Part 1 Chapter 1,2,3

Chapter 1: The first human societies, Paleolithic, were small and moved a lot as this was a necessity for survival. They hunted and gathered to survive and would move to where the supplies were that they needed. They did not accumulate much of anything due to the fact that they moved around so often. Though they had to move a lot, they did not have to work as hard for what they needed. These societies depended on "mobility, sharing, and equality" (p. 26) to survive as they had to work together; men hunted and women gathered.

My husband and I often toy with the idea of going "back" to living as humans used to: farming, hunting, creating our own shelter, and not being dependent on others for our survival. People often think we are crazy for wanting to do this, but what satisfaction would come from supplying our own food and shelter, and not having to answer to anyone else. When I read about how these societies formed I wonder how difficult it was, and when I have "a day" I often wish that we could live in a simpler time as I would prefer to work harder for my food and shelter than to do with some of the day to day issues.

Chapter 2: The agricultural societies, Neolithic, were able to "deliberately" cultivate plants, and "tame and breed" some animals. (p. 36) They were able to "transform corn from a plant with a cob of an inch or so to...about six inches. Now the people planted and farmed instead of hunting and gathering.

As the agricultural societies grew they also changed the areas that they were in. They "caused soil erosion and food shortages", and also brought good and animals to areas that did not have that type of food or animals." (p. 40-41)

I find it amazing that people were able to be ingenious enough to find ways to increase the size of corn, and to be able to cultivate plants on their own. I wonder if this was an accident that happened over time or if they deliberately experimented with the grain to try and increase the size of it.

I think about the same thing with the taming and breeding of animals. What happened to make them want to control this? I think on this area they must have realized that they could eat better if the animals were close to them which in turn would have caused them to breed them.

When I think about living in an agricultural life I think about what I would have to learn now to live this way. We have not lived through generation after generation of farmers, and now there are so few, how do we learn? When my husband and I talk of wanting to farm and live self sufficiently I tell him that I need to stop working so that I can learn to do all of the tasks to survive on our own.

Chapter 3: The first civilizations developed in three places: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Peru. The Peruvian civilization did not develop in the same way that the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations did. They did not farm grains, create pottery, or write; but it is believed that they "used a 'quipa', series of knotted cords, for accounting purposes." (p. 57)

The next three civilizations that developed were the Indus Valley civilizations, Chinese civilizations, and the Olmec civilizations.

Overview of the civilizations: agriculture was used by all six of the first civilizations. Where there were agricultural societies there were cities, and as these formed the civilizations also started to divide themselves into various classes of "wealthier, status, and power." (p. 64) Slavery also developed where there were civilizations, but not how we think of it today. Slavery during this time was not limited to the "black" or "African", it could have been anyone.

A note on slavery, I find it interesting that many don't know that slavery existed before the America's did it, and that it wasn't a "black" or "African" thing. After reading this chapter I asked my children, seven and nine, about slavery and when I told them that it happened so long ago and not just to the "black" or "African" they were very surprised, and they have supposedly learned about slavery.

The other area of this chapter that I found intriguing was on the hierarchies of gender. Today this hierarchy is so engrained in us that it can cause surprise and even anger when a woman is dominant or strong or vise versa. Along from this, I would find it refreshing to live in a time before this existed and to be able to live in an "equal" society.