Question

Which of the following was characteristic of the physical environments of early river-valley civilizations in the Near East?

• A. The rivers flowed through deep mountain valleys, which sheltered early civilizations
• B. Tropical forests along the riverbanks provided the population with most of its food
• C. The rivers maintained a steady flow year-round, fed by melting mountain glaciers
• D. Rainfall was low, requiring irrigation of crops with river water
• E. Cool summer temperatures encouraged the production of grain crops

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

Early River Valley Civilizations

Homo sapiens, our species, evolved in Africa somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. For tens of thousands of years, human populations existed in nomadic bands of hunter-gatherers that steadily spread across the world. Then, between 8,000 and 5,000 BCE, some of these groups went and did something rather strange. They stopped moving around. In what archeologists call the Neolithic Revolution, human groups across the world developed settled societies that relied on intensive agricultural practices. The first societies were often found near rivers, which provided the water, security, and other resources needed to make the move from hunting to farming. We call these societies the early river valley civilizations. The rainfall in these regions was low. Thus these early civilizations developed irrigation techniques to utilize the river water.