Ancient African Civilization - Term Paper Example

Ancient African Civilization Africa is a large continent which is located in the Western Europesouth and also towards the south west of Middle East. The border is towards the north around the Mediterranean Sea and also towards east by the Indian sea and also Red sea. West is covered through the Atlantic Ocean. There is a variety of the environments which covers the deserts which wastes through the tropical rain forest along with vast swaps and also savanna. Snow capped mountains also are a part of this. Human communities are supported by the flora and also fauna which helps in social, political, economical and also cultural strategies development majorly focusing on the survival. Africa before colonialism had very less civilization and thus was referred as the Dark Continent. The continent is basically divided into 50 countries which are independent and they are diversified in terms of the population and also size. It has high population countries like Nigeria which have a population of almost 150 million and also low population countries like Namibia, Niger and also Mauritania having even less than 5 million people. Size differ as there are large countries lie Sudan with the size almost of the entire east of the United states covering from the Mississippi river to small country like Connecticut. There are many common names associated with the continent from North, West, Sothern, East, and Sub Saharan to also central and equatorial. It is important to have correct regional designations along with important physical features and also country boundaries which are modern. It is very crucial to understand the written material associated with the politics, cultures, societies and also history of the continent. There is an important role which is played by the geography for Africa which is not only associated with the people’s history but it is for the history of all the human being and their well being. Human beings belong to species and are linked with the remote ancestors which were living in African and tropical side of Savannas almost about 3 million years ago. It is important to consider the fact that the landform and also the climate has changed with time but the geography and also the climate is still important to be considered. Africa is said to be the origin for humanity and it is the only place which had origin of art, agriculture, religion and science. Africa is basically an extremely large continent, so large that it can have the entire China, India, Argentina and also the entire United states in it. From east to west and north to south it is almost 5500 miles from the continent. It is a continent which is bisected by the Equator and it is totally tropical. Virtually speaking all the kinds of topography and also climate can be present in African continent but majority of Africa is either Savanna which is open or a desert. Near the equator, the lowlands are covered from the substantial rain forest. Near the equator also lies huge snow capped peaks of Mountain Kilimanjaro and also mountain Kenya. The Nile, The Congo or even sometimes referred as Zaire, Zambezi and the Niger are four major kinds of rivers which are present in Africa. Human history of Africa just like other regions have a very close association with the natural resources distribution specially talking about adequate supply of water along with good soils. Human species consider Savanna regions of the eastern Africa their home. People like crafts men, traders, farmers and also herder consider savanna region particularly talking about the north regions of the Sudannic located towards the north of equatorial forest their home. Ancient Egyptian consider fertile Nile valley which is a part of the earliest civilization their support. The climate of the continent varies from different temperature to different rainfall patterns. Climate is similar especially towards the equatorial zone in the tropical forest as it is humid and warm with hardly any rainfall taking place. Farming in such areas is extremely difficult due to extremely dense forests and also vegetarian zones which are lush. Population of such reason is greatly affected due to this and thus is very low. Cattle rising are also something which is not popular however activities like gathering, trade, hunting and also fishing are taking place there. Talking about the equatorial forest zones both the south and also north are covering few trees and thus it is having a huge impact on the rainfall which is declining. This results in seasonal rainfall especially in tropical savannas mainly causing extremely lengthy dry seasons. The country side which is open is majorly hot during days and cold during nights totally appose to the forest climate. Livestock like goats and also cattle along with farming are conducted in the open country. Continent of Africa particularly talking about the sub Saharan area constitutes if lengthy human prehistory period. Africa was hypothesized by Charles Darwin almost hundred years ago that it will have human species, thus this research was correct as it is demonstrated by many researches. As per the early research that was conducted three million years ago stone tools were used in Africa the northern and eastern side of it by hominids which are the proto humans. There are also few genetic researches according to with the species which are majorly living members like Homo sapiens share a common grandparent which means that the ancestor or ancestress of us were associated with Africa from about 60,000 to 200,000 years ago. If we talk about the time which was almost 10,000 years ago, the human history was associated with the time which is known as the Old Stone Age or even Paleolithic. This era starts from the African population which is hominid population which is making daily use stones. There are also proper evidences and proves of human ancestors and the life associated with them in Africa. Many paleo anthropologist and also archaeologists are using the remains of animals and also humans along with pollen, seed, tools and data related to the environment like soils, rock strata and also the life of the people which is reconstructed to find out the history and reality. Apart from the direct data which is used, indirect data is also researched and used including the remains of other species like chimpanzees. Observation