The influence of mercantile economics on European Colonial Expansion 1500-1800 Essay Example for Free

The influence of mercantile economics on European Colonial Expansion 1500-1800 Essay 1.0  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction   The Rise of Europe between 1500 and 1850 was largely accounted for by the growth of European nations which shared their borders with the Atlantic and, in particular, by those that engaged in colonialism and transoceanic trade. Europe was the gateway to the Americas for the Asian traders, and vica-versa. The fact that the economic performance among Atlantic trading nations blossomed due to their access to the Atlantic, is explained by the fact that countries with relatively non-absolutist initial institutions experienced faster growth[1].   Because of this, urbanisation in Western Europe grew significantly faster than in Eastern Europe after 1500 and due in large part to the growth of Atlantic traders (read countries). The process of European growth between 1500 and 1850 was attributed to those countries which had access to the Atlantic, and trade through these Atlantic ports accounted for most of the differential growth of   Europe; Western Europe in relation to Eastern Europe. With trade playing an important part in the economic and social development of most of Europe between 1500 and 1800, Europe witnessed a major revolution- The Price Revolution, starting about the 1520s to the 1630s. This long period, about 120 years in all, saw Europe undergo sustained economic growth and expansion that was marked by: A sustained demographic upsurge, in which European population about doubled By much urbanisation, expanded in scale, by a conspicuous growth of industries By dramatic overseas commercial expansion and colonial exploitation in first Africa, then Asia, the Americas: north and south, with the Caribbean Sea as the focal point A marked monetary expansion, from vast new supplies of both gold and silver from Africa and the Americas (Mexico and Peru), which fuelled an already on-going inflation (begun with earlier monetary expansion) These metals were vitally necessary for Europeans to expand their trade with Asia in particular (Asia being vastly greater in size, population, and economic wealth than the still underdeveloped west European economy), but also the Baltic regions of northern Europe and Russia, as well, where population was markedly too sparse and/or too poor to demand that much in the way of European goods (beyond salt, herrings, beer, woollens)[2]. 2.0  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overview Prior to the 19th century, agriculture played an important role in the lives of the Europeans. There was discrimination between the rich and poor. The poor had to work in the land held by the rich to make a living. There was a long period during which the wage-land rent ratio declined, that implied that there was a rise in inequality. Farmland owners were far closer to the top of the income distribution than were landless workers. At some point in the 19th century this pattern reversed, and wages started to rise relative to land rents, implying a decline in inequality. This pattern soon changed and the traditional link between factor prices and factor endowments was broken some time in the 19th century[3]. It was evident that with trade beginning to grow due to their proximity to the Atlantic, the European nations could not hold back on development. There was also the question of what caused the structural break in wage-rent ratio behaviour? The all important finger pointed to industrial growth; industrial revolutionary forces led to the break in living standards behaviour. Though the exact date or period is elusive, many scholars date the first industrial revolution in Europe from 1760, while some cited this to be from 1780. There were others who disagreed with these views altogether, but everyone were unanimous in their conclusion that, these changes came about due to the technological advance accelerated in English industry about this time (Mokyr 1990; Crafts 1994; Temin 1997)[4]. With trade growing and industrialisation taking place, the two commodities that could be produced simultaneously were: Agricultural products using land and employing labour Manufactured goods using capital and labour Though there were two options to choose from for the poor strata of society of the 1600 and 1700 Europeans, the most appealing aspect for the workers to turn away from agriculture was the sense of freedom and better life. Industries attracted the workers more, and drew them out of agriculture and into the cities, raising wages, lowering rents, and inflating the ratio of wages to rents[5]. Europe is well placed and accessible to the Americas, Asia, and within the whole of Europe itself. This was a distinct advantage that Europe had to encourage the Europeans to bolster exports. This gave rise to industrialisation and pushed trade beyond their borders. Intercontinental trade rose and this influenced prices too. It could be reasoned that trade could have influenced price factors for several centuries before the structural break occurred. However, it turned out that the growth in European overseas trade was not due to global commodity market integration, as measured by a decline in intercontinental price gaps, but rather to shift in demand and supply in Europe, Asia and the Americas (O’Rourke and Williamson 2002a)[6]. It was only in the 19th century that large-scale intercontinental trade became possible in such basic commodities as grain, animal products, coal and manufactured intermediates[7]. 