Evolution of Early Human Settlements

EVOLUTION OF HUMAN
SETTLEMENTS
UNIT I – IMPORTANCE OF EVOLUTION
OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
By
PROF. VIJESH KUMAR V
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SAN
ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE
architectvijeshkumarv@gmail.com,
+919487005023
PROF.VIJESH KUMAR V, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SAN ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE,+919487005023 1

IMPORTANCE OF EVOLUTION OF HUMAN
SETTLEMENTS
1. Origin of civilization,
2. Effects of civilization on Human settlements,
3. Determinants of Human settlements,
4. Ancients towns in India.

ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION

A WORLD MAP OF MAJOR CIVILIZATIONSACCORDING TO THE POLITICAL HYPOTHESIS CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS BY SAMUEL P. HUNTINGTON

PROF.VIJESH KUMAR V, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SAN ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE,+919487005023
Map of the world showing approximate centers of origin of agriculture and its spread in prehistory: the Fertile Crescent (11,000 BP), the
Yangtze and Yellow River basins (9,000 BP) and the New Guinea Highlands (9,000–6,000 BP), Central Mexico (5,000–4,000 BP), Northern
South America (5,000–4,000 BP), sub-Saharan Africa (5,000–4,000 BP, exact location unknown), eastern North America (4,000–3,000 BP)
8

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION

RUDENESS TO CIVILISATION
The English word "civilization" comes from the 16th-century French civilisé
("civilized"), from Latin civilis ("civil"), related to civis ("citizen") and civitas
("city").
Adjectives like "civility" developed in the mid-16th century.
The abstract noun "civilization", meaning "civilized condition", came in the
1760s, again from French.
The first known use in French is in 1757, by Victor Riqueti, marquis de
Mirabeau, and the first use in English is attributed to Adam Ferguson, who in
his 1767 Essay on the History of Civil Society wrote, "Not only the
individual advances from infancy to manhood, but the species itself
from rudeness to civilisation".

WHAT IS CIVILIZATION?
is any complex society characterized
by
Urban development,
Social stratification imposed by a
cultural elite,
Symbolic systems of communication
(for example, writing systems),
and
A perceived separation from and
domination over the natural
environment.

SOCIO-POLITICO-ECONOMIC
CHARACTERISTICS
Centralization,
The domestication of both humans and other organisms,
Specialization of labour,
Culturally ingrained ideologies of progress and
Supremacism,
Monumental architecture,
Taxation,
Societal dependence upon farming and expansionism.

…in contrast to more supposedly primitive cultures like non-centralized tribal
societies, including the cultures of nomadic pastoralists, Neolithic societies or
hunter-gatherers.
It is an ‘Advanced’ Culture…
15

REF: WHEN?
At the final stages of the Neolithic Revolution, culminating in the relatively
rapid process of urban revolution and state formation, a political
development associated with the appearance of a governing elite.
The earlier neolithic technology and lifestyle was established first in the
Middle East (for example at Göbekli Tepe, from about 9,130 BCE), and
later in the Yellow River and Yangtze basins in China (for example the
Pengtoushan culture from 7,500 BCE), and later spread. Similar pre-civilized
"neolithic revolutions" also began independently from 7,000 BCE in such
places as northwestern South America (the Norte Chico civilization) and
Mesoamerica. These were among the six civilizations worldwide that arose
independently.

REF: WHEN?
Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic
Revolution from around 10,000 BCE, with civilizations developing from
6,500 years ago. This area has been identified as having "inspired some of
the most important developments in human history including the invention of
the wheel, the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy and
agriculture."
The civilized urban revolution in turn was dependent upon the development
of sedentism, the domestication of grains and animals and development of
lifestyles that facilitated economies of scale and accumulation of surplus
production by certain social sectors.
The transition from complex cultures to civilizations, while still disputed, seems
to be associated with the development of state structures, in which power
was further monopolized by an elite ruling class who practised human
sacrifice.

REF: WHEN?
Towards the end of the Neolithic period, various elitist Chalcolithic
civilizations began to rise in various "cradles" from around 3300 BCE.
Chalcolithic civilizations, as defined above, also developed in Pre-Columbian
Americas and, despite an early start in Egypt, Axum and Kush, much later in
Iron Age sub-Saharan Africa.
The Bronze Age collapse was followed by the Iron Age around 1200 BCE,
during which a number of new civilizations emerged, culminating in a period
from the 8th to the 3rd century BCE which German psychiatrist and
philosopher Karl Jaspers termed the Axial Age, and which he claimed was a
critical transitional phase leading to classical civilization. A major
technological and cultural transition to modernity began approximately
1500 CE in Western Europe, and from this beginning new approaches to
science and law spread rapidly around the world, incorporating earlier
cultures into the industrial and technological civilization of the present.

