different relationships and meanings. This is a relativistic way of describing culture: Cultural Relativism

Soruces: CF manual pg. 60

Arisa Sadeghpour

13. What is the first purpose of a myth?

The first purpose of a myth was to explain the inexplicable. Since the dawn of the human race, myths have been created to explain certain mysteries such as: Where do we come from, what happens when we die, or why are there seasons. Many ancient societies used myths to explain certain things, because they did not have scientific evidence.

Picture:http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/s/stoneage.html

Cite: Manual page: 61

-Sam Schneider

14. Why is mythology a universal need?

Mythology was a universal need for multiple reasons. The first reason is many of the ancient humans wondered why things happened, and how they did. Examples of this are: 1) Why does the tide come in and out? 2) Why does the sun rise and set every day, in the same direction?. The most simple and obvious answers to these questions were that some more ultimate being caused them to happen. They simply could not explain these phenomena any other way. Another reason mythology was needed was to justify actions. If a person in power wanted to do something, they could simply say that in the myths, a great hero did something like this, or somebody was praised and brought plentiful rain for doing another thing. The final reason that mythology was a universal need is because a way was needed to express things. Although the myths were not completely real, most contained at least a grain of truth. However, these "truths" became part of religion, music dancing, magic, and rituals.

Austin Schultz

Information from History CF Manual

15. What is the second purpose of a myth?

As stated in the manual, the second reason for myth is to justify an existing social system and to justify its rites and customs. In other words, myth was and is used to justify good and bad events of today by stating that they go along with what hapened long ago. For example if people were to question why a certain ruler made everyone follow his orders, then there could be a myth given to justify his actions. Events such as invasions or radical social changes can be taken and explained by myths and incorporated into them. Some myths even illustrate moral principals. These principals are often displayed through acts of valor and heroism by way of mortal. Myths explained to people how to live and act in different situations. Myth is still the base of many things such as government, morality, and national identity.

-Jaelynn Walls

Information from History CF Manual

16. What role does mythology play in morality of a culture?

Myths played a huge role on ancient culture. The myths created explain how the world worked according to the thought's of ancient people. When the taboos of these people are discredited, their societies immediately start to disintegrate. The most important function of a myth is the moral code, which is held by people to ensure that they completely believe in the myth. However, modern technology has been able to disprove of those taboos, causing the decline of moral ethics, and the lacking respect of myths. These myths affected how people thought, behaved, and how they made an impact on society. However, myths can have negative effect on society-the philosophical thinking. If the myths say some things are right, and other things are wrong, then that is how people are going to think. Therefore, the beliefs that people have concerning morality can be dangerous because they prevent people from engaging in moral reasoning, listening to moral arguments, considering moral philosophy, and improving themselves.

Stone Age Myth

Sources:

-By Jeffrey Wang

17. Define religion and its characteristics, elements and functions in a society?

As societies develop, they begin to institutionalize their beliefs and morality into religion. Religion helped answer the questions: Why was the world created? How should people live? Why is there suffering? What happens after death? Any answers to these questions posed by religion cannot be tested by scientific means or proved or disproved.

Religion held communities together because it gave members a shared code of behavior and a shared way of understanding the world. Religion reduces people’s fears by giving them something beyond themselves to rely on. Archeologists suggest that public buildings were built for religious purposes, a place where they community could come together for worship.

Later on, the Ghassoulian, a very highly evolved town, the town was held together by religion. Priests rose above others and told others what the gods wanted, and by having this power of communicating with the gods, the priests were at the top of the social ladder. The religious beliefs of Neolithic people were as follows: They buried the dead in graves, along with their weapons, pottery, food and drink in the belief that these things were required after death. They worshipped totems, or images of plants and animals as their ances­tors and protectors. They worshipped forces of nature like sun, moon and stars and believed that they had special powers. They worshipped clay figurines of "Mother Goddess" in the belief that fertility of the land would increase.

Sources: History Manuel, History Class Notes. Link: http://www.preservearticles.com/201107058834/the-religious-beliefs-of-the-people-in-neolithic-age.html

Sophie Worscheh

18. What were some of the problems of complex societies?

Although complex societies were a a huge stepping stone in the neolithic revolution, there were also some downsides to them. The increases in population caused demand for extra food and more space for housing. Also, because of how close together families lived, there were often disputes and fights between families. Crimes and threats were also a downside to complex societies. Because of these downsides, a political class which would enforce laws, punish law-breakers, rule over fights, fight wars, and commission public works formed and would demand taxes. This political structure is known as a state.

