Closing Thoughts

As we saw in this project, the place where a people live impacts their lives in profound ways. If we think back to the previous project on the !Kung, we can clearly see how completely people are shaped by their place. Why did the !Kung not develop the characteristics of civilization, such as a government, social classes, job specialization, advanced innovations such as writing and metalsmithing? Because the place where they lived (the Kalahari Desert) could not support a large population. Their environment offered limited resources and was too arid to support agriculture.

For similar reasons civilization never developed in the Arctic. That is not to say that the !Kung or Inupiaq did not have sophisticated cultures. They did and were incredibly adapt, in not only surviving, but thriving in difficult environments. But the place were the !Kung and Inupiaq lived shaped their lives and culture, precluding things like large cities, monumental architecture, or the development of advanced technology. Conversely, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China did develop civilization because the resources of where they lived supported it and even encouraged it.