The heartlands of various cultures;From where the most dominant cultural

ideas have spread

Early Culture Hearth Locations

4 River Valleys

1. The Nile

2. Wei River Valley

3. The sacred Ganges River

4. Indus River Valley

“Land between two rivers”

Mesopotamia

West Africa

Where is farming?

Cultural hearths: Where ideas began

• Such things as religion, the use of iron tools, and weapons

• Highly organized social systems• Development of agriculture

From Hearth to..?

• The spreading of ideas across time and space (Geography)

• Example: Mecca is the cultural hearth for Islam and the area from which Muslims initially traveled to convert people to Islam

• The spread of tools, social structures, and agriculture spread in a similar manner from cultural hearths

Idea flow

Cultural Regions

• These are areas that contain dominant cultural elements

• Not everyone in the culture region has the same culture traits; however, they are often influenced by it in some way

Resources

Thinking further…

• What and where will be the next Cultural Hearth?

• What ideas will be spread?• How will they be spread?• How will they be received by other cultures?