Ways of the World, by Robert W. Strayer

STUDY GUIDE

Ways of the World, by Robert W. Strayer

CHAPTER 2: FIRST FARMERS: THE REVOLUTIONS OF AGRICULTURE

Vocabulary

You should know the meaning of these words that appear in this chapter.

domestication, 36
vagaries, 39 / sedentary, 39
diffusion, 42
colonization, 42 / steppes, 49
tribute, 51

Significant persons

You should be able to identify and explain the significance for a history of world civilization of these persons.

Bantu / pastoralists

Geography

Put the following locations that are named in the chapter on the map. You should be able to locate the following places on a map and explain the role in the history of world civilization of each of these places.

Fertile Crescent
Andes
New Guinea / Mesoamerica
Mesopotamia
Palestine
Catalhuyuk
NEOLITHIC
Agricultural revolution
Chiefdom / Sudan
Nigeria
Cahokia

Multiple Answer Questions

The questions here are intended to call your attention to significant topics dealt with in the textbook. You can use them to test your recall of what you have read. More important, you can use them to guide your thinking about what you should get from your reading.

You may check your answer by clicking on the letter of your choice. For each question there may be more than one correct answer.

1. Which of the following are defining characteristics of Neolithic society?

a. a permanent, settled existence, with population growth

b. the beginning of agriculture

c. humans as hunters and gatherers

d. the beginning of keeping of records

2. Which, if any, of the following words are appropriate for use in referring to Neolithic society?

a. pre-historic

b. agricultural

c. civilized

d. illiterate

3. The reasons why Neolithic society should be referred to as "pre-historic" are that

a. we have no solid evidence that it ever existed.

b. the people left no written records.

c. it lacked tools and technology.

d. its primary economic activity was agriculture, not trade.

4. Neolithic people are classified as "precivilized" because

a. they settled their disagreements by use of violence.

b. they could not read and write.

c. their cultures had no cities.

d. their government did not have a constitution.

5. In which areas of the world did the earliest New Stone Age society appear?

a. Middle East

b. China

c. India

d. Southwest Asia

6. Agriculture was invented separately and independently in

a. China

b. India

c. Mexico (Mesoamerica)

d. Peru (Andes)

7. The crucial shift from hunting and gathering to settled village agriculture may have been caused by

a. the warmer and wetter climate of post-glacial times.

b. the invention of irrigation.

c. the exhaustion of annual forms of wild cereal grains in post-glacial times due to drought.

d. the decision to sow grain, even before people were clearly aware that it could be harvested.

8. The agricultural revolution was probably primarily the work of

a. women, the traditional gatherers of vegetable food.

b. men, weary of the demands of hunting.

c. the elderly, who had a lifetime of experience and knowledge of the natural world.

d. the young, whose insatiable curiosity about nature revealed the secrets of planting and harvesting.

9. The "secondary products revolution" of the Neolithic era

a. refers to development of metal tools.

b. led to plow agriculture.

c. happened near the beginning of the agriculture revolution.

d. occurred in the eastern but not the western hemisphere.

10. As to the effect on gender roles of the Neolithic agricultural revolution,

a. the production of food led to a change in gender roles in Neolithic society.

b. plant agriculture was usually engaged in by males rather than females.

c. in the stage of plant agriculture women probably dominated over men in village life.

d. plow agriculture was usually engaged in by males rather than females.

11. The agricultural revolution of the Neolithic Age

a. improved the diet of human beings.

b. produced an immediate population explosion.

c. produced a greater incidence of disease.

d. caused people to begin living in permanent settlements.

12. Compared with paleolithic people, early agricultural people enjoyed

a. improvement of health

b. increased leisure time.

c. insurance against hunger (famine).

d. protection from enemies.

13. Which of the following are among the skills developed during the "New Stone Age"?

a. the weaving of textiles

b. the cultivation of grain

c. the making of pottery

d. the making of metal tools

14. As a result of the Agricultural Revolution

a. the impact of human beings on the environment lessened.

b. many plant and animals became reliant on human action to survive and reproduce.

c. humans directed evolutionary changes in plants and animals.

d. many humans lost hunting and gathering skills.

15. In contrast to the Americas, the domestication of animals in southwest Asia meant that in southwest Asia

a. the daily diet included more protein (than in the Americas).

b. people relied less on hunting and fishing (than in the Americas).

c. fertilizing technology for agriculture was developed.

d. plow technology for agriculture was developed.

16. In contrast with agricultural societies in Asia, the Agricultural Revolution in the Americas did not produce

a. plow agriculture.

b. domesticated grains.

c. domesticated corn and potatoes.

d. adequate protein in the daily diet.

18. Gathering and hunting societies that seemingly chose to resist becoming agricultural and succeeded usually lived in areas of

a. arctic environments

b. desert conditions

c. particular natural abundance

d. woodlands

19. Pastoral societies differed from agricultural village societies in that pastoral societies

a. did not grow their own grains and vegetables.

b. relied more heavily on animals (than did agricultural villages).

c. were more mobile

d. were more prevalent in the Americas.

20. Which of the following were among the characteristics of human culture by the time of the late Neolithic era?

a. domestication of animals

b. use of the wheel

c. cities of as many as 10,000 residents

d. pottery making

Study guide prepared by Paul D. Steeves; all rights reserved

MARGIN REVIEW QUESTIONS:

THESE ARE FOUND ON THE MARGINS OF THE TEXT NEAR WHERE YOU WOULD FIND THE ANSWERS! DETAILED ANSWERS PLEASE!

1.  What accounts for the emergence of agriculture after countless millennia of human life without it?

2.  In what different ways did the Agricultural Revolution take shape in various parts of the world?

3.  In what ways did agriculture spread? Where and why was it sometimes resisted?

4.  What was revolutionary about the Agricultural Revolution?

5.  How did chiefdoms differ from stateless agricultural village societies?

6.  What different kinds of societies emerged out of the Agricultural Revolution?

BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS:

THESE SHOULD BE A GOOD PARAGRAPH TO ANSWER THESE CORRECTLY!

1.  The Agricultural Revolution marked a decisive turning point in human history. What evidence might you offer to support this claim, and how might you argue against it?

2.  How did early agricultural societies differ from those of the Paleolithic era? How does the example of settled gathering and hunting peoples such as the Chumash complicate this comparison?

3.  Was the Agricultural Revolution inevitable? Why did it occur so late in the story of humankind?

4.  “The Agricultural Revolution provides evidence for ‘progress’ in human affairs.” How would you evaluate this statement?