HIS DB week 8

First, what is Eric Cline’s main argument in “The Collapse of Civilizations: It’s Complicated?” What do you think of the idea that technologies can decline and disappear rather than progressing? After reading Hodges, Chapter 5, and Cline’s article, what do you think the two most likely causes of the late-Bronze-Age collapse are? Why does Cline think such a collapse could happen again? Do you agree with his statements? What do you think about his (and many others’) attempts to use examples from the ancient world as lessons for our current society?

Then, going back to before the collapse, what is an example of a technology from Hodges, Chapter 5 that progressed or advanced in the period leading up to the end of the Bronze Age (2000-1100 BC), a technology that already existed but become more sophisticated during the late Bronze Age? What is an example of a new group of people who either entered into the Near East during the late Bronze Age or who established trading connections with Mesopotamia and Egypt in this period, and what is an example of a new technology, product, or idea that appears in the Near East because of this contact?

Finally, after this period iron eventually became the dominant metal used in the Near East (and, in fact, retains that dominance today as steel, which is carbonized iron). Iron is much harder to work with than bronze. What is one difference between working with iron and working with bronze? What is one reason you think people might have turned to iron after the late Bronze-Age collapse despite the fact that iron is a much more difficult metal to work with?

Only use the sources given and indicate page numbers when using in text citations. Please explain quote if you in text citations

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-collapse-of-civilizations-its-complicated_b_4995479 ( Eric Cline, “The Collapse of Civilizations: It’s Complicated.”)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a4u2ilvmrf45afr/Hodges%2C%20Chapter%205.pdf?dl=0 (Hodges, chapter 5 )