ANTA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Narmer, Lapis Lazuli, Harappa
7 Dec 2013
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Document Summary
Consequence of the shift to food production is the development of enormous surpluses. 7 features of civilizations: food and labor surplus controlled by an elite, social stratification, formal government, specialization of labor, monumental architecture, dense settlements/cities, record keeping, food & labor surplus. Development of more efficient agricultural techniques producing surpluses. Less people needed for food production therefore freeing proportion of people to focus on non-food produces i. e. artisans, merchants, soldiers, elites, etc: social stratification. W/ surplus of food, requires managers & eventually elites. Demography once enough food to supply own people, you can now start like pyramids, social status develops w/ acknowledged differences trading w/ other villages leading to a population explosion: formal government. State society class societies w/ ruling class controlling the populace through coercion (police) or force (military) Typically born into your ranks or position which is opposed to the earlier groups where the rulers demonstrated wisdom and authority to obtain position: labor specialization.
