Where and Why Did the First Cities and States Appear? (10:45)
Key Ideas
As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
Key Ideas
Think about the following questions as you watch the video
- 00:55 Why does David Christian claim that increasing complexity depends on agriculture?
- 02:00 What was the “secondary products revolution” and why was it so important to the spread of agriculture and the growth of cities and states?
- 03:34 What is an agrarian civilization?
- 03:50 Where did the first agrarian societies develop?
- 05:02 Why does David Christian say that "surpluses" are the key to cities?
- 05:30 Why does Christian argue that cities needed a "coordinating mechanism"?
- 07:22 What are the characteristics that all agrarian civilizations share?
- 08:05 Why does David Christian make the claim that writing accelerated collective learning? Do you agree with him?