Notes

Chapter 3
Megalithic ( Greek word for "Large boulder")

"Within classical Greek civilization there appeared ideas, art forms, and types of government whose influence on western civilization has lasted down to the present day"

Citadel and shrine; the Athenian Acropolis was already ancient when its temples were rebuilt

The greeks settled in mainland Greece

The barbarian people had a distinctive way of life, based on farming and warfare, that was widespread in western Europe.

barbarian- A term used to describe the distinctive way of life based on  farming , warfare, and tribal organization. that became widespread in Europe  beginning around 2500 B.C.

Megaliths- Massive rough-cut stones used to construct monuments and tombs

Thinner populations than Egypt or Mesopotamia- they formed a
Tribe- A social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship

Chronology
4000 bc- farming and village life spreads from Sumerian and Eyptian land across SW Asia and NE Africa, and the European continent
3500 BC Megalithic structures constructed in Europe
2500 BC Indo-European nomads from the steppes migrate into Europe; European barbarian way of life evolves the language would evolve into Greek and Latin. Their lives centeres around strength and courage, comradeship and loyalty, contests and battle
2200 BC Minoan civilization takes root in Crete; Greeks arrive in southeastern Europe
1600 BC Greek fortified settlements along the Aegean develop Mycenaean civilization
1400 BC Destruction of Minoan towns
1200 BC Mycenaean civilization falls; beginning of 'Dark Ages" of Greek history
800 BC Recovery in the Aegean; Greek city-states form
494-445 BC Persian wars
460-430 BC Golden age of Athens

Why the Greeks rocked:
New ideas
Incredible art forms
Democratic Government w/ citizen participation
innovators in warfare

Tribes were headed by powerful hereditary chieftains, thought of as kings (or, rarely queens)

Tis is how Europe came to be populated by speakers of Indo-European languages who were skilled in farming, metalworking, trade, and warfare

No cities, no written records, nofixed structures of government (They were barbarians which means non greek)

They adopted a way of life  of those they encountered, and as they traveled from 2000 bc to AD 1000, this is how civilization eventually spread throughout Europe

The distinctive civilization the Greeks developed is the first that counts as definitely "Western"