vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Mycenaean Greece
The Mycenaean Greeks were also pioneers in the field of engineering , launching large - scale projects unmatched in Europe until the Roman period , such as fortifications , bridges , culverts , aqueducts , dams and roads suitable for wheeled traffic . They also made several architectural innovations , such as the relieving triangle . They were also responsible for transmitting a wide range of arts and crafts , especially of Minoan origin . The Mycenaean civilization was in general more advanced compared to the Late Bronze Age cultures of the rest of Europe . Several Mycenaean attributes and achievements were borrowed or held in high regard in later periods ; so , it would be no exaggeration to consider Mycenaean Greece as a cradle of civilization .
History of the Great Wall of China
According to the model by sinologist Karl August Wittfogel , the loess soils of Shaanxi made it possible for the Chinese to develop irrigated agriculture early on . Although this allowed them to expand into the lower reaches of the Yellow River valley , such extensive waterworks on an ever - increasing scale required collective labour , something that could only be managed by some form of bureaucracy . Thus the scholar - bureaucrats came to the fore to keep track of the income and expenses of the granaries . Walled cities grew up around the granaries for reasons of defence along with ease of administration ; they kept invaders out and ensured that citizens remained within . These cities combined to become feudal states , which eventually united to become an empire . Likewise , according to this model , walls not only enveloped cities as time went by , but also lined the borders of the feudal states and eventually the whole Chinese empire to provide protection against raids from the agrarian northern steppes .
Ancient Roman architecture
Most Roman aqueducts proved reliable , and durable ; some were maintained into the early modern era , and a few are still partly in use . Methods of aqueduct surveying and construction are noted by Vitruvius in his work De Architectura ( 1st century BC ) . The general Frontinus gives more detail in his official report on the problems , uses and abuses of Imperial Rome 's public water supply . Notable examples of aqueduct architecture include the supporting piers of the Aqueduct of Segovia , and the aqueduct - fed cisterns of Constantinople .
Ancient Egypt
A combination of favorable geographical features contributed to the success of ancient Egyptian culture , the most important of which was the rich fertile soil resulting from annual inundations of the Nile River . The ancient Egyptians were thus able to produce an abundance of food , allowing the population to devote more time and resources to cultural , technological , and artistic pursuits . Land management was crucial in ancient Egypt because taxes were assessed based on the amount of land a person owned .
Nile
Owing to their failure to penetrate the sudd wetlands of South Sudan , the upper reaches of the Nile remained largely unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans . Various expeditions failed to determine the river 's source . Agatharcides records that in the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus , a military expedition had penetrated far enough along the course of the Blue Nile to determine that the summer floods were caused by heavy seasonal rainstorms in the Ethiopian Highlands , but no European of antiquity is known to have reached Lake Tana .
Ancient Roman architecture
Rome 's first aqueduct supplied a water - fountain sited at the city 's cattle market . By the third century AD , the city had eleven aqueducts , sustaining a population of over a million in a water - extravagant economy ; most of the water supplied the city 's many public baths . Cities and municipalities throughout the Roman Empire emulated this model , and funded aqueducts as objects of public interest and civic pride , `` an expensive yet necessary luxury to which all could , and did , aspire . ''
Mesopotamia
Irrigated agriculture spread southwards from the Zagros foothills with the Samara and Hadji Muhammed culture , from about 5,000 BC . Sumerian temples functioned as banks and developed the first large - scale system of loans and credit , but the Babylonians developed the earliest system of commercial banking . It was comparable in some ways to modern post-Keynesian economics , but with a more `` anything goes '' approach .
Mexico City
The city grew as the population did , coming up against the lake 's waters . As the depth of the lake water fluctuated , Mexico City was subject to periodic flooding . A major labor draft , the desagüe , compelled thousands of Indians over the colonial period to work on infrastructure to prevent flooding . Floods were not only an inconvenience but also a health hazard , since during flood periods human waste polluted the city 's streets . By draining the area , the mosquito population dropped as did the frequency of the diseases they spread . However , draining the wetlands also changed the habitat for fish and birds and the areas accessible for Indian cultivation close to the capital .