Growth of complex societies:

Sources: Manual page 62 & [3]

Alden Arnold

19. From the first source reading,summarize Impact of containers

20. Summarize Impact of domestication of animals

Around 11,500 years ago, the farming and animal herding lifestyles met and combined, creating a new style of life. The animal component of the new lifestyle had a different impact than the agricultural element. Early on, around 40,000 years ago, the first animal domestication example appeared, dogs. The dog came from the wolf, and many millennia later, the dog helped with hunting and lived with human cultures, like the Natufians. After the dog, around 11,500 years ago, cultures living in the Fertile Crescent domesticated goats, the first domesticated farm animal. They would drive them into a concealed area the kill the animals with less favorable characteristics. Eventually they domesticated pigs, sheep, donkeys, cows, and other creatures. The cultures that first domesticated animal domesticated most of today's domesticated species. Later on, The domestication of animals modern day farm animals allowed for a less lengthly hunt, mainly because the animals were in a location already known to the farmers. That led to more free time and a more steady supply of food. The animals alo helped out with farming, making the work easier. As the humans started to colonize in larger villages with their animals, many villagers grew ill and hygiene became a major problem in the towns. The problem was partly caused by the close living proximity of the humans and the animals. In addition, animas like the donkey helped with long distance trade routes, such as the route between the town of Ghassoul, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. By trading over longer distances, more foreign materials were able to enter different cultures. This new lifestyle spread from the Middle East to Europe and eventually to the rest of the world.

Sources: "The First Towns and Villages" Video Notes, "The End of the Stone Age" Video Notes, Beniretto, Rosie, and Clay Elliott, comps. Manual for Cultural Foundations of Ancient Civilizations. Vol. 1. Houston: St. John's School, 2012-2013. 57-57. Print.

For More Information: http://archaeology.about.com/od/dterms/a/domestication.htm

Jonathan Bloom

21. From the second source reading, summarize Impact of methods of water management

Many people began settling down in the Middle East because agriculture was thriving there. The river flooded and provided the people with fertile soil, which was a contributing factor to their stable food supply. The river and water had other uses too. Rather than settling on isolated farms, people settled in village communities. There was irrigation in these communities. These irrigation systems were huge projects that channeled water to vast stretches of land, allowing more and more people to settle on and nearby the river. Along the Nile and the Tigris-Euphretes, the large irrigation systems had to be built by many workers, which means the irrigation must have been a big, important job. There were also regulations that were passed that assured that those on and around the river had equal water access and supply, and this linked water management to politics and economic organization. The most important effect irrigation and water management had on early people was its help in providing a surplus amount of food and crops. This surplus led to a need for new organization skills and techniques, which in turn led to a more modern society and a gradual emergence of a more self-sufficient culture.

This is an example of what the irrigation may have looked like.

Sources:

Manual Pages 53 and 54

End of the Stone Age video notes

[4]

By Gwendelyn Butler

22. Summarize Impact of growth, populations and food production.

About 12,000 years ago, humans started to learn how to farm to obtain their food. This was a monumental step in human development. It led to the production of food, which in turn helped humans become sedentary. This abundant and reliable food source also led to growth and populations. All of these topics, as you can see, are intertwined. Once one changes, all of the other ones change as well. These are all extremely important in the development of modern humans.

Growth had a large impact on humans. The main growth that humans experienced at this time was community and technological growth. Human communities grew in many ways. First of all, they grew in terms of size. This city growth led to a lot of positive and negative impacts. Some good impacts that it made were that ownership of property started, public buildings were created, and buildings became more advanced. People owned property which gave them a sense of ownership. This helped because people then wanted to improve their properties. Public buildings were created mainly for religious purposes. Everyone would gather in them and worship their gods. This helped religion grow. Buildings became a lot more advanced architecturally as communities grew. The main advancements that were made were that buildings were made sturdier, plaster made foundations for buildings, and buildings now had multiple rooms. These all helped humans develop. Some bad impacts are that animals lived near humans, there were now social classes, and security had to be improved. Since animals lived so close to humans, diseases formed that infected many humans. Some of these diseases were malaria, small pox and tuberculosis. Social classes formed which made some people very rich, but others very poor. This also caused crime to rise because some people wanted some things so much that they would steal them. Finally, because of all of the crime, security had to be improved to keep criminals away. There were also technological growth. There are only positive impacts that come from this because technology was used to solve problems. The good impacts that it had on humans were that it made life easier, it helped the economy, and it encouraged a division of labor. Technology made life easier because it solved many problems that early humans had. An example is that the invention of the loom made it easy to weave cloth together. Technology helped the economy because it helped humans gain more goods and food. They could then trade this away for something else they needed. Finally, technology encouraged a division of labor because it made people want to become more efficient in their working. Division of labor makes it more efficient because people focus on their specialties, so things get done faster. These are the ways that growth impacted humans.

