Civilizations

Human Evolution over the years This blog post outlines main reflections about the evolution of humans, and human civilisation over the years. Beyond any other Out of all the species on earth, human evolution has been far richer, better and most advanced. From almost ten million years ago, with the emergence of first nomadic people in the paleolithic age, to the modern twenty-first century us, humans have evolved in a number of ways. Let’s look at some of the important ones:   1.       Capacity to Communicate, Evolution of Languages Unlike other species, our development of brains gave us unique capacity to communicate with each other. Humans could pass on learnings, information and ideas across generations, with the evolution of languages, and use of visual, written and oral communication.    While the paleolithic age species painted on caves with water, animal fat  and coal (they had no languages or phones to use), today we have many methods ...

  MAYAN CIVILIZATION (PART 3): GOVERNMENT SYSTEM The Maya were never a single empire under the rule of a single king. They were always a collection of city states that existed at the same time, and traded amongst. each other, with their own independent governments. City-States   The Maya they had a well-developed political system with a mix of political complexity that included both states and chiefdoms. Each city state had its own government. A city-state was made up of a major city and the surrounding areas which sometimes included some smaller settlements and cities.   Throughout the Maya era, the Maya remained in separate polities and did not unite as one empire. Pic: A king surrounded by his council of advisors   Political Hierarchy   The Maya had a four-tiered political hierarchy. At the top were the king and his administration in major cities. Following the main city were a small group of vassal city-states, with nobility in charg...

MAYAN CIVILIZATION (PART 2): ARTS, LIVING & FOOD STYLE Arts During that time the Maya created many works of art. The art of the Maya was heavily influenced by their religion. Their artwork was always centred around the Maya kings who wanted to make sure they were remembered throughout history.  Stone sculptures   The Maya are perhaps most famous for their work in stone. The Maya also developed an elaborate and beautiful tradition of sculpture and relief carving. Architectural works and stone inscriptions and reliefs are the chief sources of knowledge about the early Maya.   One popular type of Maya sculpture was the stela. A stela was a large tall stone slab covered with carvings and writing.        "One popular type of Maya sculpture was the stela. A stela was a large tall stone slab covered with carvings and writin g."  Carvings   The Maya created detailed carvings in materials such as wood and jade.  The Maya painte...

  MAYAN CIVILIZATION (PART 1): TIMELINE, LOCATION & PHYSICAL FEATURES Timeline The Mayan Civilization is one of the newer civilizations, unlike the ancient Chinese, Egyptian and Indian civilizations.  It started around 1800 BC and made small progress upto 300 BC, which is also known as  Pre-Classic Period. Between 300 BC and 250 AD, the civilization grew and spread to multiple locations. This is known as the  Middle Pre-Classic Period.  The Mayan Civilization flourished between 250 AD to 900 AD, also called as the  Golden Period  of Mayan Civilization.    During the Golden Period, the Mayan people successfully spread across many cities and became advanced. They invented many new things and had an organized management set up. At its height, Mayan civilization consisted of more than 40 cities, each with a population between 5,000 and 50,000. It started to decline after 900 AD.   "The Mayan Civilization lasted for almost 2000 years!" Ge...