Glossary of Key Terms

Chapter 12: The Rise of Cities and Civilization

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Action theory
The theory that self-serving actions by forceful leaders play a role in civilization's emergence.

B

Bronze Age
In the Old World, the period marked by the production of tools and ornaments of bronze; began about 3000 b.c. in China and Southwest Asia and about 500 years earlier in Southeast Asia.

C

Civilization
In anthropology, a type of society marked by the presence of cities, social classes, and the state.

H

Hydraulic theory
The theory that sees civilization's emergence as the result of the construction of elaborate irrigation systems, the functioning of which required full-time managers whose control blossomed into the first governing body and elite social class.