Chapters 1-3

The agricultural age was accompanied by dominance. This dominance was over nature, men of the lower-caste, femininity, and animals. I believe this was inevitable because when there are economical surpluses, people, who have the means to govern either by wealth or heredity, create a pyramidal society and the top hierarchy promote inequality. It is unfortunate that the creation of the agricultural revolution generated such a detrimental way of life.

I enjoyed reading about the agricultural village societies and chiefdoms. It is amusing to speculate why and how the people of the time built and defended their homes and also to imagine how they managed their daily lives.

I recently visited the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and I was astonished to see beauty of the ancient artifacts. The craftsmanship was amazing and how they created their art with such primitive tools.

I enjoyed reading about how the different civilizations developed around the world and the reason why the settlement occurred in a particular location. There were many similarities but many differences as well. In each case, it was the river valley and geography that dictated outcomes affecting agricultural prosperity, religious formation, and government structures.