UNIT+ONE+FIRST+CIVILIZATIONS

__**UNIT ONE: THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS**__
COMMENTS ABOUT ARCHAEOLOGY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA WEBSITE COMMENTS ABOUT PREHISTORIC HUMAN BEINGS FROM TEXTBOOK PAGES 8 - 13 COMMENTS ON THE READING ENTITLED "THE WORST MISTAKE IN THE HISTORY OF THE HUMAN RACE" MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF "CIVILIZATION" FROM THE READING ENTITLED "THE IDEA OF CIVILIZATION"
 * HOMEWORK**

HOW THE PAST CAN BE PARTIALLY RECONSTRUCTED USING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE AND INFERENCE. CAN THE PAST REALLY BE COMPLETELY RECONSTRUCTED? WHY OR WHY NOT?  DO "FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES"? WHAT ARE SOME REASONS TO STUDY HISTORY? WHERE DID THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS DEVELOP? WHAT ROLE DID AGRICULTURE PLAY IN THEIR APPEARANCE? HOW MAY GEOGRAPHY HAVE INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE? HOW MAY GEOGRAPHY HAVE INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CULTURE? HOW WERE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS SIMILAR TO AND DIFFERENT FROM MODERN CIVILIZATIONS OF TODAY? WHAT WERE THE FIRST FORMS OF WRITING? WHO COULD WRITE? WHAT USES WAS WRITING PUT TO? HOW DID THE ANCIENT HEBREWS INFLUENCE THE MODERN WORLD? WHY IS THEIR CONTRIBUTION SURPRISING? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE THE ABILITIES OF ANCIENT PEOPLE? IS IT FAIR TO JUDGE OTHER CULTURES (ANCIENT OR MODERN) BY ONE'S OWN CULTURAL STANDARDS?
 * ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS FOR UNIT ONE: ADD YOUR COMMENTS ON THESE IMPORTANT CONCEPTS**

WHY IS IT NECESSARY FOR ARCHAEOLOGISTS TO "DIG" FOR ARTIFACTS? WHY ARE THEY BURIED? HOW ARE ARTIFACTS DIRECTLY TAKEN FROM A DIG SIMILAR TO UNLABELED ARTIFACTS IN A MUSEUM DISPLAY CASE? WHY ARE THERE GAPS IN THE HISTORICAL RECORD? WHY IS EVIDENCE MISSING? WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND ANCIENT DOCUMENTS EVEN IF THEY CAN BE READ?
 * ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS RELATED TO UNIT ONE'S ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS**

  TERMS 31 - 60
 * UNIT ONE TERMS TO KNOW** (#31 - 60)
 * NOTE: TERMS 1 - 30 CAN BE FOUND IN THE TERM REVIEW ATTACHMENT ON THE COURSE FOLDER **