(Roebuck, The Fertile Crescent)
This map shows how close the Country of Georgia is to the Fertile Crescent adding credit to Prof. Diamonds research. This map also demonstrates that Georgia has a lot of forest area that would provide plenty of resources such as wood and forest dwelling animals in association with plenty of water for fishing (Black Sea) and survival (streams and rivers).
The country of Georgia has one of the oldest known histories. According to Mikaberidze (2007), people actually began to establish settlements in Southern Caucasia sometime between 11,000 and 9000 BCE. The reason that this area has such an ancient history of civilization could be because this area lies just north of the region labeled the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is believed to be one of the birthplaces of civilization. According to the Atlas of World History, “the retreat of ice in Western Asia and the Near East had opened up vast expanses of grassland [and] these areas attracted large numbers of grazing mammals such as goats, gazelle, cattle and horses” (K. Santon and L. McKay (Eds.) 2012 p. 15).
The early people of Georgia took advantage of their lush surroundings to make technological advances necessary to evolve into a settlement and leave their ways of hunting and gathering in the past. According to Santon and McKay (2012), as early as 10,000 BC people on the East side of the Mediterranean had begun to domesticate and breed plants and animals. Though Diamond’s (1999) work implies that the domestication of Fertile Crescent plants didn’t reach Georgia’s vicinity until around 6000 BC, one can still believe the general beliefs imparted by Diamond (1999) that early civilization was born in this general area as a whole and developed West and moved North only when land barriers such as mountain ranges and large bodies of water forced a change in direction.
Another resource that served to benefit early Georgians was that this area of the world contained the various mammals and plants necessary to evolve into a settled people. Diamond (1999) shows that this area around the Fertile Crescent contained the major five mammals needed for domestication. These mammals included sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and horses. Combined with the domestication of plants such as wheat, barley and grapes, the domestication of these mammals allowed Ancient Georgians to begin to farm and raise animals instead of hunting all the time.
Now that early Georgians had evolved to farmers and domesticated both plants and animals, the settlement was allowed to grow and thrive. This allowed for the people to become specialist in areas around the settlement. These specialist roles and a larger work force allowed for more time, which allowed settlement members to start making inventions and breakthroughs in tools. According to Mikaberidze (2007), archaeologists have found tools made from obsidian in some of the earliest settlements. The discovery of these obsidian tools in these ancient settlements would seem to support research and findings done by Diamond (1999).
Georgians can be proud of their rich and resilient history. Georgia boasts the earliest traces of wine manufacturing and was also recognized by the Greeks for its wealth Mikaberidze (2007) tells us. According to (“The president of,” 2011), Georgia is also home to the oldest remains that have ever been found in Eurasia. These remains have been referred to as the “First European”. Mikaberidze (2007) also tells us that some of the early advances in silver and gold work also came from ancient Georgia.
Georgia has been a resilient country as well. Throughout history, many empires have fallen and yet Georgia still survives and has been populated for about 1.7 million years and first became a kingdom in 304 BC, (“The president of,” 2011). (“The president of,” 2011), also informs us that Georgia has endured many invaders as well. These invaders include Mongols, Turks and in more recent times, Russia. Still standing strong, Georgia portrays an image of prideful independence that has stood the test of time. Georgia’s earliest settlers may have had a head start in becoming civilized based on sheer luck of their location and its abundance of animals and large seeds, but today, Georgia’s future is bright as it enjoys many of the natural resources sought after in todays world as well including large oil and forest reserves, (“The president of,” 2011). There is no limit to the contributions that Georgia can give the modern world.
The early people of Georgia took advantage of their lush surroundings to make technological advances necessary to evolve into a settlement and leave their ways of hunting and gathering in the past. According to Santon and McKay (2012), as early as 10,000 BC people on the East side of the Mediterranean had begun to domesticate and breed plants and animals. Though Diamond’s (1999) work implies that the domestication of Fertile Crescent plants didn’t reach Georgia’s vicinity until around 6000 BC, one can still believe the general beliefs imparted by Diamond (1999) that early civilization was born in this general area as a whole and developed West and moved North only when land barriers such as mountain ranges and large bodies of water forced a change in direction.
Another resource that served to benefit early Georgians was that this area of the world contained the various mammals and plants necessary to evolve into a settled people. Diamond (1999) shows that this area around the Fertile Crescent contained the major five mammals needed for domestication. These mammals included sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and horses. Combined with the domestication of plants such as wheat, barley and grapes, the domestication of these mammals allowed Ancient Georgians to begin to farm and raise animals instead of hunting all the time.
Now that early Georgians had evolved to farmers and domesticated both plants and animals, the settlement was allowed to grow and thrive. This allowed for the people to become specialist in areas around the settlement. These specialist roles and a larger work force allowed for more time, which allowed settlement members to start making inventions and breakthroughs in tools. According to Mikaberidze (2007), archaeologists have found tools made from obsidian in some of the earliest settlements. The discovery of these obsidian tools in these ancient settlements would seem to support research and findings done by Diamond (1999).
Georgians can be proud of their rich and resilient history. Georgia boasts the earliest traces of wine manufacturing and was also recognized by the Greeks for its wealth Mikaberidze (2007) tells us. According to (“The president of,” 2011), Georgia is also home to the oldest remains that have ever been found in Eurasia. These remains have been referred to as the “First European”. Mikaberidze (2007) also tells us that some of the early advances in silver and gold work also came from ancient Georgia.
Georgia has been a resilient country as well. Throughout history, many empires have fallen and yet Georgia still survives and has been populated for about 1.7 million years and first became a kingdom in 304 BC, (“The president of,” 2011). (“The president of,” 2011), also informs us that Georgia has endured many invaders as well. These invaders include Mongols, Turks and in more recent times, Russia. Still standing strong, Georgia portrays an image of prideful independence that has stood the test of time. Georgia’s earliest settlers may have had a head start in becoming civilized based on sheer luck of their location and its abundance of animals and large seeds, but today, Georgia’s future is bright as it enjoys many of the natural resources sought after in todays world as well including large oil and forest reserves, (“The president of,” 2011). There is no limit to the contributions that Georgia can give the modern world.
Additional Resources About Georgia:
http://www.advantour.com/georgia/geography/resources.htm is a great resource for all kinds of facts and figures involving Georgia. Though its main purpose is to serve as a travel site for Georgia, Advantour.com has information on everything from climate to fauna and from natural resources to population and culture.
http://www.aboutgeorgia.org/republic-of-georgia/ is another website that would merit a visit. This site is less about data and figures but gives more in-depth infomation about the people, culture and history of Georgia.
http://www.advantour.com/georgia/geography/resources.htm is a great resource for all kinds of facts and figures involving Georgia. Though its main purpose is to serve as a travel site for Georgia, Advantour.com has information on everything from climate to fauna and from natural resources to population and culture.
http://www.aboutgeorgia.org/republic-of-georgia/ is another website that would merit a visit. This site is less about data and figures but gives more in-depth infomation about the people, culture and history of Georgia.