Barbarian A term used to describe distinctive way of life based on farming, warfare in tribal organization that became widespread and Europe beginning around 2500 BC.
Megaliths a massive rough-cut stone used to construct monuments and tombs. (stone hedge) for example.
Tribe A social and political unit consisting of a group of communities held together by common interest traditions in real or mystical ties.
The Greeks invented democracy.
The Greeks were influenced by people in the east and the north of them.
These people were tribes before. the tribes were held together by things they ate, did, and the myths they believed.

Why the Greeks Rocked
New Ideas
Incredible act forms
Democratic government w/ citizen participation.
Innovations in warfare.

4000 B.C. Farming and village life spreads from Sumerian and Egyptian lands across SW Asia and NE Africa, and the European continent.

3500 B.C. now they start making megaliths. 2000 B.C. was the year the Stonehenge was finished. consisting of 160 massive boulders weighing up to 50 tons each, stacked and circled and aligned to the movements of sun and moon.

From 2500 B.C. Indo-European nomads migrated from the steppes in eastern Europe.
Their language would evolve into Greek and Latin
Their lives centered around strength, courage, loyalty, and doing the right thing.
The Greeks invented the Olympics.
Thinner populations than Egypt or Mesopotamia - they formed tribes, social and political unit consisting of communities held together by common interests, traditions, and real or mythical ties of kinship.
Tribes were headed by powerful kings. or like a war lord.
They never really had written records they just passed the story down by speaking.
They adopted the way of life of those they encountered, and as they traveled from 2000 BC to AD 1000. this is how civilization eventually spread throughout Europe.

Greece is a peninsula
mountains cover 3/4th of it.
Apporx. 1,400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas.
Location shaped its culture.
Skilled sailors.
Poor natural resources.
Difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain; developed small, independent communities.
Approx. 20% is suitable for farming.
Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of peninsula.
Because of geography the Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, olives.
Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
Temperatures range from 48 in the winter to 80 in the summer.