CHAPTER 1Section 1

UNDERSTANDING OUR PAST

Austen Layard dug up statues in Iraq in 1845 that were from the Assyrian civilization---statues that were 3,000 years old

Geography---the study of people, their environments, and their available resources

Five important themes sum up the impact of geography on the human story---location, place, movement, region, and human-environment interaction

LOCATION

Location tells us where a place is on the Earth’s surface

Latitude---measures distances north or south of the Equator

Longitude---measures distances east or west of the Prime Meridian

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

PLACE

Geographers describe places in terms of their physical features and human characteristics

Physical features of a place can include: landforms, bodies of water, climate, soil quality, resources, and plant and animal life

Human characteristics include: where most people live, economic activities, religious beliefs, and languages

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION People interact with the environment

(Common Sense!!!) Examples---using river water to irrigate

crops, cutting down trees for farmland, canals and roads

MOVEMENT

In early times, people followed herds of animals on which they depended on for food

In more recent times, people have migrated from rural areas into cities in search of jobs

In both ancient times and today, traders carry goods from one part of the Earth to the other and people such as settlers carry ideas

REGION

Geographers divide the world into many types of regions

Regions can be defined based on location (the Middle East),or by political, economic, or cultural features

PREHISTORY

Prehistory is the period of time before writing (think about it logically---without writing anything down there was no records of anything humans did before they learned to write)

Prehistoric people DID NOT HAVE: cities, countries, governments, or complex inventions

ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURE

Anthropology---the study of the origins and development of people and their societies

Culture---the way of life of a society handed down from generation to generation

ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeology---the study of past people and cultures

TECHNOLOGY

Technology---the skills and tools used to meet basic needs

EXAMPLES OF SCIENTISTS WHO HELP OUT ARCHAEOLOGISTS

Geologists, botanists, zoologists, biologists, chemists, climate experts

HISTORIANS

Historians---study how people lived in the past

What historians do you know?