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HistoryNerd94's definitions

Civilization

An ambiguous term often used to denote more complex societies but sometimes used by anthropologists to describe any group of people sharing a set of cultural traits.
Scholars agree that political, social, economic, and technological phenomena are indicators of civilization.
by HistoryNerd94 September 26, 2010
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Feudalism

A medieval European social system in which land was divided into hundreds of small holdings.
Europe was characterized by a social system historians have called feudalism.
by HistoryNerd94 December 27, 2011
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Neolithic

The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient Agricultural Revolution(s). It follows the Paleolithic period.
The Neolithic (New Stone Age), which is associated with the origins of agriculture, followed the Paleolithic.
by HistoryNerd94 November 7, 2010
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Culture

Socially transmitted patterns of action and expression. Material culture refers to physical objects, such as dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts. Culture also includes arts, beliefs, knowledge, and technology.
Learned patterns of action and expression constitute culture.
by HistoryNerd94 September 27, 2010
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Treaty of Tordesillas

Treaty negotiated by the pope in 1494 to resolve the territorial claims of Spain and Portugal.
The Portuguese colonized Brazil under the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas, a 1494 agreement dividing the Americas between Spain and Portugal.
by HistoryNerd94 January 6, 2012
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Cuneiform

A system of writing in which wedge-shape symbols represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia. Because so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to a relatively small group of administrators and scribes.
Because the reed made wedge-shaped impressions, the early pictures, which were more or less realistic, evolved into stylized combinations of strokes and wedges, a system known as cuneiform writing.
by HistoryNerd94 December 25, 2010
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