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Lecture 5 Latin America and Civilization (Earliest civilisations…
Lecture 5
Latin America and Civilization
Civilization vs.
Civilized
Civilization: complex
society
Population
Territory
Identity
Rule
Civilized: polite,
easy to manage
Western Civilization
Democracy
Capitalism
Liberty
(Development of) science
Civilization
vs. Empire
Empire is the organisational
feature of civilisations
Turchin: "mega-empires"
Territorial states
Controlling (at their
peak) an area equal to
or greater than 1 000 000
square kilometres
Argument for
Environmental gradient,
limited distance
Military superiority of
the nomads
Space, deep hinterland
for expansion
Axial Age
Increase in size
of the empire
Nomad military
superiority
Emergence of
world religions
(between C8 B.C.E
and C2 or C3 B.C.E.)
Increased
urbanisation
Humanity's dispersion
Control over fire
Song, dance, art
Tell story of the group
Mark/shape identity
Speech and
common meaning
Complex tools
and technology
Agriculture
Opportunities
Settlement
Organisation
Solidarity
Population growth
Artefacts
Astronomy -
development
Risks
Disease
Warfare with non-
settled groups
Key element!
The Old World Web
(3500 B.C.E. - 200 C.E.)
Eurasia
Africa
Earliest civilisations
Mesopotamia
Egypt
North-west India
China
Metropolitan webs
Nile-Indus
East Asia,
China
Early
characteristics
Bureaucratic
government
Writing,
literacy
Portable,
congregational
religions
Judaism
Buddhism
Zoroastrism
Confucianism
Moral codes
Sacred texts
Origin of Farming
Mesoamerica,
Fertile Crescent,
China (8500 -
7000 B.C.E.)
Andes, Amazonia,
South Sahara,
Ethiopia (7000 -
5000 B.C.E.)
Imperiogenesis
Nomads vs. Settled
External threat -
internal cohesion
"Scaling up" the
level of political
organisation
No logical end-point
Evidence for "one
of the strongest macro-
historical regularities
over the long term"
Military innovation
Chariot (1800 B.C.E.)
Iron weaponry
(1200 B.C.E.)
Mounted archer
(700 B.C.E.)