What is civilisation ?
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What is civilisation?
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How our modern society sees it
Civilisation; a manmade concept developed over time. To begin with, uncivilised doesn't mean being savage or uncultured. In many cases uncivilised people have less problems than us civilised (e.g. war). Many factors define civilisation as we will find out later. First let’s take a look at the beginning of civilisation as we know it today.
Civilisation required certain geographical conditions to form, such as the right temperature and a fruitful vegetation. One of the main pillars of civilisation, agriculture was developed c.10 000 years ago; a relatively short period of time compared to the Palaeolithic period (c. 2.5 million years ago).
Agriculture first appeared in Southeast Asia but the crucial area for its development was the fertile crescent. China and America soon followed with the development of agriculture. Agriculture is the first sign that shows humans beginning to control nature. When enough food was available, people started settling down resulting into more complex developments belonging to civilisation. Soon after settling down the domestication of animals began. Only 14 of the animals during that time were suitable for domestication. Some requirements for the animals (not all animals had all these attributes) were:
Power used in travel and agriculture (e.g. horse), relatively short maturing time, the ability to produce food such as milk or honey.
After these important developments the wheel, writing, pottery, metallography and highly complex houses and monuments were built. This was mostly due to the time people now had (thanks to agriculture and the domestication of animals) to think rather than hunt and gather.
Along with highly developed physical objects/items also complex social methods thrived. A sophisticated legal system was formed to solve issues and
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labour was devised between people (instead of everyone doing the same work). Writing was
!
!
What is civilisation?
!
How our modern society sees it
Civilisation; a manmade concept developed over time. To begin with, uncivilised doesn't mean being savage or uncultured. In many cases uncivilised people have less problems than us civilised (e.g. war). Many factors define civilisation as we will find out later. First let’s take a look at the beginning of civilisation as we know it today.
Civilisation required certain geographical conditions to form, such as the right temperature and a fruitful vegetation. One of the main pillars of civilisation, agriculture was developed c.10 000 years ago; a relatively short period of time compared to the Palaeolithic period (c. 2.5 million years ago).
Agriculture first appeared in Southeast Asia but the crucial area for its development was the fertile crescent. China and America soon followed with the development of agriculture. Agriculture is the first sign that shows humans beginning to control nature. When enough food was available, people started settling down resulting into more complex developments belonging to civilisation. Soon after settling down the domestication of animals began. Only 14 of the animals during that time were suitable for domestication. Some requirements for the animals (not all animals had all these attributes) were:
Power used in travel and agriculture (e.g. horse), relatively short maturing time, the ability to produce food such as milk or honey.
After these important developments the wheel, writing, pottery, metallography and highly complex houses and monuments were built. This was mostly due to the time people now had (thanks to agriculture and the domestication of animals) to think rather than hunt and gather.
Along with highly developed physical objects/items also complex social methods thrived. A sophisticated legal system was formed to solve issues and
!1
labour was devised between people (instead of everyone doing the same work). Writing was