3.0  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Influence Although Europe witnessed some improvements in economic institutions in the late medieval and early modern period, as mentioned earlier, rapid economic development did not begin until the emergence of political institutions providing secure property rights to a broader segment of society and allowing free entry into profitable businesses (North and Thomas, 1973, and North and Weingast, 1989)[8]. Most European countries were under the power of the monarchy. With the rise of political institutions, the power of the monarchy was constrained along with their supporters. The political institutions began to show their strength to control the power of the monarchy, and prerogatives emerged when groups that favoured change, that is commercial interests outside the royal circle, became sufficiently powerful politically. Starting 1500, and more so from 1600 onwards, countries with non-absolutist institutions and easy access to the Atlantic, trade across the Atlantic rose, that enriched and strengthened commercial interests outside the royal circle, enabling them to demand and obtain the institutional changes necessary for economic growth. This was the beginning of the shift from monarchy rule to political rule in these parts. Although profits from Atlantic trade were relatively small in terms of GDP, they were still substantial, and much greater than what was witnessed earlier. By the end of the 17th century, the volume of trade across Atlantic was much larger than that of long-distance Mediterranean trade seen ever before. Those who stood to gain by these initiatives became very rich by 17th- and 18th-century standards in Europe, and were without doubt politically and socially very powerful. What was surprising was that these changes did not take place in countries with highly absolutist institutions, such as, Spain, Portugal, and to a large extent France. The monarchy was able to suppress any political arising and control the expansion of trade. They along with their allies were the main beneficiaries of the early profits from Atlantic trade and plunder; with groups favouring change in the political arena not becoming powerful enough to induce change[9]. The path to development and growth has not always remained the same. The dynamics of accumulation, the agents of expansion, and opposition have not always been the same. There has been a great difference in the various phases of the development of capitalism through this period. We note that different rules and regulations were employed by the European nations in their quest for expansion (Aglietta 1979; Lipietz 1987, 1988). The period 1500-1800 popularly called as the mercantilist phase, trade played a pivotal role in defining the way the European nations concentrated on global mercantile economics. Merchant capital began to ex ­pand on a global scale through state-chartered companies. As Colonial expansionism was the goal of most these European countries, commerce had a big hand in pushing this initiative. The countries in Western Europe accu ­mulated capital through com ­merce, colonial plunder, slave trade, and de-farming. The European traders reached far corners of the globe in their quest and they began to specialize in the production of consumer items such as sugar, coffee, spices, fabrics, salted fish, fur, and later wheat and timber. While the production of consumer items expanded in the colonies, giving way to their colonial expansion, the effects of these measures led to the downfall of other subsistence economies in Europe and the rest of the world. In the industrial phase (1800-1890), the engine of global expansion was the industrial capital of Western Europe. A particularly important feature of this phase of capitalist development was a change in the dominant eco ­nomic discourse from protectionism to free trade and competition. The vic ­tory of the manufacturing class over the landowners and mercantile bour ­geoisie in repealing restrictive trade practices, such as the corn laws in Britain (which meant lower costs of production), marked the victory of the free traders[10]. Note: â€Å"There is a tendency among mercantilist (Krasner 1985) and regulationist (Ag ­lietta 1979) scholars to overemphasize the national dimension by regarding the world economy as a system of interacting national social formations (Aglietta 1982: 6). Although the role of the nation-state in modern societies has been very important, treating nation states as actors having connections with each other and with other organizations in the international arena makes it difficult to deal with social relations that