vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
The impact of geography on colonial America
The Atlantic Coastal plains developed over the last 6,000 years , flattening out via the global flood as well as the transportation of sediment by river systems from the Appalachian Mountains . Crisscrossed by these river systems , the area became known as the Tidewater region due to the noticeable effect of the ocean 's tides on the rivers that run through it .
Ancient Roman architecture
While borrowing much from the preceding Etruscan architecture , such as the use of hydraulics and the construction of arches , Roman prestige architecture remained firmly under the spell of Ancient Greek architecture and the classical orders . This came initially from Magna Graecia , the Greek colonies in southern Italy , and indirectly from Greek influence on the Etruscans , but after the Roman conquest of Greece directly from the best classical and Hellenistic examples in the Greek world . The influence is evident in many ways ; for example , in the introduction and use of the Triclinium in Roman villas as a place and manner of dining . Roman builders employed Greeks in many capacities , especially in the great boom in construction in the early Empire .
Ancient Roman architecture
The earliest Roman amphitheatres date from the middle of the first century BC , but most were built under Imperial rule , from the Augustan period ( 27 BC -- 14 AD ) onwards . Imperial amphitheatres were built throughout the Roman empire ; the largest could accommodate 40,000 -- 60,000 spectators , and the most elaborate featured multi-storeyed , arcaded façades and were elaborately decorated with marble , stucco and statuary . After the end of gladiatorial games in the 5th century and of animal killings in the 6th , most amphitheatres fell into disrepair , and their materials were mined or recycled . Some were razed , and others converted into fortifications . A few continued as convenient open meeting places ; in some of these , churches were sited .
Carthage
Starting in the 19th century , various texts claim that after defeating the city of Carthage in the Third Punic War ( 146 BC ) , the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus Africanus ordered the city be sacked , forced its surviving inhabitants into slavery , plowed it over and sowed it with salt . However , no ancient sources exist documenting the salting itself . The element of salting is therefore probably a later invention modeled on the Biblical story of Shechem . The ritual of symbolically drawing a plow over the site of a city is mentioned in ancient sources , but not in reference to Carthage specifically . When Pope Boniface VIII destroyed Palestrina in 1299 , he issued a papal bull that it be plowed `` following the old example of Carthage in Africa '' and also salted . `` I have run the plough over it , like the ancient Carthage of Africa , and I have had salt sown upon it ... ''
Ancient Roman architecture
The initial invention of the watermill appears to have occurred in the hellenized eastern Mediterranean in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great and the rise of Hellenistic science and technology . In the subsequent Roman era , the use of water - power was diversified and different types of watermills were introduced . These include all three variants of the vertical water wheel as well as the horizontal water wheel . Apart from its main use in grinding flour , water - power was also applied to pounding grain , crushing ore , sawing stones and possibly fulling and bellows for iron furnaces .
Sahara
The sudden subsequent movement of the ITCZ southwards with a Heinrich event ( a sudden cooling followed by a slower warming ) , linked to changes with the El Niño - Southern Oscillation cycle , led to a rapid drying out of the Saharan and Arabian regions , which quickly became desert . This is linked to a marked decline in the scale of the Nile floods between 2700 and 2100 BC .
Siege
The stone and mud brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered behind massive stone flood dikes and defensive walls , for neighbouring communities quarrelled constantly about the control of prime agricultural land . Mundigak ( c. 2500 BC ) in present - day south - east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun - dried bricks .
Ancient Roman architecture
The dome permitted construction of vaulted ceilings without crossbeams and made possible large covered public space such as public baths and basilicas , such as Hadrian 's Pantheon , the Baths of Diocletian and the Baths of Caracalla , all in Rome .
