THE FIRST COMMUNITIES
Assignment: Write a 1 sentence summary for each paragraph. If the paragraph includes a
vocabulary word, that word must be in the sentence.
VILLAGES AROUND THE WORLD
Surpluses Boost Development
Agricultural techniques improved in villages
leading to surpluses, more than was needed for
survival.
SIMPLE VILLAGES GROW MORE COMPLEX
A Changing Way of Life
Surpluses of food allowed villages to grow in size
and population, which led to trade with other
villages.
Surpluses such as food, wool, and other materials
helped villages survive during bad growing
seasons.
People called artisans, trained for years in specific
skills to become toolmakers, cloth makers, and
potters, which in turn led to the creation of a
social class.
Early forms of government were created because
as villages grew larger there was a need for laws
and leadership.
People Develop Different Skills
Surpluses of food led the way to specialization in
other kinds of work because not everyone had to
be a farmer.
From Simple to Complex Villages
Complex villages were larger and had more
people, a greater supply of skills, ideas, and needs.
LIFE IN A COMPLEX VILLAGE
Complex villages of 5,000 people would have been
very large for the time.
Technology was still in early stages and most
farming villages had only a few hundred people.
Catal Huyuk
This complex village had a population of 5,000
people and dates back 8,000 years.
Located in Turkey, many bones of water birds were
found leading to the belief that the city was
located near a marshy area.
Some of the first specialized workers were potters
and weavers.
Shamans, holy people in the village, later became
priests in the first cities.
A Village Develops
The village layout shows evidence buildings with
similar floor plans.
Villages allowed people to be in one place where
there was enough food and more specialized work.
Religious buildings were also discovered with
paintings that had religious meaning.
Catal Huyuk was a center for trade, culture, and
influence.