I would like to start off by staying that I am currently in a state of information overload. As I read the text, I began recalling some of this information that was covered at one point or another during my early schooling.
As complex as history may be, one of the reasons that I enjoy history is because it tells the story of how things came to be. As I read the prologue there was a sentence that resonated with me, it read, “[the] world history movement has attempted to create a global understanding of the human past that highlights broad patterns...while acknowledging in an inclusive fashion the distinctive histories of its many peoples.” As I read this I realized that history has a type of domino effect, one thing causes another to react. I felt the outlook on history of our textbook to be refreshing.
The Paleolithic era was very interesting. I found it fascinating to think about early human ability to migrate from one place to another in long distances without the availability of transportation other than feet. Maps included in the chapter show a migration of people trying to survive as a result of transitions in seasons. The text mentioned the emergence of farming via domestication of animals and planting seeds. The early phases of farming resulted in a variety of crops contingent on geography. Although many might know that certain crops require a certain climate criterion, I found it to be impressive to realize that early humans were able to realize that not all animals were available in a certain region or that all crops would be able to grow as a result of climate or soil conditions. This eventually lead to what I know learned to be called “gathering and hunting” and the utilization of stone tools to collect food. I learned that early societies were composed of twenty to fifty people who were nomadic and for that reason could not transport a large amount of goods.
Mesopotamia! For some reason this word brought a smile to my face. I recall learning about Mesopotamia and the Egyptian civilizations. I specifically recall learning about the Indus Valley and the irrigation system that was key in agriculture. As I was reading I also came across some civilizations that I had never heard about such as the Oxus civilization in Central Asia. What I found fascinating was that this early civilization showed evidence of an aristocratic social hierarchy. On the note of hierarchy, the text mentioned that there were a varieties of hierarchies such as class and gender. I found the gender hierarchy particularly interesting. The text mentioned that since early civilizations women have been subordinate to men and society. Much like today, Men were seen as the head of the household, the breadwinners. Women on the flipside were to serve the purpose of having children and being homemakers. Similarly, our text mentioned that certain men and women would break the traditional roles pertaining to their gender and fill untraditional roles. I found this whole concept so amazing. I felt certain that this is where most societies obtained their ideas of masculine superiority and female inferiority. What surprised me the most was thinking, if this is the root of gender roles, today, hundreds and thousands of years later, we still conserve some of these ideals and are working to break these molds. I feel like the first civilizations are responsible for the creation of many systems in place, such as hierarchies, the development of writing systems, and the creation of cities and states. I am beginning to see that early civilizations had an immense impact in the continuum of many systems created by early people.