EARLY HUMAN SOCIETY
Because humans had ways of communication, remembering and making
things, they were able to pass on what they learned and their way of doing
things from one generation to the next. In a way, the first human cultures
developed.
Culture – refers to a people’s way of life. Culture includes such things as
language, types of clothing, homes, family organization, government, and
methods of obtaining food. Culture also includes crafts, arts, music, and
religion.

HUNTERS & GATHERERS
PALEOLITHIC PEOPLES
Earliest human societies were hunters and gatherers; they did not now how
to grow their own food.
They relied on hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants for food.
They learned to make fires, spears with pieces of bone or stone, and to
make canoes and boats out of logs (Stone Age)
Since they spent most of their time hunting for food, they migrated to areas
where food could be found. They did not live in permanent settlings.

THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION
About 10,000 years ago, one of the greatest turning points in world history
occurred…
 People stop hunting & gathering and started FARMING
 People learned how to grow food and domesticate animals
Anthropologists believe this change first occurred in the Middle East, where
wild wheat and barley were plentiful.
They also learned how to herd farm animals such as goats, sheep and cattle.
These advances are referred to as the Neolithic Revolution.

EFFECTS OF NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION
Once agriculture was introduced,
people no longer had to wander in
search of food.
Instead they could build permanent
homes and villages and establish a
fixed way of life.
Populations grew!
Although it all started in Southwest
Asia, it also took place in Southeast
Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

THE EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL CLASSES
Pros & Cons: People could grow more food than when they hunted and
gathered. But they were more vulnerable to attack by other peoples.
These changes is economics led to social and political changes: new social
classes
Warriors – defense of village was a concern
Priests – to conduct religious rituals in order to promote good harvest and
protect from danger

RISE OF RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS
Around 3,500 B.C., the first civilizations arose.
Civilization – form of human culture in which people live in cities, have
complex social institutions, use some form of writing, and are skilled at using
science and technology.
The first civilizations developed in four separate river valleys.
 Each of these river valleys offered mild climate and a water highway.
 Water from rivers was also used for cooking food and drinking.
 Along the rivers there was also fertile soil, great for growing crops and led
to abundant harvests and food surplus.

MESOPOTAMIA (3500 B.C. – 1700 B.C.)
First river valley
civilization
developed in
Mesopotamia
between the
Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers
(present day Iraq)
Mesopotamia was
a Greek term
meaning “land
between two
rivers”

Agriculture
Mesopotamia was hot and dry so
people learned to irrigate the land
by diverting water from the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers.
This allowed farming settlements to
flourish and people were able to
create a surplus of food
Other people began to specialize in
other activities including potters,
weavers, metal workers, warriors, or
priests.

Government
People of Mesopotamia built
several cities; at first each city-state,
such as Uruk, Ur, and Babylon, had
its own ruler.
Later several of these city-states
were united together under a single
ruler.

Religion
Mesopotamians were polytheistic,
believing in as many as 2,000
different gods.
Some historians claim
Mesopotamian religion to be the
oldest faith.
Rulers were often priests.
A society governed by religious
leaders is known as a theocracy.
Stone Sumerian Priest
30

Building
Mesopotamians were the world’s
first city-builders.
They made their building from mud,
bricks and crushed reeds.
They built walled cities, temples with
arches, and stepped pyramids
known as ziggurats.
Ziggurat in Baghdad
Reconstruction of Ziggurat at Ur
31

Cultural & Scientific Contributions
The Sumerians invented the wheel and the sailboat.
Figured how to reroute water to irrigate fields located further from the river.
Developed tools and weapons of copper and bronze.
Sumerians devised a calendar, dividing the year into 12 months.
Later Babylonians developed a number system based on 60, providing the
basis for our seconds and minutes today.
They also invented the world’s earliest writing system, cuneiform, symbol
writing on clay.
 Only the elite could read and write in cuneiform, generally priests and
scribes.

A cuneiform writing tablet
33

Women in Mesopotamia
Most girls stayed at home with
mothers where they learned cooking
and housekeeping
Women were responsible for raising
children and crushing grain.
Only wealthy women were able to
go to marketplace and buy goods,
complete legal matters when
husband was absent, and could
even own property. They could
engage in business and obtain
divorces.
Women in Mesopotamia
34

EGYPT
(3200 B.C. – 500 B.C.)
Located in Northeast Africa.
The world’s longest river, the Nile,
runs through it.