http://www.bible-archaeology.info/work.htm

Populations also had a big impact on humans. At this time, which was about 10,000 years ago, there were between 5 to 10 million humans inhabiting Earth. This might not seem like a lot today, but back then, that was a huge amount. As the populations grew, communities began to change to adapt. There are many advantages and disadvantages concerning population growth. Some advantages of this are that the communities became more technologically advanced, economies grew, labor was divided and people started to own their own property. The communities became more advanced technologically because humans could spend more time improving technology than their ancestors because they had a surplus of food and a bigger population. People think in terms of solving problems, so people created new technology to solve those problems. Also , there were more people who could work together to find answers to problems. Second, economies grew a lot. With a lot of people in each society and a lot more societies, humans developed economies to get more food or valued goods. They could do this by producing these items themselves, or by trading them with other communities. Both of these helped economies grow. Also, with a lot more people, labor was divided among everyone. This made tasks among communities much more efficient. Finally, people started to own their own property. This made people want to improve even more and gave people the feeling of ownership. There were also a few disadvantages as well. These were that diseases formed, there were security issues, and there was inequality. First of all, diseases started to form because people and animals lived in close proximity to each other. This caused a lot of people to become sick. Second, security became a problem. With more people and goods, criminals emerged to try to take those goods. Many changes had to be made to keep unwanted people away. Finally, inequality grew because some people had more things than others. This could be a problem because it could lead to more crime and social classes may have formed. These are the impacts of populations on humans.

http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100/2k4ch39pop.html

Finally, food production significantly changed the way people lived. As people discovered farming and the domestication of animals, their food supply became abundant. This gave humans many advantages. First of all, it let people become sedentary. This is because humans realized they needed storage for all of the grains that they harvested. They could not carry this around with them, so they decided to stay in one place. Also, with this new food source, there was no need to move. This helped because humans could now grow their own food, and have enough for everyone in the community, without having to be nomadic. They could stay in one place for the whole year and have more than enough food. This led to growing populations and societies. As I stated in the above paragraph, population growth helped humans develop. Second, this steady supply of food gave humans much more free time. Since they did not have to go on long hunting trips any more, they had a lot of extra time. With this time, humans started to develop shared religions. Whole villages would gather together to worship their gods. Humans began to come up with technology with this free time as well. This helped humans solve more problems. Finally, food production helped humans develop specific cultures. This is because, as I said before, humans settled down into large communities. These communities then began to create their own cultures. Cultures began to have their own way of life. These cultures had different ways to get food as well. A disadvantage that formed because of food production is larger populations. As I stated in the paragraph above, large populations are not always good. This is because diseases formed, inequality formed, and crime grew. These are the impacts of food production on humans.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=54-30-05-40

Sources: http://humanorigins.si.edu/human-characteristics/change, http://www.biology.iupui.edu/biocourses/N100/2k4ch39pop.html, Manual pages 52-62

Cam Cook

23. Define and give the characteristics of the Fertile Crescent.

24. Summarize Impact of record keeping

25. Summarize Impact of water in Mesopotamia and Babylon

Water had a profound impact on Mesopotamian society. Not only did it allow the people that lived there, the Ghassoulians, to thrive, but the work that was required to bring it to them brought them together. Since they lived in a relatively dry, remote area in Jordan, they had little to no access to water. So, they decided to dig irrigation canals to bring the water to them. This task required hundreds if not thousands of workers. Because of this fact, we can infer that the laborers who worked on this project were brought together by something bigger - religion. In the town where the Ghassoulians lived in the Jordan Valley, a star was found painted on the wall of a family home. The star, with hybrid creatures around it, symbolizes religion, letting us infer that what brought the Ghassoulians together to build their irrigation systems was religion. This is how water impacted Mesopotamian society.

Sources:

Class Notes October 18, 2012. http://climatechange.thinkaboutit.eu/think4/post/climate_change_jordan_valley_1_-_0

Jayan Hanson

26. Summarize Impact of water in Egypt

27. Summarize Impact of water in Indus River Valley

During the Neolithic Revolution in the Indus River Valley, water flowed freely into the agricultural land of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. The melting snow from the Himalayas feeds the Indus River, and it delivered a constant source of water. The Indus River flows from its source in Tibet, China, through India and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. The result of this constant water source was a fruitful agricultural area with forests and fertile soil that formed the economic foundation of the two cities. The cities used the water to create irrigation systems that caught and controlled water for farming rye, wheat, peas and rice as well as catching fish. Besides using the water for farming needs, the cities used it for indoor plumbing for the rich and public baths. One example of a public bath is the “Great Bath,” the largest public bath in the ancient world, found by archaeologists in Mohenjo-Daro. The “Great Bath” measured 12 m by 7 m and was 2.4 m deep. In present day the region is now arid and desolate much different from how it was during the Neolithic Revolution. The water from the Indus River was essential to the lives of the citizens of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.

Sources:

CF Manual

http://history-world.org/indus_valley.htm

http://eclj.org/Releases/Read.aspx?GUID=a52cdca5-0d4c-4e30-8f5a-d4aa2a7fd42d&s=eur

Justin Kao