The Rise of Old World Civilizations Land movement from the Old World to the New was only possible during several limited periods, the last of which ended with the last Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. Because human occupation was, thus, much longer in the Old World, societal evolution was more advanced here.
Civilization is a treacherous, and often misused term.
To archaeologists, it has a very specific meaning which was covered in one of the first chapters of the book. The earliest known civilization developed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now the country of Iraq. By 7,000-6,000 B. C., farming settlements of over 1,000 people were established in Catal Huyuk in Turkey, and Jericho in Palistine. By 5,000 B. C., people had moved down these rivers and occupied the arid region near their mouths in Sumer. Although large settlements developed by 3,600 B. C., there is no evidence that they had the complexity that we associate with urban areas.