Water tank
Throughout history , wood , ceramic and stone tanks have been used as water tanks . These containers were all naturally occurring and some man made and a few of these tanks are still in service . The Indus Valley Civilization ( 3000 -- 1500 BC ) made use of granaries and water tanks . Medieval castles needed water tanks for the defenders to withstand a siege . A wooden water tank found at the Año Nuevo State Reserve ( California ) was restored to functionality after being found completely overgrown with ivy . It had been built in 1884 . An
History of agriculture
In the Greco - Roman world of Classical antiquity , Roman agriculture was built on techniques originally pioneered by the Sumerians , transmitted to them by subsequent cultures , with a specific emphasis on the cultivation of crops for trade and export . The Romans laid the groundwork for the manorial economic system , involving serfdom , which flourished in the Middle Ages . The farm sizes in Rome can be divided into three categories . Small farms were from 18 - 88 iugera ( one iugerum is equal to about 0.65 acre ) . Medium - sized farms were from 80 - 500 iugera ( singular iugerum ) . Large estates ( called latifundia ) were over 500 iugera . The Romans had four systems of farm management : direct work by owner and his family ; slaves doing work under supervision of slave managers ; tenant farming or sharecropping in which the owner and a tenant divide up a farm 's produce ; and situations in which a farm was leased to a tenant .
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper - working , glass and lamp making , textile weaving , flood control , water storage , and irrigation . They were also one of the first Bronze Age societies in the world . They developed from copper , bronze , and gold on to iron . Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals . Also , copper , bronze , and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords , daggers , spears , and maces .
St. Johns River
Around 9,000 years ago , the climate warmed , melting much of the polar ice caps and many glaciers , creating a wetter environment and submerging half the peninsular shelf . As Paleo - Indians now did not have to travel as far to find water , their camps became more permanent , turning into villages . With evidence of a wide variety of tools constructed around this time , archeologists note the transition into Archaic people . The Archaic people made tools from bone , animal teeth , and antlers . They wove fibers from plants such as cabbage palms and saw palmettos . A few burial sites have been excavated -- including the Windover Archaeological Site in Brevard County near Titusville -- that provide evidence of burial rituals . Archaic peoples interred their dead in shallow peat marshes , which preserved much of the human tissue . Further climate change between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago led to the Middle Archaic period ; evidence suggests that human habitation near the St. Johns River first occurred during this era . Populations of indigenous people increased significantly at this time , and numerous settlements near the St. Johns have been recorded from this era ; the banks of the St. Johns and its arteries are dotted with middens filled with thousands of shells , primarily those of Viviparus georgianus -- a freshwater snail -- and oysters .
Ancient Roman architecture
Roman bath - houses were also provided for private villas , town houses and forts . They were normally supplied with water from an adjacent river or stream , or by aqueduct . The design of thermae is discussed by Vitruvius in De Architectura .
Sahara
By 3400 BCE , the Sahara was as dry as it is today , due to reduced precipitation and higher temperatures resulting from a shift in the Earth 's orbit . As a result of this aridification , it became a largely impenetrable barrier to humans , with the remaining settlements mainly being concentrated around the numerous oases that dot the landscape . Little trade or commerce is known to have passed through the interior in subsequent periods , the only major exception being the Nile Valley . The Nile , however , was impassable at several cataracts , making trade and contact by boat difficult .
