Social Sciences and History / Unit 3 SSH 0202 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Agriculture, Cities, and the First Civilization
Captions available
The idea
Civilization, in the anchor's working definition, is agriculture plus social specialization, slow technological progress, and cultural sophistication in art, learning and belief. Hunter-gatherers could not sustain a city; a food surplus could.
In practice
The Fertile Crescent, where the cereals grew wild.
Where people slip
The word carries a loaded opposite, barbarism. The course uses the neutral definition the anchor supplies.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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