London Bridge
The abutments of modern London Bridge rest several metres above natural embankments of gravel , sand and clay . From the late Neolithic era the southern embankment formed a natural causeway above the surrounding swamp and marsh of the river 's estuary ; the northern ascended to higher ground at the present site of Cornhill . Between the embankments , the River Thames could have been crossed by ford when the tide was low , or ferry when it was high . Both embankments , particularly the northern , would have offered stable backheads for boat traffic up and downstream -- the Thames and its estuary were a major inland and Continental trade route from at least the 9th century BC . There is archaeological evidence for scattered Neolithic , Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement nearby , but until a bridge was built there , London did not exist . Two ancient fords were in use a few miles upstream , beyond the river 's upper tidal reach . It seems that the course of Watling Street was aligned with them and led into the heartlands of the Catuvellauni , who at the time of Caesar 's invasion of 54 BC were Britain 's most powerful tribe . Some time before Claudius 's conquest of AD 43 , power shifted to the Trinovantes , who held the region northeast of the Thames Estuary from a capital at Camulodunum , nowadays Colchester in Essex . Claudius imposed a major colonia on Camulodunum , and made it the capital city of the new Roman province of Britannia . The first London Bridge was built by the Romans as part of their road - building programme , to help consolidate their conquest .
Siege
City walls and fortifications were essential for the defence of the first cities in the ancient Near East . The walls were built of mudbricks , stone , wood , or a combination of these materials , depending on local availability . They may also have served the dual purpose of showing presumptive enemies the might of the kingdom . The great walls surrounding the Sumerian city of Uruk gained a widespread reputation . The walls were 9.5 km ( 5.9 mi ) in length , and up to 12 m ( 39 ft ) in height .
Ancient Egypt
In 1977 , an ancient north - south canal dating to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt was discovered extending from Lake Timsah to the Ballah Lakes . It was dated to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt by extrapolating dates of ancient sites constructed along its course .
Ancient Egypt
Egypt 's wealth , however , made it a tempting target for invasion , particularly by the Libyan Berbers to the west , and the Sea Peoples , a conjectured confederation of seafarers from the Aegean Sea . Initially , the military was able to repel these invasions , but Egypt eventually lost control of its remaining territories in southern Canaan , much of it falling to the Assyrians . The effects of external threats were exacerbated by internal problems such as corruption , tomb robbery , and civil unrest . After regaining their power , the high priests at the temple of Amun in Thebes accumulated vast tracts of land and wealth , and their expanded power splintered the country during the Third Intermediate Period .
River Thames
The River Thames can first be identified as a discrete drainage line as early as 58 million years ago , in the Thanetian stage of the late Palaeocene epoch . Until around 500,000 years ago , the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire , before turning to the north east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near Ipswich .
Pottery of ancient Greece
The striking black slip with a metallic sheen , so characteristic of Greek pottery , was a fine suspension ( colloidal fraction ) of an illitic clay with very low calcium oxide content which was rich in iron oxides and hydroxides , differentiating from that used for the body of the vase in terms of the calcium content , the exact mineral composition and the particle size . This clay suspension was most probably collected in situ from illitic clay beds and was then processed through levigation . To aid in the levigation step , it is likely that the Attic black slip was treated with deflocculants as indicated by trace levels of contaminants to the clay , such as Zn associated with vitriol . This clay suspension was thickened by concentration to a paste and was used for the decoration of the surface of the vase . The paint was applied on the areas intended to become black after firing .
Tropical cyclone
Proxy records based on paleotempestological research have revealed that major hurricane activity along the Gulf of Mexico coast varies on timescales of centuries to millennia . Few major hurricanes struck the Gulf coast during 3000 -- 1400 BC and again during the most recent millennium . These quiescent intervals were separated by a hyperactive period during 1400 BC and 1000 AD , when the Gulf coast was struck frequently by catastrophic hurricanes and their landfall probabilities increased by 3 -- 5 times . This millennial - scale variability has been attributed to long - term shifts in the position of the Azores High , which may also be linked to changes in the strength of the North Atlantic oscillation .
