Civilization

A form of complex society commonly associated with urban life, political organization, and specialized labor. Civilizations vary widely in their institutions, economies, and cultural traditions.

Urbanization: The growth of towns and cities as places where people live and work. Cities concentrate populations, trades, and institutions in many civilizations.
Sumer: An ancient region of southern Mesopotamia, home to some of the earliest known cities and writing. Its city-states offer an early, well-documented example of urban civilization.
Band society: A small-scale society organized mainly through kinship and face-to-face relations. It provides a contrast with the larger populations and institutions often associated with civilization.
Empire: A political formation that rules multiple peoples or territories, often through expansion and unequal authority. Some civilizations expanded into empires, extending rule across diverse regions.
Social complexity: The degree to which a society contains differentiated roles, institutions, and relationships. It offers a broader framework than a single checklist for identifying civilization.
Agricultural surplus: Food produced beyond the immediate needs of its producers. Surplus can support specialists who do not farm full-time.
Indus Valley Civilization: A Bronze Age civilization centered on the Indus River basin and neighboring regions. Its planned cities reveal a distinctive pattern of urban organization.
Pastoralism: A livelihood based on raising and moving domesticated animals. Mobile herding societies complicate definitions that equate civilization with settled farming.
Trade network: A connected system through which goods move between people and places. Cities and specialized production can sustain long-distance exchange.
Civilizational collapse: A substantial decline or transformation in the institutions and populations of a complex society. Cases of collapse test whether civilizations end abruptly or change form over time.

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