Sahara
The growth of speleothems ( which requires rainwater ) was detected in Hol - Zakh , Ashalim , Even - Sid , Ma'ale - ha - Meyshar , Ktora Cracks , Nagev Tzavoa Cave , and elsewhere , and has allowing tracking of prehistoric rainfall . The Red Sea coastal route was extremely arid before 140 and after 115 kya . Slightly wetter conditions appear at 90 -- 87 kya , but it still was just one tenth the rainfall around 125 kya . In the southern Negev Desert speleothems did not grow between 185 -- 140 kya ( MIS 6 ) , 110 -- 90 ( MIS 5.4 -- 5.2 ) , nor after 85 kya nor during most of the interglacial period ( MIS 5.1 ) , the glacial period and Holocene . This suggests that the southern Negev was arid to hyper - arid in these periods .
Siege
A more detailed historical account from the 8th century BC , called the Piankhi stela , records how the Nubians laid siege to and conquered several Egyptian cities by using battering rams , archers , and slingers and building causeways across moats .
Mesopotamia
The geography of Mesopotamia had a profound impact on the political development of the region . Among the rivers and streams , the Sumerian people built the first cities along with irrigation canals which were separated by vast stretches of open desert or swamp where nomadic tribes roamed . Communication among the isolated cities was difficult and , at times , dangerous . Thus , each Sumerian city became a city - state , independent of the others and protective of its independence . At times one city would try to conquer and unify the region , but such efforts were resisted and failed for centuries . As a result , the political history of Sumer is one of almost constant warfare . Eventually Sumer was unified by Eannatum , but the unification was tenuous and failed to last as the Akkadians conquered Sumeria in 2331 BC only a generation later . The Akkadian Empire was the first successful empire to last beyond a generation and see the peaceful succession of kings . The empire was relatively short - lived , as the Babylonians conquered them within only a few generations .
History of India
The Mature Indus civilisation flourished from about 2600 to 1900 BCE , marking the beginning of urban civilisation on the subcontinent . The civilisation included urban centres such as Dholavira , Kalibangan , Ropar , Rakhigarhi , and Lothal in modern - day India , as well as Harappa , Ganeriwala , and Mohenjo - daro in modern - day Pakistan . The civilisation is noted for its cities built of brick , roadside drainage system , and multi-storeyed houses and is thought to have had some kind of municipal organisation .
Ancient Greek architecture
The earliest finds of roof tiles of the Archaic period in Greece are documented from a very restricted area around Corinth , where fired tiles began to replace thatched roofs at the temples of Apollo and Poseidon between 700 and 650 BC . Spreading rapidly , roof tiles were within fifty years in evidence for a large number of sites around the Eastern Mediterranean , including Mainland Greece , Western Asia Minor , Southern and Central Italy . Being more expensive and labour - intensive to produce than thatch , their introduction has been explained by the fact that their fireproof quality would have given desired protection to the costly temples . As a side - effect , it has been assumed that the new stone and tile construction also ushered in the end of overhanging eaves in Greek architecture , as they made the need for an extended roof as rain protection for the mudbrick walls obsolete .
Nile
The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that `` Egypt was the gift of the Nile '' . An unending source of sustenance , it provided a crucial role in the development of Egyptian civilization . Silt deposits from the Nile made the surrounding land fertile because the river overflowed its banks annually . The Ancient Egyptians cultivated and traded wheat , flax , papyrus and other crops around the Nile . Wheat was a crucial crop in the famine - plagued Middle East . This trading system secured Egypt 's diplomatic relationships with other countries , and contributed to economic stability . Far - reaching trade has been carried on along the Nile since ancient times .
Nile
A computer simulation study to plan the economic development of the Nile was directed by H.A.W. Morrice and W.N. Allan , for the Ministry of Hydro - power of the Republic of the Sudan , during 1955 -- 1957 Morrice was their Hydrological Adviser , and Allan his predecessor . M.P. Barnett directed the software development and computer operations . The calculations were enabled by accurate monthly inflow data collected for 50 years . The underlying principle was the use of over-year storage , to conserve water from rainy years for use in dry years . Irrigation , navigation and other needs were considered . Each computer run postulated a set of reservoirs and operating equations for the release of water as a function of the month and the levels upstream . The behavior that would have resulted given the inflow data was modeled . Over 600 models were run . Recommendations were made to the Sudanese authorities . The calculations were run on an IBM 650 computer . Simulation studies to design water resources are discussed further in the article on hydrology transport models , that have been used since the 1980s to analyze water quality .
