UMass Amherst ANTHRO 150 - Midterm short essay questions (2 pages)

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1 What are the key characteristics of civilizations as outlined in lecture Large sedentary communities Agricultural intensification Diversification of labor Symbiotic economy Centralized government Social stratification 2 What was the social function s of monumental architecture in ancient Egypt To send out a powerful message whoever built that has a lot of power 3 Describe three of the theories that have been put forth to explain the origins of civilizations Which do you find the most convincing and why Environmental Change lots of food went extinct at end of last Ice Age didn t have anything else doesn t explain shift from collecting to cultivating Population Growth As populations grew resources got stressed and food less readily available Cultural Revolution People learned enough about plants and suddenly decided to manipulate them took 4 million years OUR THEORY combination Environmental change population growth caused reliance on food sources and caused less mobility farming was last choice by hunter gatherers because population growth 4 Discuss the origins and functions of writing in Mesopotamia Who was literate What were written documents used for in different periods Originated in Sumer with cuneiform The primary functions of writing in Mesopotamia were to keep track of records with the growing economy and to be used as an administrative tool for those higher on the social ladder such as nobles or kings Keep track of goods that were bought and sold Written documents were used to keep track of goods bought and sold record labor production land use keep track of how much something was produced recorded to be referenced at a later date and then later on used for poetry mathematics writing down stories and myths etc 5 Why did some cultures choose NOT to adopt the technology of writing even after they had come into contact with literate cultures Writing cannot be adopted outside of the context in which it exists aka one must adopt the social context in which writing exists in order to adopt writing Wherever writing exists it does so in a very specific cultural context you have to adopt the culture that had writing in order to have writing need to change entire culture didn t want to do that in order to have writing can t have writing without that culture The sign does not exist outside the context which gave rise to it 6 How do religious organizations and ideas play a role in the emergence of complex society in Mesopotamia and in Egypt Be sure to cite specific archaeological and cultural examples Pharaohs human connection to the afterlife Narmer creates Old Kingdom Meopotamian and Egyptians citizens believe that if they were good citizens they have a better chance of getting into the afterlife Religious figures were a part of high authority Tombs built to bring elites closer to good afterlife 7 What structured the relationship between Egypt and Nubia How did this relationship change over time What is some of the archaeological evidence for