User talk:GKidd

Agricultural Revolution: Class Notes
NOTES—PP. 1-20 THE RISE OF AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL CIVILIZAITONS FROM HUMAN PREHISTORY TO EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

In today’s society, communication is steadily improving. People worldwide may now fully interact (i.e. telephone, internet, radio, television). – International interaction has positives and negatives in various ways. Societies greatly influenced by one another. To fully understand world history, time periods are used to understand the subject. Properties of civilizations: state organization, family values, technological advance/change, social structure. Civilizations never truly isolated – International trade, migrations, disease, missionary religions. It may seem as though the earth is growing “smaller”, but in actuality, it is growing more complex. Humans have existed for roughly 2-2.5 million years (1/4000 of time). Human drawbacks: aggressiveness, violence, babies’ dependency for long periods (limits activities of women), awareness of death concept. Positives: opposable thumbs, relatively high sexual drive, omnivores (don’t depend on certain types of food for survival), facial expressions (enhance communication skills), elaborate speech.
 * Paleolithic Age: (until 14, 000 years ago)
 * simple tool use (rocks, sticks)
 * fire tamed for usage (750,000 years ago)
 * Erect stature, growing brain capacity
 * Hunters-gatherers
 * Slow population growth
 * Significant equality between the sexes
 * Speech developed with Homo Erectus (limited use)
 * Cave paintings to explain and communicate
 * Religious beliefs/burial customs emerged (goddesses)
 * Spread of humans throughout the world – fueled by pressure to find food
 * Animal skins for clothing
 * Bans, tribes, clans

Mesolithic Age:
 * Improved tool usage
 * Pots and baskets for storage
 * Domestication of more animals – Transition phase (i.e. cows)

Neolithic Age:
 * Invention of agriculture
 * Creation of cities
 * Continued domestication
 * Pottery, jewels, knives crafted
 * Famine/disease spread
 * Permanent communities
 * Advanced tools
 * Specialization of labor

Neolithic Revolution: Population increases and climate improves – Search for new and reliable sources of food. Big game animals lessen in numbers and smaller animals can’t sustain larger populations. 9,000 B.C.E. – People becoming dependent on regular harvests. New animals domesticated in Middle East and Asia – pigs, sheep, goats, cattle. Farming first developed in Fertile Crescent region – barley and wheat are abundant. Knowledge of agriculture spread to India, north Africa, and Europe. Agriculture developed independently in China (cultivation of rice).

Neolithic Revolution: misleading – agriculture was not a sudden shift from Hunting-gathering. Although, the term is relevant to the magnitude of importance.

Early agriculture supported more people than hunting – People could settle permanently in some areas. Agriculture required more work than hunting. People could afford to build homes/villages - Disease suffering because of higher population density.

Areas isolated from agriculture ideals include: South Africa, Australia, islands of Southeast Asia, and northern Japan.

Agriculture initiated in the Americas around 5,000 B.C.E. Agriculture set the basis for rapid change in societies. Specialization of labor (i.e. basket weaving, pottery, bronze work). Farmers’ economic center was agriculture while many herders relied on farmers.

4,000 B.C.E. – First metal tools – common in the Middle East – Useful to agricultural and herding societies – metal hoes helped to farm the land effectively. Agricultural peoples had toolmakers that specialized in exchange for food.

Woodworking = more elaborate – metal replaced stone, bone, and fire in cutting/joining wood. Iron introduced by herders that invaded the Middle East in 1,500 B.C.E.

Agriculture encouraged civilization – hunting peoples lived in small band (40-60 individuals) and couldn’t settle.

Slash and burn agriculture: people would burn off trees, farm intensely for a few years until the soil depleted, and move on. Houses could be well built, wells dug for water, ‘luxuries’.

--GKidd 14:49, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Agricultural Revolution: ESSAY
Directions: Below is a prompt that pertains to the Agricultural Revoultion of prehistory. Using the notes/discussion questions you have taken based upon "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race", respond to the following:

'''Jared Diamond conveys numerous consequences associated with settled agriculture in his essay "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race". Your assignment is to, in a comparison/contrast essay format (see below), discuss the advantages to settled agriculture as well as obvious disadvantages. Furthermore, please use specific examples in today's world that support your response (i.e. without agriculture...)

Here are the FCA's (Focus Content Areas):


 * Proper format of thesis (20 points)
 * Appropriate content - at least 5 positives and negatives (40 points)
 * The thesis is defended throughout the essay (20 points)
 * Real-world examples defend the thesis (30 points)

Total: 110 Points

Comparison/contrast Essay Format:


 * Paragraph 1 --> Introductory (includes background info and thesis statement).
 * Paragraph 2 --> Body 1 (includes positives/negatives)
 * Paragraph 3 --> Body 2 (includes real-world examples)
 * Paragraph 4 --> Conclusion (includes summary info and restates thesis).

This assignment is due on April 10, 2006'''

Wikiversity
Heya! Im new to the whole concept of editing wikis so I hope this is the proper way of contacting you!

I ran across Wikiversity just a few days ago and was very interested in getting involved. Seeing as you're the most active person in my favorite field on the site, I thought I would drop a line and say hello. I was wondering what your take on wikiversity is at the moment. Briefly fill me in and let me know if I can help in the history department if you get a few minutes! I'm currently a university student studying both computer science and history. Like I say I would be very interested in getting involved somehow.

Feel free to write back via talk or even email me at tyson@myhres.net

~Tyson Myhres T.Myhres 23:54, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

New Wikiversity!
Wikiversity has been created! You'll find the new School of History here. 128.187.0.164 07:45, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

2007 class
Are you planning a series of 2007 classes? Hunterd 09:53, 20 November 2006 (UTC) (My talk page will automatically redirect to my Wikipedia talk page, which is where I prefer messages to go). Thanks.