Ancient Greek architecture
Every temple rested on a masonry base called the crepidoma , generally of three steps , of which the upper one which carried the columns was the stylobate . Masonry walls were employed for temples from about 600 BC onwards . Masonry of all types was used for ancient Greek buildings , including rubble , but the finest ashlar masonry was usually employed for temple walls , in regular courses and large sizes to minimise the joints . The blocks were rough hewn and hauled from quarries to be cut and bedded very precisely , with mortar hardly ever being used . Blocks , particularly those of columns and parts of the building bearing loads were sometimes fixed in place or reinforced with iron clamps , dowels and rods of wood , bronze or iron fixed in lead to minimise corrosion . Openings
Ancient Roman architecture
The Romans perfected brick - making during the first century of their empire and used it ubiquitously , in public and private construction alike . The Romans took their brickmaking skills everywhere they went , introducing the craft to the local populations . The Roman legions , which operated their own kilns , introduced bricks to many parts of the empire ; bricks are often stamped with the mark of the legion that supervised their production . The use of bricks in southern and western Germany , for example , can be traced back to traditions already described by the Roman architect Vitruvius . In the British Isles , the introduction of Roman brick by the ancient Romans was followed by a 600 -- 700 year gap in major brick production .
History of Mexico
It is remarkable that so many civilizations arose in a region with no major navigable rivers , no beasts of burden , and difficult terrain that impeded the movement of people and goods . Indigenous civilizations developed complex ritual and solar calendars , a significant understanding of astronomy and developed forms of written communication in the form of glyphs , clear testimony to their advanced level of sophistication .
Ancient Roman architecture
The Roman Architectural Revolution , also known as the Concrete Revolution , was the widespread use in Roman architecture of the previously little - used architectural forms of the arch , vault , and dome . For the first time in history , their potential was fully exploited in the construction of a wide range of civil engineering structures , public buildings , and military facilities . These included amphitheatres , aqueducts , baths , bridges , circuses , dams , domes , harbours , temples , and theatres .
History of the Great Wall of China
For the most part , barring intermittent passes and valleys ( the major one being the corridor through Zhangjiakou and the Juyong Pass ) , the North China Plain remained shielded from the Mongolian steppe by the Yin Mountains . However , if this defence were breached , China 's flat terrain offered no protection to the cities on the plain , including the imperial capitals of Beijing , Kaifeng , and Luoyang . Heading west along the Yin Mountains , the range ends where the Yellow River circles northwards upstream in the area known as the Ordos Loop -- technically part of the steppe , but capable of irrigated agriculture . Although the Yellow River formed a theoretical natural boundary with the north , such a border so far into the steppe was difficult to maintain . The lands south of the Yellow River -- the Hetao , the Ordos Desert , and the Loess Plateau -- provided no natural barriers on the approach to the Wei River valley , the oft - called cradle of Chinese civilization where the ancient capital Xi'an lay . As such , control of the Ordos remained extremely important for the rulers of China : not only for potential influence over the steppe , but also for the security of China proper . The region 's strategic importance combined with its untenability led many dynasties to place their first walls here .
Maya civilization
The Maya built their cities with Neolithic technology ; they built their structures from both perishable materials and from stone . The exact type of stone used in masonry construction varied according to locally available resources , and this also affected the building style . Across a broad swathe of the Maya area , limestone was immediately available . The local limestone is relatively soft when freshly cut , but hardens with exposure . There was great variety in the quality of limestone , with good - quality stone available in the Usumacinta region ; in the northern Yucatán , the limestone used in construction was of relatively poor quality . Volcanic tuff was used at Copán , and nearby Quiriguá employed sandstone . In Comalcalco , where suitable stone was not available locally , fired bricks were employed . Limestone was burned at high temperatures in order to manufacture cement , plaster , and stucco . Lime - based cement was used to seal stonework in place , and stone blocks were fashioned using rope - and - water abrasion , and with obsidian tools . The Maya did not employ a functional wheel , so all loads were transported on litters , barges , or rolled on logs . Heavy loads were lifted with rope , but probably without employing pulleys .