is carried about regarding the living population of apes and data is collected related to it accordingly. Contemporary human societies also are linked with the hunting and also gathering living way. Remote African ancestor details can also be analyzed by using the blood, protein along with research carried out of the DNA. If we take into account the point of view of African history, more settled societies form the bases for the late Stone Age development. The settles existence of the people of Africa is linked with their high level ability to abundant the wild grains and also they are coupled with aquatic resources exploitation. These majorly form the tradition of African and aquatic culture along with the tradition. From upper Nile to larger areas of Africa the life was spread specially during the wet phase of climate history of Africans. The southern borderlands especially of the Sahara deserts were due to the large shallow lakes which were result of high level of rainfall. Marine environment along with the fishing and also trapping of the aquatic animals were crafted with the tools which were microlithic. Protein supply in food was increased and this was supporting the people who were permanently settled. In Africa different variety of people from different cultures and also different linguistics were settled which were also ancestors of the Black Africans who established this throughout the great lake. Nilo Saharan was the mother tongue with water related technologies being supported especially in the areas which are developed .Where the aquatic tradition of Africa were there for a small period of time but were there since the beginning of the modern period, the legacy related to it existed for a long period and it hardly felt. African culture was rich and the facts which African civilization states is a part of many religions today. African artifacts are a very unique thing and they are found in many museums. It is very important to take into account the society and its culture and also economy which is linked with the Stone Age and is also linked with their journey of becoming human. We need to understand how the hominids and the ancestors lived and the roots of that society and also culture. The fossil along with other evidences which were found majorly had an impact on the hunting which was talking about the origins and beginning of the diversified human traits and also myth making along with the reflective thinking which helps in tool making and society building as well. Hunting also had a major impact and was linked with almost 99% of human history which was providing the master behavior pattern associated with the human species. There is a research which is conducted by women as well along with men in the last decades which talks about the hunting model along with the tool used for socio cultural evolution especially of the human species and also whether the model is effective enough or not. Like many other origins, library system was also started in Africa, Greece already claimed that they started the civilization, way before them Egyptians started to preserve, organize and also ensure accessibility of the information. If we talk about the time which was almost 20 000 years ago, the cultures, societies and also people clearly dotted the landscape which was global. In Africa among many revolutions which were brought, the most famous one was the food production revolution is more popularly referred as the food producing economies which were consisted of the African people whose base was in the equatorial forest of the north and it was between almost 6000 to 1000 BCE. There are many regions of Africa which are counted as a part of the cradles of agriculture and also the domestication of cattle. The areas which are famous are majorly like forest of West Africa, North Africa along with the highlands of Ethiopia. The information which is related to the lands of modern Saharan is not yet known but the information which is known is pointed towards the fishing communities and also the lakes and great rivers. Agriculture was not something on which they were dependant and they did not even want to be dependent on that as they were surviving due to abundance in gathering seasonal fruits along with fishing and also wild grains. Middle of the Sahara desert was the place which started the livestock rising along with the grain cultivation in Africa. The environment of this place was suitable for the domestication of plant and also animal species. The culture of Africa is rich and they are the pioneers of linguistic, generic and also archeological culture. There has been a great level of development in the writing, irrigation, religion and also monarchy of Africa. Nile valley was associated with cattle herders and also small farming settlements. As this place is explored there is a difference which takes place both in the linguistic and also cultural context which has local earth spirits along with the nature being represented through the gods and also goddesses? There is also a visible existence of the Neolithic culture, this was not very huge until and unless technological advancements were carried out and also social organizations were adopted for the local environment In Africa especially towards the Nile valley side, the religious thinks were majorly absorbed by the flood cycles which were linked with the night sky. People made a connection between supernatural and also natural phenomena. During the time between 4000 and 3200 BCE, the speed of the Nile valley increased and better and also sophisticated technologies for the flood control were brought into view for the development of the political regions along with religious regions which were linked with the colonization. We can clearly see that in around 2000 BCE the Mediterranean coast and also the west of the Nile valley became the desert region which was linked and supported by the population of oasis farmers and also herders. The African civilization thus has left a huge impact on the entire society.                                                                                                Works Cited 30, about, people could make such things as spears, and axes.&. "Ancient African Civilizations." Ancient African Civilization. Version 1500. University of Louisville, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. Read More