1. Early Civilizations in the Americas
Sections 6.7 and 6.8

2. Early Civilizations in the Americas
Reasons for later development
Later development of agriculture
Fewer domesticated animals
North–south travel across climates
Lack of metalwork, the wheel
Limited archaeological remains
Little evidence, like Harappa

3. FIGURE 2. 6 The origins of the Olmecs remain shrouded in mystery
FIGURE The origins of the Olmecs remain shrouded in mystery. Some of their enormous stone sculptures seem to have distinctively African features that indicate possible transatlantic contact. Similar features also have been found in early Khmer art from southeast Asia.
FIGURE The origins of the Olmecs remain shrouded in mystery. Some of their enormous stone sculptures seem to have distinctively African features that indicate possible transatlantic contact. Similar features also have been found in early Khmer art from southeast Asia.

4. Early Civilizations in the Americas
The Olmecs
c B.C.E.
Sculpture of giant stone heads
Formal calendar
Hereditary elite
Chavin and the Andean World
Difficult transportation
Levels of agriculture encouraging trade

5. Early Civilizations in the Americas
Chavin and the Andean World
Chavin de Huantar
850–250 B.C.E.
Large temple platforms
Active craft population
Influence unknown
Continuing agriculture and population growth despite decline

6. The End of the River Valley Period
River valley societies widely separated
No single development as transition out of this period
The Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations
Lasting impact of the first civilizations
Basic ideas about social structures

7. The End of the River Valley Period
The Heritage of the River Valley Civilizations
Basic tools of civilization
Writing
Mathematics
Political forms
Enduring divisions among global populations
Legacy of Egypt and Mesopotamia

8. The End of the River Valley Period
New States and Peoples around 1000 B.C.E.
Phoenicians
New alphabet from about 1300 B.C.E.
Active as traders in the Mediterranean

9. The End of the River Valley Period
Judaism
Semitic peoples
Settled in Eastern Mediterranean from 1200 B.C.E.
Special relationship with their deity
Hebrew bible
Moral code
Appropriate forms of worship
Monotheism

10. A Sumerian clay tablet with cuneiform characters aimed at tallying numbers of sheep and goats as part of early agriculture.
A Sumerian clay tablet with cuneiform characters aimed at tallying numbers of sheep and goats as part of early agriculture.