By Molly Ratner
Today in class we talked about the four great river valleys and how these places developed differently than the rest of the world. Furthermore, we discussed the positive and negative effects of the environmental transformations caused by humans such as population increase, sex economic specialization, a new social ranking process, and heirarchy. In addition, we discussed the ecology of the four civilizations and how their environments allowed them to flourish. All four of the civilizations had different seasonal patterns which allowed them to exploit their environment. We also talked about political and state power in the valley societies and the power of the rulers. Then we discussed the advantages and drawbacks of writing.
