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Lesson 4.1: Aspects of Civilization

How Historians Study Ancient Civilizations

Historians use the following five ASPECTS OF CIVILIZATION to study ancient civilizations from the past. By gathering information and classifying it into these five categories, historians can begin to see the bigger picture of life during that time in history.
Read through the following slides to learn what the Five Aspects of Civilization are and questions historians would ask themselves when categorizing research or information.

As you just learned, the Five Aspects of Civilization are GEOGRAPHY, CULTURE, GOVERNMENT, TECHNOLOGY, and SYSTEMS. Here are some examples of what kinds of information would fit into each category:

GEOGRAPHY	Where was this civilization located? Why did people move there? How does the climate of the area affect farming or life? Are there geographical features (landforms, mountains, rivers, etc.) that make this a good place to live?
CULTURE	What were the religious beliefs? Did the people have special ceremonies for any purpose? What kind of clothing did people wear? What language do the people speak? What was daily life like for people who lived here? What kinds of jobs did people have? What crops grew in the area? What kinds of food did they eat? What kinds of shelters did they build and live in? Where there other buildings besides homes? What materials did they use? What was the architectural style? What type of art or music did they create? Were there other types of entertainment (sports, theater, literature)?
GOVERNMENT	What type of government did they have? Who was in charge? What were some of the laws of the land? Were they written down? What happened when someone broke the law? Who were some of the important leaders/rulers?
TECHNOLOGY	What new "technologies" or inventions came out of this civilization? How did the people actually build the civilization? What farming techniques did the use? What else is this civilization known for accomplishing? What were they the first to achieve?
SYSTEMS	What writing system did they use? How did they keep records? How were their people/children educated? How did they get the things they needed? Did they have a money system? Was their organization to the way in which they traded or bartered? How was the civilization divided into social classes? Who was at the top? Was there slavery? How did they get around? Was there a transportation system used?

Click NEXT to practice using the Aspects of Civilization to learn about Ancient Mesopotamia.