Ancient Greek architecture
Ancient Greek buildings of timber , clay and plaster construction were probably roofed with thatch . With the rise of stone architecture came the appearance of fired ceramic roof tiles . These early roof tiles showed an S - shape , with the pan and cover tile forming one piece . They were much larger than modern roof tiles , being up to 90 cm ( 35.43 in ) long , 70 cm ( 27.56 in ) wide , 3 -- 4 cm ( 1.18 -- 1.57 in ) thick and weighing around 30 kg ( 66 lb ) apiece . Only stone walls , which were replacing the earlier mudbrick and wood walls , were strong enough to support the weight of a tiled roof .
Ancient Greek architecture
The construction of many houses employed walls of sun dried clay bricks or wooden framework filled with fibrous material such as straw or seaweed covered with clay or plaster , on a base of stone which protected the more vulnerable elements from damp . The roofs were probably of thatch with eaves which overhung the permeable walls . Many larger houses , such as those at Delos , were built of stone and plastered . The roofing material for substantial house was tile . Houses of the wealthy had mosaic floors and demonstrated the Classical style .
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Another result of the tsunami , respective of Indian culture , was the water that washed away centuries of sand from some of the ruins of a 1,200 - year - old lost city at Mahabalipuram on the south coast of India . The site , containing such notable structures as a half - buried granite lion near a 7th - century Mahablipuram temple and a relic depicting an elephant , is part of what archaeologists believe to be an ancient port city that was swallowed by the sea hundreds of years ago .
Rub' al Khali
Along the middle length of the desert there are a number of raised , hardened areas of calcium carbonate , gypsum , marl , or clay that were once the site of shallow lakes . These lakes existed during periods from 6,000 to 5,000 years ago and 3,000 to 2,000 years ago . The lakes are thought to have formed as a result of `` cataclysmic rainfall '' similar to present - day monsoon rains and most probably lasted for only a few years . However , lakes in the Mundafen area in the southwest of the Rub ' al Khali show evidence of lasting longer , up to 800 years , due to increased runoff from the Tuwaiq Escarpment .
Ancient Roman architecture
All Roman cities had at least one thermae , a popular facility for public bathing , exercising and socializing . Exercise might include wrestling and weight - lifting , as well as swimming . Bathing was an important part of the Roman day , where some hours might be spent , at a very low cost subsidized by the government . Wealthier Romans were often accompanied by one or more slaves , who performed any required tasks such as fetching refreshment , guarding valuables , providing towels , and at the end of the session , applying olive oil to their masters ' bodies which was then scraped off with a strigil , a scraper made of wood or bone . Romans did not wash with soap and water as we do now .
Olmec
Scholars have yet to determine the cause of the eventual extinction of the Olmec culture . Between 400 and 350 BCE , the population in the eastern half of the Olmec heartland dropped precipitously , and the area was sparsely inhabited until the 19th century . According to archaeologists , this depopulation was probably the result of `` very serious environmental changes that rendered the region unsuited for large groups of farmers '' , in particular changes to the riverine environment that the Olmec depended upon for agriculture , hunting and gathering , and transportation . These changes may have been triggered by tectonic upheavals or subsidence , or the silting up of rivers due to agricultural practices .
Mesopotamia
According to a recent hypothesis , the Archimedes ' screw may have been used by Sennacherib , King of Assyria , for the water systems at the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Nineveh in the 7th century BC , although mainstream scholarship holds it to be a Greek invention of later times . Later , during the Parthian or Sasanian periods , the Baghdad Battery , which may have been the world 's first battery , was created in Mesopotamia .