Agriculture
Each year the Nile floods and makes the soil along
its bank very rich and fertile.
With bright sunshine, long growing seasons, rich soil,
and fresh water, Egyptian farmers were able to
grow large amounts of food.
Farmers were able to support craftsmen, warriors,
priests, and nobles.
EGYPT
(3200 B.C. – 500 B.C.)
36

EGYPT (3200 B.C. – 500 B.C.)
Society
The pharaoh was at the
top of the social order.
Below the pharaoh came
the priests and nobles,
Then warriors, scribes,
merchants, and craftsmen.
At the bottom were
peasants and slaves; they
spent their time farming,
herding cattle, and
working on building
projects.
37

EGYPT (3200 B.C. – 500 B.C.)
Religion
Egyptians believed the body should
be preserved after death to
participate in the afterlife.
When pharaohs died, their bodies
were embalmed (mummified) and
buried in a special room under a
pyramid. They were surrounded with
gold, jewels, and other precious
objects.

EGYPT (3200 B.C. – 500 B.C.)
Accomplishments
Medicine – developed knowledge
of human body through embalming
(preserving). Performed surgical
operations.
Hieroglyphics – developed one of
the earliest writing systems, based
on picture symbols.

INDUS VALLEY (3300 B.C. – 1300 B.C.)
More than 5,000 years
ago the Indus River
Valley became another
center of human
civilization.
Much like Mesopotamia
and Egypt, the region
had rich soil due to its
annual flood.

Agriculture
Farmers grew barley, wheat, dates
and melons.
Food surplus allowed people to
build large cities like Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro; each city had more
than 30,000 people.

INDUS VALLEY
(3300 B.C. – 1300 B.C.)
Building
More than 1,000 cities and settlements belonging to the Indus River Valley
have been excavated.
The artifacts that have been discovered show that the settlements were
technologically advanced.
There were dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms and
protective walls.
They were the first “urban planners” with almost all their houses connected
to public sewers and a water supply
The Harrappans were also the first people known to make cotton cloth.

Trade and Collapse
Trade was important of Harrappan
economy.
Harrappans also developed their
own form of writing, although
scholars are still unable to decipher
it.
No one knows exactly why the
civilization collapsed, but its end
occurred suddenly.

CHINA (~1850 B.C.)
About 5,000 years
after the settlement of
the Indus
River Valley, China’s
first civilization
emerged in the fertile
plains along the Huang
He (Yellow River).

CHINA (~1850 B.C.)
Agriculture
As in the Nile and Indus River Valleys, the fertility of the soil along the
Huang He was increased by periodic floods.
Around 4,500 B.C., people along the Huang He began growing millet (type
of grain).
Later they learned to farm soybeans and raise chickens, dogs and pigs.

CHINA (~1850 B.C.)
Government
Around 1,700 B.C. a ruling family,
or dynasty, known as the Shang,
took power. • They built the first
Chinese cities and established their
capital at Anyang near the Huang
He.
The Shang ruled with the help of
powerful nobles. • Shang kings were
military leaders, they were also high
priests that offered sacrifices to
their royal ancestors.

CHINA (~1850 B.C.)
Cultural Contributions
• The people living along the Huang
He were very skilled at many crafts.
• They created superior weapons
and ceremonial vessels with their
bronze work.
• They were the first to make silk
textiles from silkworm cocoons.
• They developed a system of
writing with pictographs, known as
characters. Each character
represented one word.

ANCIENT HEBREWS
Ancient Hebrews, or Israelites, lived south of Phoenicia in the area occupied
by present-day Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Hebrews were deeply influenced by both Mesopotamia and Egypt.
According to tradition, the forefather of the Hebrews, Abraham, grew up in
Mesopotamia in the city or Ur. Later Abraham moved to Israel.

ANCIENT HEBREWS
Religion
Unlike other ancient peoples, the Hebrews did not believe in many gods;
instead they believed in one universal God, who was both just and all-
powerful.
This new religion was called Judaism.
Jews did not believe that God had human characteristics or the head or
body of an animal, like the gods and goddesses of Mesopotamia and
Egypt.
Jews saw their God as an invisible but powerful force or spirit that created
the world and that demanded proper moral conduct.
Monotheism, the belief in one God, became the basis for several religions,
including both Christianity and Islam.

ANCIENT HEBREWS
The Ten Commandments
The early history of the Hebrews and their God is told in the first books of
the Bible, known as the Old Testament.
According to the Bible, the ancient Hebrews migrated to Egypt to escape
food shortages. They lived there for hundreds of years and were enslaved.
Moses, their leader, later took them out of Egypt and freed them from
slavery. According to the Bible, Moses also presented them the Ten
Commandments, which came directly from God.
The Ten Commandments forbade stealing, murder, adultery, and other forms
of immoral behavior.

ANCIENT HEBREWS

EFFECTS OF CIVILIZATION ON
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

SETTLEMENT…
EVOLUTION
SETTLEMENTHUMAN

DETERMINANTS OF HUMAN
SETTLEMENTS

ANCIENTS TOWNS IN INDIA

Evolution of Early Human Settlements

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