River Valley Civilizations

Bulliet writes, “From 1000 b.c.e. to 400 c.e. important changes in the ways of life established in the river-valley civilizations in the two previous millennia occurred, and the scale of human institutions and activities increased. On the shores of the Mediterranean and in Iran, India, and Southeast Asia, new centers arose in lands watered by rainfall and worked by a free peasantry. These societies developed new patterns of political and social organization and economic activity, and they moved in new intellectual, artistic, and spiritual directions.”

What caused new patterns in society to emerge?What are the effects?Identify three concepts, civilizations, or changes in society that best illustrate Bulliet’s point.