Ap World History Ch. 1-3 Vocab

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prehistory

Back 1

the period before the invention of writing

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hominid

Back 2

a creature belonging to the family Hominidae, which includes human and Humanlike species

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Paleolithic

Back 3

Old Stone Age, a long period of human devlopment before the devlopment of agriculture

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hunting and gathering

Back 4

followed animals and hunted them

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Neolithic

Back 5

New Stone Age (10,000-4,000 BCE) which was marked by the discovery and msatery of agriculture

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slash and burn

Back 6

early form of agriculture where they slashed the trees and burned the bark to help fertilize soil

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Mesopotamia

Back 7

term meaning "between the rivers" in this case the Tigris and Euphrates; Sumer and Akkad are 2 of the earliest societies

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Tigris and Euphrates

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2 rivers in the heart of Mesopotamia

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Sumer

Back 9

population center of Mesopotamia

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city-state

Back 10

urban areas taht controlled surrounding agricultural regions and taht were often loosely connected in a broader political structure with other city-states

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ziggurat

Back 11

a Mesopotamian temple

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Sargon of Akkad

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(2370-2315 BCE) created empire by seizing trade routes and natural resoruces, conqured most of Mesopotamia

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Hammurabi

Back 13

creator of a code with strict consequences for crimes

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patriarchal

Back 14

system of organization in which males dominate the family and wehere public institutions, descent, and succesion aret raced thorugh the male line

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cuneiform

Back 15

written language of the Sumerians, possibly the 1st written script in the world

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monotheism

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belief in only one god, a rare concept in the ancient world

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Yahweh

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god of the monotheistic religion of Judaism that influenced later Christianity and Islam

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Phoenicians

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a maritime civilization of the Mediterranean that developed extensive trade and communication networks as well as an early alphabetical script (1500 bce)

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Indo-European

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series of tribes from southern russia who over a period of millenia embarked on a series of migrations from India through werstern Europe; their great legacy was teh broad distribution of Indo-European langauges throughout Europe

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funery customs

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death and burial customs

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cataract

Back 21

an unnavigable stretch of rapids and waterfalls

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pharaoh

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an Egyptian king considred to be a god on earth f

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Kush

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Nubian African kingdom that conqu and controlled, was conqured by Egypt 8th century BCE

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hieroglypihnc

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ancient Eygptian written languages

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papyrus

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plant used as paper

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Rosetta Stone

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stoen with the same texts in 2 Eygptian language scripts (hieroglypinc and demotic) and classical greek

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bantu

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africna peoples who originally lived in the area of presnt day Nigeria; around 2000 bce they began a centuries long migration that took them to mmost of sub-Saharan africa, the Bantu wre very influential especially linguistically

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pygmies

Back 28

people in Africa who height is 150 cm (4 foot eleven) or shorter

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Aryans and Dravidians

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European tribes who settled in India after 1500 BCE, their union w/ indigenous Dravidians from the basis of Hinduism

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Harrappans

Back 30

early brilliant Indian society centred around Harrap and Mohnejo-Daro

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Sanskrit

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sacred language of the early Aryans

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Rig Veda

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an ancient indian collectio of vedic sanskrit hymsn dedicated to the gods

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raja

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an indian king

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punjab

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northern part of modern day pakistan

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caste

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social class system in which distinctions and restrictions on marriage, occupation, hadling of food, and other matters are trasnferred through genrations of class

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varnas

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color, refers tos ocial classes, levels of the caste system

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huang he

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"yellow river" takes its name from teh avst quantities of light colored loess soil that it picks up along its route, consitency ofasoup

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loess

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extremely fine, powder-like soil that was deposited on the plain of northern China after retreat of glaciers at the end of the last ice age

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mandate of heaven

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chinese belief that the emperors ruled through the mandate, or approval, of heaven contingent on their ability to look after the welfare of the population

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oracle bones

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chinese shang dynasty (1766-1122) means of foretelling the future

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mesoamerica

Back 41

region encompassing central mexico to honduras and el salvador

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olmecs

Back 42

early central american society (1200-100) bce that centerred around sites at san lorenza, la venta, and tres zapotes and that influenced later maya

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obsidian

Back 43

type of rock used to make knives and axes

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maya

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brilliant central american society (300-1100) known for math, astronomy, and a sophisticated written language

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maize

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teh creal grain that was domesticated in mesoamerica

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cacao

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agricultura produce : chocolate

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teotihuacan

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central american society (200-700) ce its pyramid of the sun was the largest structure in mesoamerica

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oceania

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term referring to the pacific ocean basin

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aboriginal

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hunting and gathering peoples

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austronesian

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people who by as early as 2000 bce began to explore and settle in lands of the pacific ocean basis a language group that includes oceanic languages

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lapita

Back 51

society from new guinea to tonga (1500 - 500 bce) with agricultural villages, networks of trade, and communication and hierarchal chiefdoms