Ch. 1 & 2

The Paleolithic era was mind boggling to me. It seemed as though the people survived with no training you could say.  Their was no one before them to show them the way as parents do their kids in today's society.  The Paleolithic people used mainly stones as tools and ate off of the land such as berries, nuts, and roots.  I guess they had limited taste buds so they were probably unable to distinguish between tasty and nasty.  This society of people was always on the move in search of food.  As time passed and the Paleolithic society faded away, along came the Neolithic society.  They were a little more advanced and learning.  They were referred to as the new stone age people.  They created more sophisticated tools, did not travel as much and learned to grow crops.  I'm pretty sure back in those years, the majority of their learning came from trial and error, failing and trying again.
The growth of Agriculture and irrigation allowed the Neolithic people to began to somewhat settle down which eventually led to the first civilizations being started.  Forms of government began to become established, wealth, power status along with many other social hierarchies.  I wonder what kids did for fun back in that era.  Kids in todays world are spoiled and would be shell shocked if they could go back for just 1 day.

Chapters 7, 8, &10

Let me start by saying I find it amazing how the people in these early times were able to participate in long distance commerce.  Different societies specialized in certain products such as silk in China, spices in Southeast Asia, salt from West Africa.  These products along with many others had to get to different parts of the world. A lot of this happened via cargo ships, camel caravans as well as many other forms of transportation. This trade help build, strengthen, and grow their economies.  As trade develops, so does greed.  The Indian Ocean was a major sea road that helped to enhance long distance trade. Now, the Golden Age of Chinese achievements took place during the Sui, Tang, and the Song dynasty's.  This era saw a lot of technological, cultural, and political advancement for China.   Their population growth increased tremendously as well  during this time period.  China grew into one if the richest countries. Now, Christianity during the third-wave civilization had grown into a very largely followed religion in Western Europe. Christianity began to fade in the Asian and African communities due in largely to the growth of Islam.  I never really understood how a person or people can just switch their faith so easily.  I just pass it on as the circumstances they are dealing with in their life.  Life is not going the way they want so they change what they believe in or what faith they choose to follow.

Test

Finally got it set up. See you Wednesday.
Yay -I'm done