Civilization Theories Quiz

A country with its own land, people, and government; examples include Japan and France.

A city that's its own independent country, like Singapore or Vatican City.

A system of social and economic organization focused on producing wealth and profit.

Interconnected economies across the globe.

Study of how global regions developed through Western culture.

Europe's growth and control over vast regions of the world.

A period of significant scientific advancements in Europe.

How work and resources are distributed across the globe.

Characterized by agricultural revolution, town development, complex social structures, writing, ceremonial centers, and trading patterns.

Sumer, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, China, Meso-America, and Peru.

Toynbee identified 21 civilizations, with 5 that failed to grow. By 1940, many had already disappeared, leaving just 5 surviving: Western Christian, Orthodox Christian, Islamic, Hindu, and Far Eastern.

Diamond suggests that Eurasia's geography gave it an advantage in early development, particularly through food surpluses, domestication of animals, and the development of writing and weapons.

The transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural communities.This transition was a turning point in human history.

When more food is produced than is needed for immediate consumption. It leads to population growth and societal complexity.

A hierarchical social structure with different social classes and varying degrees of power and status. This type of structure is more sophisticated than a simple grouping by age or role.

A system where a single entity or group holds the most power, making key collective decisions.

A global climate and ecological crisis

Recurring global economic crises

Democracy in crisis. The rise of populist political trends

A point's location in comparison to other locations.

Mathematical measurements used to locate places precisely on Earth.

Relationship between sizes on a map and its representation in real life, often in fractions.

The art and science of making maps and charts.

A place's given name.

A map showing a small portion of the Earth's surface with high detail.

A map showing a large portion of the Earth's surface with less detail.

Essential components of a map, including date, orientation, grid, scale, title, author, inset, legend, and source.

The systematic and accurate representation of the Earth's surface.

Greek scholar who calculated Earth's circumference accurately using observations.

The idea that the Earth is a sphere.

Arab cartographers preserved and translated Ptolemy's works, creating the first reliable Western globe during the Dark Ages (476-1000).

Middle Age maps (500-1500) often depicted religious beliefs, with symbols like 'O' for oceans and 'T' for rivers, placing Jerusalem in the center.

In 1154, al-Idrisi created a south-oriented map, considered one of the most accurate pre-exploration world maps, including parts of Eurasia.

Printing and engraving greatly increased map production in the 15th century. Cartographers started adding more detail, such as continental interiors and coastlines.

The Americas (16th century), Australia (17th century), and Antarctica (19th century) were progressively added to maps as explorations continued.

Maps serve two main purposes: (1) storing reference information like a book with location details, and (2) helping people understand geographical relationships.

Arab cartographers used mathematical and astronomical formulas to create various map projections.

The Mercator map of 1595 combined existing maps, included British explorations, and reflected Mercator's theories about the pole.

A map projection that shows true compass directions and shapes accurately, but distorts the size of landmasses, especially near the poles.

A tool used to visualize the distortion of a map projection. It shows how circles of equal size on the Earth are represented on the map.

A line of constant compass bearing on a Mercator projection. It appears as a straight line, but is actually a curved line on the Earth's surface.

The prime meridian, designated as 0° longitude. It is a line of longitude that passes through Greenwich, England, and serves as the starting point for measuring longitude.

Regions of the Earth that share the same standard time, usually based on the longitude of their central meridian.

An imaginary line of longitude, mostly aligned with the 180° meridian, where the date changes by one day when crossed from east to west.

The process of clearly defining and marking the boundaries between countries or territories.

The study of maps can have significant implications for human geography, especially in terms of understanding spatial relationships, political boundaries, and the perceptions of power and proximity.

The idea that a warmer and wetter climate after the Ice Age made farming easier, leading to the Neolithic Revolution.

The idea that humans evolved intelligence, leading to better tools, understanding of plants and animals, and eventually, farming.

The theory that growing populations made hunting and gathering difficult, forcing people to find new food sources like farming.

The idea that early people may have started farming for spiritual reasons, like offerings to gods.

The theory that leaders or powerful groups encouraged farming to control people, food, and resources more effectively.

The origin of the human species, a major turning point in human history.

The first migrations and the peopling of the planet, a significant expansion of human presence.

The set of factors that contributed to the Western world's rise to power, including environmental advantages, economic dominance, and cultural influence.

The ongoing challenges of addressing systemic racism, inequality, and exclusion of racial minorities within Western societies.

A nation-state is a single country that has its own land, government, and people who share a common language, culture, or history.

A city-state is a single city that governs itself independently, acting as its own mini-country.

The era (1400-1500s) marked by advancements in navigation, exploration, discovery, and mapping.

The complex and intertwined relationship between human societies and their natural environments.

A theory that identifies civilizations based on characteristics such as agriculture, urban life, complex social structures, writing, ceremonial centers, and trade.

The first six civilizations identified by Glyn Daniels are Sumer, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, China, Meso-America, and Peru.

Diamond argues that the large number of domesticated animals in Eurasia led to the development of new infectious diseases, which then spread to other regions, including colonies.

Date, Orientation, Grid, Scale, Title, Author, Inset, Legend, and Source.

The Greeks developed the grid system and understood the Earth's shape.

Eratosthenes - his calculation was within 0.5% accuracy.

A map projection that shows true compass directions but distorts sizes, especially near the poles.

The prime meridian (0° longitude), it passes through Greenwich, England.

The Mercator Projection, while useful for navigation, distorts the size of landmasses, especially near the poles, giving a skewed impression of relative size and power. Greenland appears as large as Africa, while in reality, Africa is 13 times larger.

Regions of the Earth that share the same standard time based on their central meridian, which helps coordinate transportation and communication across long distances.

Cartography helps us understand spatial relationships, political boundaries, and the perception of power and proximity. Maps can influence how we think about the world, emphasizing certain places and relationships.