Education

Ancient Civilizations

Ancient civilizations are the basis of the world as we know it today, built on the ruins of 10,000 years of advanced cultures such as the Greek, Roman, Mesopotamia, Mayan, Indus, Egyptian, and others that we know primarily through archaeology and some written records.

Traveling the Silk Road - A Photo Essay
In November 2009, a new exhibit opened at the American Museum of Natural History, featuring artifacts and reconstructions of places and pieces of the ancient Silk Road. This photo essay compares old photographs to exhibits and provides a bit of background to Traveling the Silk Road.

Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire, also known as the Angkor Civilization, was the name of a large and complex society which ruled what is today Cambodia, and parts of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam for the five hundred years between 800 and 1300 AD.

Monumental Architecture
Monumental or public architecture, at an archaeological site, refers to large man-made structures of stone or earth, such as pyramids, temples and shrines.

What Makes a Civilization?
Archaeologists recognize that in some cases, in some places, at some times, simple societies for one reason and another develop into more and more complex societies, and some become civilizations. These are the characteristics that archaeologists identify as complex societies.

Craft Specialization
Craft specialization--the creation of specific jobs in a society such as warriors, artisans, scribes, shamans, rulers, etc.--is one of the defining characteristics of ancient civilizations, and most likely the reason we don't have an egalitarian society today.

Pastoralism
Pastoralism, another characteristic of complexity, refers to the subsistence practice in which people care for and domesticate animals such as cattle, camels, llamas, sheep, goats and alpacas.

Guide to the Ancient Near East
From N.S. Gill, About.com's guide to Ancient History, an illustrated guide to the Ancient Near East.

The New Seven Wonders of the World
A quick photo tour of the new seven wonders of the world--plus some extras that readers say should be in there, too.

Ancient America - Archaeology of American Civilizations
The continents of North and South America were 'discovered' by the European civilizations in the late 15th century AD, but their civilizations were vast and complex long before the first European landed. The following are a taste of the complexity of the civilizations of ancient America.

Chinese Dynastic History
From About's guide to Ancient History, a little taste of what you wanted to know about Chinese history, from the Neolithic period through the latter part of Imperial China, ending in AD 1911.

Monte Alban and the Zapotec Civilization
Monte Alban was the capital city of the Zapotec Civilization, sited 1400 meters above sea level in the Valley of Oaxaca of central Mexico. The Zapotecs and their amazing city flourished between about 500 BC and 1521 AD.

Top Unknown Empires
Everyone knows of some great civilizations, either from World History classes in school, such as Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt. But there are so many interesting, less well-known civilizations! Here's an admittedly biased selection of some of them and why they are not to be forgotten.

National Geographic Expedition Week
The National Geographic Society is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals in the world. Founded in 1888, the society has as its main goals "exploration, research, and scientific discoveries'. These days they are best known for video explorations of scientific studies.

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Archaeology