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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.

  1. Understand how and why early agrarian societies formed.
  2. Learn about and evaluate the common characteristics of agrarian societies.
  3. 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.
STEP 2
STEP 3

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.

STEP 4

Communities of Movement

The Ancestral Pueblo built large, complex agricultural societies across the Colorado Plateau. Their farming communities relied on repeated migrations.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
Extension Materials
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