"The earliest civilizations developed in fertile river valleys, where the conditions were right to support large, settled populations. This book tracks how social hierarchies, religion, culture, written language, technology, and more developed first in Mesopotamia and then independently in the Nile, Indus, and Yellow River Valleys. A timeline helps readers get a better grasp of what developments were happening simultaneously in different parts of...

"The dawn of the Neolithic Era ushered in major changes in the way people lived. In fact, these changes were so sweeping that the transition from the Mesolithic Era to the Neolithic Era is referred to as the Neolithic Revolution. The beginnings of agriculture and the domestication of animals both date from this period. These changes to the food supply led people to settle in permanent communities, which, in turn, led to organized societies and social...