World History Homework Intro Chapter 1 & 2 Before taking this class I was a little nervous because it had been so long since my last history class. After reading the first few chapters of Ways of the World I’m feeling more at ease. I think the reason for this feeling is because I have found more of an appreciation for history and in this day and age I am more interested specifically in world history. Some interesting things that I found within the text that I think help me understand and follow dates and times are the numerous maps and timelines that show progression and movement. The first thing that pops out to me is the short time that homo sapiens have been around in comparison to the start of life on earth. I also like the reasoning behind the authors starting with this text as that of the beginning of reflection of life and death. I also like the way the text shows the migration of humans throughout the world over the last 100,000 years. Having seen the map it was very obvious to see why humans chose the route that they did. Having said that I also can see how climate also changed the way in which civilizations changed and adapted through new tools and the addition of agriculture. It is also interesting how these new Paleolithic societies had a very equal relationship between men and women and, women actually provided for around 70% of the food as gatherers while men provided for 30% through hunting. Another item that made sense to me as the gods would change based on the moon or the months. Through the natural global warming you can also see the changing Paleolithic society becoming more settled through climate and land boundaries. This settling is also shown in the fact that buildings were being built larger and more elaborate. The change into the Neolithic age is shown through the change in migration and reinforced through the beginning of the agricultural revolution, new tools such as domestication of animals, grain storage and weaponry. What I found most interesting was the fact that this new age was occurring simultaneously throughout the world. While this was happening the hunter gatherers were going by the wayside. This change also brought about the first civilizations which naturally were located in Africa the Middle East and even China, surprisingly Peru also had one of the earliest civilizations. During this time pottery, writings, carvings and accounting were introduced. These new settled civilizations also began building walls surrounding homes, workshops and temples. There was also established hierarchy of leadership which was evolving. These leaders were based on religious ranks as well as economic rank depending upon the society. The population sizes of these civilizations were also starting to increase and as such class equality started to decrease. This inequality included gender bias, job, literacy and class bias. Also, each civilization had completely different agricultural resources, writings and social status and beliefs. One way in which this is demonstrated is shown through religious and marital beliefs.