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Early Agrarian Societies Jigsaw
Driving Question: Why did large agrarian states arise in some places but not others?
Complex agricultural societies emerged independently in different regions across the world. The shape of the communities that emerged varied based on their region’s unique geography, climate, and available resources. Despite vast differences, there are many characteristics these agrarian societies shared in common. In this lesson, you will compare the characteristics of several different early agrarian societies around the world and use your contextualization skills to make an argument about why geographic context was important to the formation of these societies.
- Understand how and why early agrarian societies formed.
- Learn about and evaluate the common characteristics of agrarian societies.
- Use the historical thinking practice of contextualization to understand and analyze early agrarian societies such as Mesopotamia, Egypt and Nubia, Mesoamerica, Indus Valley, and the African states of Aksum and Nok.
In this introduction to this skill, you’ll learn how important contextualization is for understanding the past.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What is a village and what is a city?
- What is the definition of a state?
- Where and when did agrarian societies emerge first?
- What processes led people to form states?
- Where were there regions without “early societies”? What do you think of this argument?
- What were some common characteristics of agrarian societies?
Evaluate
- The author points out that large states are often called “societies” or “civilizations”, but this course doesn’t use the term “civilizations” very often. Why do you think that might be?
Jigsaw the articles and use the event cards included with this contextualization activity to determine the factors that led to the formation of agrarian societies in certain regions of the world.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How and why did early agrarian societies form in this region?
- What does evidence from the Fertile Crescent tell you about how production and distribution worked in this society?
- What does evidence from this reading tell you about how people in this society formed and maintained communities (religious, state, and otherwise)?
- What does the evidence in this reading tell you about how the societies in this region participated in networks that moved ideas, people, and things?
Evaluate
- What is the principal evidence cited in this article? How do you think the availability of different kinds of evidence affects what we know about these societies?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How and why did early agrarian societies form in this region?
- What does evidence from the Shang Dynasty China tell you about how production and distribution worked in this society?
- What does evidence from this reading tell you about how people in this society formed and maintained communities (religious, state, and otherwise)?
- What does the evidence in this reading tell you about how the societies in this region participated in networks that moved ideas, people, and things?
Evaluate
- What is the principal evidence cited in this article? How do you think the availability of different kinds of evidence affects what we know about these societies?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How and why did early agrarian societies form in this region?
- What does evidence from the Nile River region tell you about how production and distribution worked in this society?
- What does evidence from this reading tell you about how people in this society formed and maintained communities (religious, state, and otherwise)?
- What does the evidence in this reading tell you about how the societies in this region participated in networks that moved ideas, people, and things?
Evaluate
- What is the principal evidence cited in this article? How do you think the availability of different kinds of evidence affects what we know about these societies?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How and why did early agrarian societies form in this region?
- What does evidence from the Americas tell you about how production and distribution worked in these societies?
- What does evidence from this reading tell you about how people in this society formed and maintained communities (religious, state, and otherwise)?
- What does the evidence in this reading tell you about how the societies in this region participated in networks that moved ideas, people, and things?
Evaluate
- What is the principal evidence cited in this article? How do you think the availability of different kinds of evidence affects what we know about these societies?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How and why did early agrarian societies form in this region?
- What does evidence from Aksum tell you about how production and distribution worked in this society?
- What does evidence from this reading tell you about how people in this society formed and maintained communities (religious, state, and otherwise)?
- What does the evidence in this reading tell you about how the societies in this region participated in networks that moved ideas, people, and things?
Evaluate
- What is the principal evidence cited in this article? How do you think the availability of different kinds of evidence affects what we know about these societies?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How and why did early agrarian societies form in this region?
- What does evidence from Nok society tell you about how production and distribution worked in this society?
- What does evidence from this reading tell you about how people in this society formed and maintained communities (religious, state, and otherwise)?
- What does the evidence in this reading tell you about how the societies in this region participated in networks that moved ideas, people, and things?
Evaluate
- What is the principal evidence cited in this article? How do you think the availability of different kinds of evidence affects what we know about these societies?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How and why did early agrarian societies form in this region?
- What does evidence from the Indus River region tell you about how production and distribution worked in this society?
- What does evidence from this reading tell you about how people in this society formed and maintained communities (religious, state, and otherwise)?
- What does the evidence in this reading tell you about how the societies in this region participated in networks that moved ideas, people, and things?
Evaluate
- What is the principal evidence cited in this article? How do you think the availability of different kinds of evidence affects what we know about these societies?
Communities of Movement
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- How does the story of the Ancestral Pueblo challenge world-historical narratives about agriculture and complex societies?
- How does Theresa Pasqual characterize Pueblo origin stories?
- According to Dr. Natalie Martinez, why are these origin stories important today?
- According to Dr. Kurt Anschuetz, what are some strategies that Pueblo people used to thrive on the Colorado Plateau?
- How does Theresa Pasqual describe the movement of the Ancestral Pueblo people?
After you watch
- The people in this video suggest that oral histories should be taken seriously as historical evidence, on par with archaeological evidence. What do you think are the differences in what we can learn from archaeology and oral traditions? What do you think historians should do when the two types of evidence disagree?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- What are some ways that Mesoamerica differed from Afro-Eurasian regions where many of the first complex societies developed?
- How did the Maya overcome the environmental challenges they faced?
- How did a drought destabilize the authority of the Maya rulers?
- What are the three pyramids the author mentions in Teotihuacan? What did people use them for?
- What are some explanations for why Teotihuacan grew so large and important?
- Why do we know so little about life in Teotihuacan?
- What are some possible explanations for Teotihuacan’s collapse?
Evaluate
- This article begins by making the point that not all complex societies need navigable rivers and fertile river valleys in order to develop. But the two examples the author uses (Classic Maya and Teotihuacan) both collapsed, possibly due to drought. How can you use this information to challenge the narratives in this article?
- Think about the area you live in. Is it an environment that could have encouraged the development of ancient complex societies? What environmental or other factors in your hometown would have helped or prevented the development of cities like Teotihuacan?