Need help with my writing homework on 10 Civilization Defining Criteria by Gordon Childe. Write a 1500 word paper answering; The most important of Childe’s criteria defining civilization is the presence of a large settlement which allowed for the development of urban centers. The rest of the criteria can be considered to have been secondary because they took place as a direct result of the first. A large settlement area meant that there was a large enough population that needed to be organized in such a manner as to bring about order in society. The need to organize was essential because, without any form of leadership, these settlements would not have been viable and would have eventually have disintegrated (Childe 12). Therefore, a direct result of large settlements, especially those that were not based on kinship ties, was that there emerged leaders whose role was to not only bring order in society but also to ensure that they provided the necessary leadership in ensuring that the society remained together for mutual benefit. It was the role of leaders to help in the provision of justice as well as the lead in religious observances for all people living in the settlement and this allowed for massive growth in their power. With this growth of power, leaders in society ceased being chosen by their people for their abilities and instead, these positions came to be occupied through inheritance. It is through this system of inheriting leadership that in many settlements, there developed a well-entrenched ruling class which eventually led to a separation of society into two classes, namely the nobility and the commoners and this became the new order of life in what developed into urban areas.The rise of a noble class led directly to the development of the state because of the need for there to be governance over an ever-growing population. The members of the ruling class were not capable of governing an entire city all by themselves and had to delegate duties to subordinates that they appointed.
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