The Difference is in Civilization

Throughout history, humans have always changed the way they lived. In the Paleolithic Era, humans were nomadic and followed herds of animals. Then after the Neolithic Revolution, people learned how to grow food and thus became sedentary. This caused sedentary groups to form which became civilizations like the Shang Dynasty. Even though the Shang Dynasty evolved from these eras, the Shang Dynasty still shows some distinct differences and similarities from the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras.

The Paleolithic Era occurred around 400,000 to 7000 B.C. The people of this time obtained food by hunting and gathering. They memorized the migration patterns of herds and followed and hunted them to get food. They also had a vast amount of knowledge of the plant kingdom and gathered plants that were edible and safe to eat. The Paleolithic people also had some sort of social system. They traveled in tribes of around 25 people that all hunted together. In the Paleolithic culture, the family was very important and each family member depended on the others. The Paleolithic people also had ways to communicate to one another. They had a spoken language which they used to tell stories and pass information. They also communicated to others through cave drawings that others could interpret.

From around 7000 to 3000 B.C., people entered the Neolithic Era. People learned not only which plants were edible but they now learned how to grow plants as well. This allowed the people to become sedentary and not have to follow herds around anymore. They also learned how to take wild animals and domesticate them so that they didn’t have to find them to eat them. This ability to produce food for one’s self allowed towns to form with great populations. With such a great amount of people they had to form some sort of political system to watch over them. Also with so many people, knowledge became very valuable. Information was too easy to forget and was not easy enough to pass on. Therefore a system of writing was developed to solve these problems.

Shang Dynasty China was around 1500 to 1050 B.C. Like the Neolithic people, they also obtained their food from crops they grew and animals they domesticated. More specifically though, they grew rice and domesticated oxen. As civilization evolved, people started to specialize. Since one person could not get all that he needed, he would trade with other people to get it. People could get stuff much easier so the ties of interdependence on family members that the Paleolithic people had was no longer there. Also with a society developed, a social system developed in which certain people had more or less power than others. Language became fully developed and fully used when population formed a big city of people. People also left records of what they did so that others would remember.

The Paleolithic and Neolithic eras are very different from the Shang Dynasty. The Shang Dynasty is a civilization and the other two are just cultures. Even though they are very similar, there are a few main differences between the two. One main difference is the use of a social system. The other main difference is the full use of a written language. This is what makes a civilization.