The Ancient Period, Before 600 BCE: Content Summary 1.3: Origins of Complex Urban Societies in the Ancient World

As the need to abandon exhausted soils diminished, sedentary farms and communities began to form. (1.3.A)

In the Americas, where animal domestication was limited, sedentism was achieved through the use of decomposed vegetation as fertilizer or through terracing techniques that reinvigorated the soil. (1.3.A)

Early Neolithic sedentary farming took place on hillsides or sandy soils where the topsoil was thin and easily manipulated to accommodate the reliance on simple stone tools; this soil was unfortunately also low in nutrients. (1.3.A)

Due to the absence of irrigation on hilly soils, dry farming techniques (such as constant raking and aerating of the soil) were used to maximize absorption of rainfall. (1.3.A)

Early Neolithic sedentary village communities were organized through kinship and clans, and they grew to support hundreds of inhabitants. (1.3.A)

The use of bronze tools and weapons, along with the emergence of social elites, contributed to the rise of civilizations in the Mesopotamian, Nile, Indus, and Yellow river valleys. (1.3.B)

The development of bronze agricultural tools permitted the plowing of thicker and richer soils in river valleys. (1.3.B)

River valleys also provided the opportunity to divert river water for irrigation. (1.3.B)

While periodic floods could damage settlements, they also revitalized soil with silt and deposition. (1.3.B)

While periodic floods could damage settlements, they also revitalized soil with silt and deposition. (1.3.B)

While periodic floods could damage settlements, they also revitalized soil with silt and deposition. (1.3.B)

The creation of complex hydrologic systems in these river valleys was initiated and organized by military elites skilled in the use of expensive bronze weapons. (1.3.B)

These military elites collected tribute in labor and kind in exchange for the provision of defense. (1.3.B)

This coercive use of tribute labor created the hydrologic infrastructures upon which civilizations were built. (1.3.B)

This coercive use of tribute labor created the hydrologic infrastructures upon which civilizations were built. (1.3.B)

The significant expansion of agricultural productivity created sustained agricultural surpluses that supported economic specialization and the formation of complex social hierarchies. (1.3.B)

Unlike in Afro-Eurasia, the ancient Olmec (1200–400 BCE) and Chavín (900–200 BCE) civilizations arose through sophisticated agricultural terracing and intercropping practices that produced higher yields without the support of animal dung, metal agricultural tools, or complex hydrologic systems. (1.3.C)

In the Olmec civilization, urban trading centers arose around monumental sacred sites. (1.3.C)

Long-distance trade in obsidian (a volcanic glass), pottery, and feathers ensured that Olmec cultural practices, such as ballgames and chocolate drinking, and religious practices, such as recording in glyphs, were broadly disseminated. (1.3.C)

Similarly, large temple complexes that became urban sites and centers of craft production and trade characterized the Chavín civilization in the Andes. (1.3.C)