ANTA01H3 Lecture : Lecture on Ancient Civilization
Document Summary
New social structures at ~ 9 000 ya. Ancient civilizations: a consequence of the shift to food production is the development of enormous surpluses, whenever there is abundance, density, and reliability of a food source, there will inevitable be social & political complexity. Powerful rulers and chiefs (priests and warriors) emerge to control, organize and centralize the supply and distribution of resources. This eventually leads to the development of cities, civilizations and modern life as we know it. Food & labour surplus controlled by an elite. Specialization of labour: monumental architecture, dens settlements/cities, a system of record keeping. Food and labour controlled by small group of ppl who becam elite. Food & labor surplus: development of more efficient agriculture techniques produced surpluses of food. Frees up a proportion of the population to specialize as non-food producers: artisans, merchants, soldiers, elite.
