The first three chapters of the Ways of the World focus on how homo sapiens developed towards civilization. The hop from Neolithic Revolution to civilization is a difficult spot to find in a timeline. It requires the complicated process of defining of civilization, how agriculture was developed, what role hierarchies has in societies, how religions where involved and numerous other factors. Strayer points towards an Anthropologist who “combined several of these factors in a thoughtful approach to the question. He argued that a growing density of population, producing more congested and competitive societies, was a fundamental motor of change, and especially in the areas where rich agricultural land was limited” (62, Strayer). I found this idea to be very inclusive, and was very excited to see that June 2011 National Geographic added a new piece to this mosaic approach to the development of human civilization.
The new addition to this mosaic is the possibility that organized religion developed first, leading gathers hunters to develop cities and civilizations. “The Birth of Religion” by Charles C. Mann is a report on finding in Southern Turkey, near the start of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This site, Gobekli Tepe, is believed to be the first site of “monumental architecture.” The archaeologists working the site believe that monument was created by gather hunter groups for worship because of the lack of permanent housing in the area. They believe that the eventual attraction to this site of thousands of worshippers would lead to the development of organized agriculture in order to support all of these visitors. The organization required for the agriculture and hunting was massive, and lead to the development of larger infrastructure which may have lead to the development of a civilization based on religious needs. As the author points out, this shows that civilization did not arise through one or two different routes, but from many different routes that intermingled.
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