For example, the Incan Empire was a large civilization with a government and social hierarchy. However, there are many societies that scholars consider civilizations that do not meet all of the criteria above. Writing, trading, artwork and monuments, and development of science and technology are all aspects of civilizations.
Another criterion for civilization is a surplus of food, which comes from having tools to aid in growing crops. From this specialization comes class structure and government, both aspects of a civilization. With support from the other people living in the settlement, labor is divided up into specific jobs (called the division of labor), so not everyone has to focus on growing their own food. First, civilizations have some kind of urban settlements and are not nomadic. Still, most anthropologists agree on some criteria to define a society as a civilization. The term “civilization” was often applied in an ethnocentric way, with “civilizations” being considered morally good and culturally advanced, and other societies being morally wrong and “backward.” This complicated history is what makes defining a civilization troublesome for scholars, and why today’s modern definition is still in flux. The word “civilization” relates to the Latin word “civitas” or “city.” This is why the most basic definition of the word “civilization” is “a society made up of cities.” But early in the development of the term, anthropologists and others used “civilization” and “civilized society” to differentiate between societies they found culturally superior (which they were often a part of), and those they found culturally inferior (which they referred to as “ savage” or “barbaric” cultures). However, defining what civilization is, and what societies fall under that designation, is a hotly contested argument, even among today’s anthropologists. In many parts of the world, early civilizations formed when people began coming together in urban settlements. A civilization is a complex human society, usually made up of different cities, with certain characteristics of cultural and technological development.
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