Urban Geography- Day 2

       Today we continued to talk about urban geography. We learned about the five Hearths of Urbanization, which include Mesopotamia, Nile River Valley, Indus River Valley, Huang He and Wei River Valley, and Mesoamerica. All of these were formed because they had an agricultural surplus and social stratification that created conditions necessary for them to form and be maintained. Mesopotamia was created in 3500 BCE, Nile River Valley was created in 3200 BCE, Indus River Valley was created in 2200 BCE, Huang He and Wei River Valley was created in 1500 BCE, and Mesoamerica was created in 200 BCE. The two main cities in Indus River Valley were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. They thrived so well because they were intricately planned, had houses that were in equal size, no palaces, no monuments, and they had their own sewage systems. In Mesoamerica, the Mayans and Aztecs were theocratic centers where rulers were deemed to have divine authority and were god-kings. They built structures like pyramids except theirs were uneven and you could walk up them. Between the years 300 and 900 BCE, Altun Ha, Belize served as a thriving center and distribution center.