Why Is The Papas Considered An Ancient Civilization

The Papas were an ancient civilization that started in 700 BCE. This civilization started becoming strong and developed in the foundational time of the Fries. Part of what made the Papas such an intricate ancient civilization, were their ways of building roads, water systems, and their metalworks. These metalworks are what really made them famous. From the mine, they dug up a lot of iron ore. With this ore, they made many weapons and tools. The cities were sometimes near or on a mountain with not very thick foliage. The Papas were a very advanced society that used incredible planning. The peak of the Papas was around 650 BCE. The transportation systems the Papas used, were very cutting-edge. To transport some goods, the Papas used a container
called an amphora. This is a clay container with two handles on the sides. It was used for transporting most of the olives, wine, cereal and oil, and other goods. The Papas' ships were streamlined and built for speed. Traveling by sea was a cheap, quick and an effective way of transportation. Although it may be a quick effective way of transport, it was also very dangerous. This was because of the extremely strong and unpredictable winds. If the ships were blown too far off in one direction, then they might be slammed into the hard, sharp rocks. The Papas had some great inventions, and new methods of doing every day jobs. The end, when they were taken over by the Fries, in the year 509 BCE, their hard work will have shown later civilization such as the Fries how to deal with many conditions.

Transportation was very important to the Papas. Vehicles that the Papas would use very frequently were: chariots, horses, and the ships. The chariot was pulled by two, four, or six horses. Although very fast, it was not safe, because the driver wrapped the reins around

his waist. If the chariot took a spill, then the driver died or would suffer from near fatal wounds. The chariots themselves were made from wood and bronze as the main body and wheels. Ivory was used to highly embellish designs. These weren't used very often to travel short distances, so the drivers would just ride on the horse where they need to go.

There were many ways that the Papas could move cargo from town to town.
For transporting small loads, men would pull a cart behind them using a yoke. A yoke is a wooden crossbar that was placed across the neck and shoulders of a man or an animal such as an ox, a mule, or a horse. To transport medium sized loads, around 250 pounds (113.398 kilograms), a donkey could be strapped to the front of a wagon. To transport the large loads, around 450 pounds (204.117 kilograms), a mule could be strapped to the front of a wagon. Even though horses were very fast, they are also expensive to keep, thus leaving them for the very rich to use. If it was an extremely large shipment of goods, then it might be necessary to transport the goods on a ship. The cargo in the ship was propped up using sandstone blocks. The ships used for transportation were typically 60 to 100 feet long, and 17 to 30 feet wide. The hulls of these ships were covered with pitch. Pitch is a substance that the Papas made from plant resin that is very good at waterproofing. These ships had no navigation systems, so the navigator would use landmarks such as bridges, towns, and even lighthouses with fires burning in the tops, meant to signal these ships. For ships to travel inland, they had to navigate through the canals and waterways that went through the cities of modern day Stoke and
Trent.

Roads and water systems in Papaland were very advanced. They would last a long amount of time because of the materials they were made from, and the method they were made by. They were made by digging a three-foot deep trench, then sand and large rocks

were tightly packed into the trench to make a strong foundation.
Next, gravel and pebbles were rammed onto that layer to make a hard surface. After the gravel and pebbles, the Papas would place stone slabs for the top layer, so it was usable by all. The center of the road was always a little bit higher than the edges of the road, so that the water could easily flow off, and into the channels on the sides of the road. Since some of the towns were in the mountains, or extreme hills, the roads that traveled to them had to be cut straight through the rough terrain. If they hadn't gently sloped them through the hillsides, then the steep and bumpy roads would not be travelable.

To make it so that the roads were easily navigable, the Papas would stand large stones up with carvings on the sides of them next to the road. These carvings would tell the travelers how far the distance is from the stone to the nearest town or city. This is very similar to today's mile marker signs. At the crossroads, the Papas would place a small stone at the core of the road in the center. This stone had a plus or a cross painted on it. This represented the four cardinal
directions.

The Papas were a very unique civilization, and had very advanced ideas of how to build structures and roads. They tried to do these in the best way that they could with the tools that they had. The quality of their works had inspired many other civilizations to follow in their footsteps.