Early Civilizations

Early Civilizations HUMA215-1205A-32 Topics in Cultural Studies Unit 1 Discussion Board Shannon Sullivan There were many different forces that have contributed to the cultural makeup of early civilization. The beginning of human culture predates back to thousands of years which can be seen through evidence that has been discovered. This evidence that was left behind by the earliest of humans is found by cave paintings that helped to understand how these prehistoric individuals lived and survived in their everyday life.

One aspect that contributed to the cultural makeup is from geographical areas from where these early humans lived. The geographical region determined what their main focus was when it came to agriculture, hunting, trade and religion. The availability of these natural resources would affect the kinds of houses they lived in, the types of weapons and tools they used, the food they ate and the type of containers they used to store food and supplies (Trigger, 2003). A number of social issues occurred because of this cultural makeup. These issues were the cause of war and conflicts between many of these early humans.

One of the factors that caused social problems was a result of different spiritual and religious beliefs. Others factors were political, economic and the development of one’s social class. Since early civilization started, humans lived successfully in small hunting and gathering tribes. This was the dominant way of life until agriculture began to gradually replace hunting and gathering of necessities such as food, clothing and homes which was some of the main cultural influences on early civilizations (All World History for Us, n. d. ). Revisionist history can be bad.

The problem with revisionist history is that it usually is written by someone who has a curriculum that they want to publicize. Most of this comes from inaccurate information from an unbiased viewpoint. Their minds tend to be made up prior to looking at the facts. This results in choosing facts that support their viewpoint and ignoring facts that disprove their predetermined ideas. Another problem with revisionist history is that it tends to judge people, cultures and experiences in the past by the values, ethics and morals of today’s society.

People in the past lived with the knowledge, superstitions, values and ethics of their day and should be studied to find the correct information. The only good thing about revisionist history is when the correct information has been given. All World History for Us. (n. d. ). Farming and the Emergence of Complex Societies. Retrieved from http://worldhistoryforusall. sdsu. edu/eras/era3. php Trigger, B. G. (2003). Understanding Early Cilivizations. Retrieved from http://catdir. loc. gov/catdir/samples/cam034/2002074052. pdf