Archaeologists
a person who learns about the human past by studing fossils and artifacts
Artifacts
object made by human beings, either hand-made or mass-produced
Culture
the way of life of a group of people
Anthropologists
study how humans developed and related to each other
Paleontologists
scientists who study fossils
Fossils
the remains or traces of organisms from the past
Prehistory
time before writing was invented
Paleolithic Age
old Stone Age
Neolithic Age
new Stone Age
Technology
ways of applying knowledge, tools, and inventions to meet needs
Hunter-gatherer
a person who gets food by hunting animals and gathering plants
Neolithic Revolution
agricultural revolution
Domestication
the taming of animals for human use
Nomads
people who move from place to place
Civilization
a society in an advanced state of social development
Artisan
a skilled craftsperson
Scribes
record keepers
Cuneiform
an ancient wedge-shaped script used in Mesopotamia and Persia
Barter
exchange goods without involving money
Ziggurat
a huge mud-brick temple built by the ancient Sumerians
Fertile Crescent
a region in Southwest Asia; site of the first civilizations
Silt
a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks
Irrigation
supplying land with water through a network of canals
City-State
a city with political and economic control over the surrounding countryside
Dynasty
a powerful family or group of rulers that maintains its position or power for some time
Cultural Diffusion
the spread of cultural elements from one society to another
Polytheism
belief in many gods
Sumer
A group of ancient city-states in southern Mesopotamia; the earliest civilization in Mesopotamia.
Sargon
ruler of Akkad
Hammurabi's Code
a set of 282 laws that dealt with almost every part of daily life
Delta
Flat, low-lying land built up from soil carried downstream by a river and deposited at its mouth
Pharoahs
ancient egyptian kings
Theogracy
government ruled and directed by gods
Pyramid
Huge, triangular shaped burial tombs of Egyptian pharaohs built during the Old Kingdom
Mummification
a process of slowly drying a dead body to prevent it from decaying
Hieroglyphics
an ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds
Papyrus
Egyptian paper
Subcontinent
a large landmass that is smaller than a continent