Ancient Roman architecture
Although concrete had been used on a minor scale in Mesopotamia , Roman architects perfected Roman concrete and used it in buildings where it could stand on its own and support a great deal of weight . The first use of concrete by the Romans was in the town of Cosa sometime after 273 BC . Ancient Roman concrete was a mixture of lime mortar , aggregate , pozzolana , water , and stones , and was stronger than previously - used concretes . The ancient builders placed these ingredients in wooden frames where they hardened and bonded to a facing of stones or ( more frequently ) bricks . The aggregates used were often much larger than in modern concrete , amounting to rubble .
Ancient Roman architecture
Innovation started in the 3rd or 2nd century BC with the development of Roman concrete as a readily available adjunct to , or substitute for , stone and brick . More daring buildings soon followed , with great pillars supporting broad arches and domes . The freedom of concrete also inspired the colonnade screen , a row of purely decorative columns in front of a load - bearing wall . In smaller - scale architecture , concrete 's strength freed the floor plan from rectangular cells to a more free - flowing environment .
Colosseum
Substantial quantities of machinery also existed in the hypogeum . Elevators and pulleys raised and lowered scenery and props , as well as lifting caged animals to the surface for release . There is evidence for the existence of major hydraulic mechanisms and according to ancient accounts , it was possible to flood the arena rapidly , presumably via a connection to a nearby aqueduct . However , the construction of the hypogeum at Domitian 's behest put an end to the practise of flooding , and thus also to naval battles , early in the Colosseum 's existence .
Ancient Egypt
Farming in Egypt was dependent on the cycle of the Nile River . The Egyptians recognized three seasons : Akhet ( flooding ) , Peret ( planting ) , and Shemu ( harvesting ) . The flooding season lasted from June to September , depositing on the river 's banks a layer of mineral - rich silt ideal for growing crops . After the floodwaters had receded , the growing season lasted from October to February . Farmers plowed and planted seeds in the fields , which were irrigated with ditches and canals . Egypt received little rainfall , so farmers relied on the Nile to water their crops . From March to May , farmers used sickles to harvest their crops , which were then threshed with a flail to separate the straw from the grain . Winnowing removed the chaff from the grain , and the grain was then ground into flour , brewed to make beer , or stored for later use .
Cradle of civilization
The emergence of the Olmec civilization has traditionally been dated to around 1600 to 1500 BC . Olmec features first emerged in the city of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán , fully coalescing around 1400 BC . The rise of civilization was assisted by the local ecology of well - watered alluvial soil , as well as by the transportation network provided by the Coatzacoalcos River basin . This environment encouraged a densely concentrated population , which in turn triggered the rise of an elite class and an associated demand for the production of the symbolic and sophisticated luxury artifacts that define Olmec culture . Many of these luxury artifacts were made from materials such as jade , obsidian , and magnetite , which came from distant locations and suggest that early Olmec elites had access to an extensive trading network in Mesoamerica . The aspect of Olmec culture perhaps most familiar today is their artwork , particularly the Olmec colossal heads .
River Thames
A Romano - British settlement grew up north of the confluence , partly because the site was naturally protected from attack on the east side by the River Cherwell and on the west by the River Thames . This settlement dominated the pottery trade in what is now central southern England , and pottery was distributed by boats on the Thames and its tributaries .
Ancient Roman architecture
Roman bridges , built by ancient Romans , were the first large and lasting bridges built . Roman bridges were built with stone and had the arch as the basic structure ( see arch bridge ) . Most utilized concrete as well , which the Romans were the first to use for bridges .
