1a
Archaeological Discoveries
Archaeological discoveries are important because they link us to our ancestors. They also provide us information about various societies.
The Incas in Peru used Khipu for organizing things and tracking finances. They used a system of colored strings for keeping records. This system consisted of different colors and lengths of string, and knots in the strings. Archaeologists are using computers to try to discover how the Khipu were used.
Ancient people in England used Stonehenge for ceremonies and rituals. These rituals were an important part of their society. Stonehenge was made of large stones. These stones are much too heavy for people to lift.
The people in Easter Island communicated and passed down knowledge to the next generation using petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are pictures or symbols carved into stone with a knife or other tool. Petroglyphs tell us that these people were interested in communicating their ideas and stories, learning, and recording information.
1b
Why Societies Collapse
Typically, societies have collapsed throughout history for three different reasons: disease, environmental problems, and cultural conflict.
Disease made Incas disappear. Five hundred years ago, the Incan Empire was the largest empire in the world. It had a population of 10 million people. It was also the richest, consisting of gold and valuable stones. When the Europeans heard about the Incas' wealth, they wanted it, and went to steal their riches. They passed diseases to the Incas. One of the most deadly diseases was smallpox. Nearly two-thirds of the Incas died because they got smallpox.
Easter Island society collapsed because of environmental change. 1,200 years ago Easter Islanders cut down all their trees to move their statues. Without trees, they couldn't build boats for fishing or make tools for farming. This led to a major drop in population.
Cultural conflict caused the Stonehenge society to collapse. The ancient people of Stonehenge were very peaceful for a time. However, later, they began to make weapons of war. They fought not only with other societies, but also within their own society.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
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