Pre-Columbian era
Holding their capital at the great cougar - shaped city of Cuzco , the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533 . Known as Tawantinsuyu , or `` the land of the four regions '' , in Quechua , the Inca civilization was highly distinct and developed . Inca rule extended to nearly a hundred linguistic or ethnic communities , some 9 to 14 million people connected by a 40,000 kilometer road system . Cities were built with precise stonework , constructed over many levels of mountain terrain . Terrace farming was a useful form of agriculture . There is evidence of excellent metalwork and even successful brain surgery in Inca civilization . The
North Carolina
North Carolina was inhabited for thousands of years by succeeding cultures of prehistoric indigenous cultures . Before 200 AD , they were building earthwork mounds , which were used for ceremonial and religious purposes . Succeeding peoples , including those of the ancient Mississippian culture established by 1000 AD in the Piedmont , continued to build or add on to such mounds . In the 500 -- 700 years preceding European contact , the Mississippian culture built large , complex cities and maintained far - flung regional trading networks . Its largest city was Cahokia , located in present - day Illinois near the Mississippi River .
Mesopotamia
Periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons . The demands for labor has from time to time led to population increases that push the limits of the ecological carrying capacity , and should a period of climatic instability ensue , collapsing central government and declining populations can occur . Alternatively , military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and neglect of irrigation systems . Equally , centripetal tendencies amongst city states has meant that central authority over the whole region , when imposed , has tended to be ephemeral , and localism has fragmented power into tribal or smaller regional units . These trends have continued to the present day in Iraq .
Ancient Egypt
Most ancient Egyptians were farmers tied to the land . Their dwellings were restricted to immediate family members , and were constructed of mud - brick designed to remain cool in the heat of the day . Each home had a kitchen with an open roof , which contained a grindstone for milling grain and a small oven for baking the bread . Walls were painted white and could be covered with dyed linen wall hangings . Floors were covered with reed mats , while wooden stools , beds raised from the floor and individual tables comprised the furniture .
Carthage
The remains have been preserved under embankments , the substructures of the later Roman forum , whose foundation piles dot the district . The housing blocks are separated by a grid of straight streets about 6 m ( 20 ft ) wide , with a roadway consisting of clay ; in situ stairs compensate for the slope of the hill . Construction of this type presupposes organization and political will , and has inspired the name of the neighborhood , `` Hannibal district '' , referring to the legendary Punic general or sufet ( consul ) at the beginning of the second century BCE .
Sahara
It is also proposed that humans accelerated the drying out period from 6,000 -- 2,500 BC by pastoralists overgrazing available grassland . Evidence
Euphrates
The Ancient Greek form Euphrátēs ( Ancient Greek : Εὐφράτης ) was borrowed from Old Persian Ufrātu , itself from Elamite ú - ip - ra - tu - iš . The Elamite name is ultimately derived from the Sumerian Buranuna , possibly through the Akkadian name . In Akkadian the river was similarly called Purattu , which has been perpetuated in Semitic languages ( cf . Syriac P ( ə ) rāṯ , Arabic al - Furrāt ) and in other nearby languages of the time ( cf . Hurrian Puranti , Sabarian Uruttu ) . The Elamite , Akkadian , and possibly Sumerian forms are suggested to be from an unrecorded substrate language . Gamkrelidze and Ivanov suggest the Proto - Sumerian * burudu `` copper '' ( Sumerian urudu ) as an origin , with an explanation that Euphrates was the river by which the copper ore was transported in rafts , since Mesopotamia was the center of copper metallurgy during the period .
Ancient Roman architecture
Architecturally , they are typically an example of the Roman use of the classical orders to decorate large concrete walls pierced at intervals , where the columns have nothing to support . Aesthetically , however , the formula is successful .
Copper in architecture
Copper has played a role in architecture for thousands of years . For example , in ancient Egypt , massive doors to the temple of Amen - Re at Karnak were clad with copper . In the 3rd Century B.C. , copper roof shingles were installed atop of the Lowa Maha Paya Temple in Sri Lanka . And the Romans used copper as roof covering for the Pantheon in 27 B.C.