Ancient Roman architecture
Factors such as wealth and high population densities in cities forced the ancient Romans to discover new architectural solutions of their own . The use of vaults and arches , together with a sound knowledge of building materials , enabled them to achieve unprecedented successes in the construction of imposing infrastructure for public use . Examples include the aqueducts of Rome , the Baths of Diocletian and the Baths of Caracalla , the basilicas and Colosseum . These were reproduced at a smaller scale in most important towns and cities in the Empire . Some surviving structures are almost complete , such as the town walls of Lugo in Hispania Tarraconensis , now northern Spain . The administrative structure and wealth of the empire made possible very large projects even in locations remote from the main centres , as did the use of slave labour , both skilled and unskilled .
Ghaggar-Hakra River
However , Henri - Paul Francfort , utilizing images from the French satellite SPOT two decades ago , found that the large river Sarasvati is pre-Harappan altogether and started drying up already in the middle of the 4th millennium BC ; during Harappan times only a complex irrigation - canal network was being used . The date should therefore be pushed back to c 3800 BC . R. Mughal ( 1997 ) , summing up the evidence , concludes that the Bronze Age Ghaggar - Hakra sometimes carried more , sometimes less water ( for example derived from the Sutlej ) . The latter point agrees with a recent isotope study . Painted Grey Ware sites ( ca . 1000 BCE ) have been found in the river bed and not on the banks of the Ghaggar - Hakra river , which suggests that river was certainly dried up by this period .
Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptian military was responsible for defending Egypt against foreign invasion , and for maintaining Egypt 's domination in the ancient Near East . The military protected mining expeditions to the Sinai during the Old Kingdom and fought civil wars during the First and Second Intermediate Periods . The military was responsible for maintaining fortifications along important trade routes , such as those found at the city of Buhen on the way to Nubia . Forts also were constructed to serve as military bases , such as the fortress at Sile , which was a base of operations for expeditions to the Levant . In the New Kingdom , a series of pharaohs used the standing Egyptian army to attack and conquer Kush and parts of the Levant .
History of agriculture
In Mesoamerica , the Aztecs were active farmers and had an agriculturally focused economy . The land around Lake Texcoco was fertile , but not large enough to produce the amount of food needed for the population of their expanding empire . The Aztecs developed irrigation systems , formed terraced hillsides , fertilized their soil , and developed chinampas or artificial islands , also known as `` floating gardens '' . The Mayas between 400 BC to 900 AD used extensive canal and raised field systems to farm swampland on the Yucatán Peninsula .
Carthage
Early residential districts wrapped around the Byrsa from the south to the north east . Houses usually were whitewashed and blank to the street , but within were courtyards open to the sky . In these neighborhoods multistory construction later became common , some up to six stories tall according to an ancient Greek author . Several architectural floorplans of homes have been revealed by recent excavations , as well as the general layout of several city blocks . Stone stairs were set in the streets , and drainage was planned , e.g. , in the form of soakways leaching into the sandy soil . Along the Byrsa 's southern slope were located not only fine old homes , but also many of the earliest grave - sites , juxtaposed in small areas , interspersed with daily life .
Maya civilization
The Usumacinta style developed in the hilly terrain of the Usumacinta drainage . Cities took advantage of the hillsides to support their major architecture , as at Palenque and Yaxchilan . Sites modified corbel vaulting to allow thinner walls and multiple access doors to temples . As in Petén , roof combs adorned principal structures . Palaces had multiple entrances that used post-and - lintel entrances rather than corbel vaulting . Many sites erected stelae , but Palenque instead developed finely sculpted panelling to decorate its buildings .
St. Johns River
Humans arrived on the Florida Peninsula about 12,000 years ago when the ocean was about 350 feet ( 110 m ) lower than today , and the peninsula was double its current size . These earliest people are called Paleo - Indians . They were primarily hunter -- gatherers who followed large game , such as mastodons , horses , camels , and bison . Much of the land was far from water -- most fresh water was contained in glaciers and polar ice caps . As a result , Florida was an arid landscape with few trees , dominated by grasslands and scrub vegetation . An