World History › Section B · The first civilizations › Topic B.1
What made the first civilizations
Farming gave some societies something they had never had: a surplus. Out of surplus grew cities, specialists, classes, taxes and kings — the package historians call civilisation. This topic defines that package, finds where it first appeared, and shows how archaeologists reason about societies that left no writing.
In this topic
- What "civilisation" means
- From self-sufficiency to interdependence
- Stratification and the new government
- Cradles of civilisation
- Worked example: why river valleys?
- Neolithic cities: the long rehearsal
- Worked example: reasoning about an artefact
- Independent civilisations in the Americas
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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