Humanities Assignment 3

The term culture can be defi ned as those artifacts and characteristic evidence of shared existence that are left behind after a group of people is gone.

I once went to a lecture series by a renowned lecturer and anthropologist named Dr. Parker Nunley from Richland College. Dr. Nunley defi ned civilization like this: “After all the people are gone, what is left behind are the artifacts and their art and music and any visual form of a written language. That is what we refer to as culture.” Therefore, culture is what is left behind to ponder and to study after all of the people of a particular group are gone.

Webster’s Dictionary Defi nition: “The beliefs, customs, arts, and institutions of a society at a given time.”

What Is a Civilization? A civilization is a group of people who have unique common characteristics, such as language and location. The people usually live in an area near water so that they can plant and harvest crops.

General Characteristics of Civilizations • System of writing • Government • Type of religion or spirituality; some type of ceremony or rituals • Urban life • Trade and commerce • System of transportation • Way of communication

Webster’s Dictionary Defi nition: “A relatively advanced stage of social, politi- cal, and cultural development.”

WHAT IS CULTURE? 2