are not between or outside states, but simply crosscut state divisions (Giddens 1990: 67). As some of the twentieth-century nation-states are torn apart by ethnic and religious conflicts, and as new social identities organized around religion or re ­gionalism are emerging, insistence on the nation-state as the unit of analysis will sig ­nificantly limit in our understanding of the political and ideological dimensions of globalization†-Mustafa Koc. The title ‘Atlantic traders’ referred to Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, which were the nations most directly involved in trade and colonialism with the New World and Asia. These nations maintained a rigorous attitude towards trade and expansionism. These countries, because of their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, traded far and wide, to Asia and Americas. They were very aggressive and wanted to expand their presence around the world and were involved in colonialism-and slavery-related activities as well as trade[11]. The Rise of Europe between 1500 and 1850 is largely due to the Rise of Atlantic Europe[12]. In order to study the influence of mercantile economics on European colonial expansion, Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson used three data series to measure economic development. The three data series were: Constructed estimates of urbanisation based on the urban population of Bairoch, Batou and Ch`evre (1988)[13], which was a comprehensive dataset with information on all 2,200 European cities which had, at some time between 800 and 1800, 5,000 or more inhabitants. This data was then divided by the population estimates of McEvedy and Jones (1978)[14] to calculate urban population growth. The second in this series was to use estimates of GDP per capita from Maddison (2001)[15]. To continue with the research, the estimates chosen were from 1500, 1600, 1700, 1820, and then more frequently. Finally, the third data used was the use of European city-level data from Bairoch, Batou and Ch`evre (1988), to investigate which urban centers were driving demographic and economic growth, and also to contrast the growth of Atlantic ports to other ports and to inland cities[16]. The research was conclusive in determining whether there was a significant growth pattern based on the period 1500 1800. There were significant positive estimates to imply that Atlantic traders started to grow in 1500-1600. The estimates confirmed the positive growth pattern in large effects from the interaction between the Atlantic traders from 1600. These effects become statistically significant after 1750; the effects are statistically significant starting 1700. An important revelation from this exercise was the explicit sign that showed that perhaps the only countries with high growth potential, or those that were going to grow, engaged in substantial Atlantic trade and colonial activity. Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, Germany and Norway, despite having access to the Atlantic, either directly or via the North Sea, are stark representation of countries that did not take a major part in long distance oceanic trade or expansionism[17]. This evidence established a significant relationship between the potential for Atlantic trade and post-1500 economic development, and suggests that the opportunities to trade through the Atlantic, and the associated profits from colonialism and slavery, played an important role in the Rise of Europe[18]. 4.0  Ã‚  Ã‚   Observation We see that the influence of Atlantic trade; the opening of the sea routes to the New World, namely, Africa and Asia, and the building of colonial empires contributed to the process of West European growth between 1500 and 1800 not only through its direct economic effects, but also indirectly by inducing fundamental institutional changes, with Britain and the Netherlands (Duchy of Burgundy) leading from the front. Through their rigorous initiatives in Atlantic trade, both Britain and the Netherlands altered the balance of political power by enriching and strengthening commercial interests outside their royal circles. Through this channel, they contributed to the emergence of political institutions protecting merchants against royal power. The tendency for institutional change to emerge became more evident in societies which already had checks on royal power than in countries with absolutist regimes and monarchy-controlled trade monopolies. Those countries with easy access to the Atlantic and without a strong absolutist monarchy, Atlantic trade provided substantial profits and political power for merchants outside the royal circle. This group could demand and obtain significant institutional reforms protecting their property rights. With their newly gained power and property rights, these merchants took advantage of the growth opportunities offered by Atlantic trade, invested more, traded more, and fueled the First Great Divergence.[19]. Another point of contention in the theory of European colonial expansion was the search for precious metals and gun powder trade. Folasade Ifamose of the University of Abuja contents that, the whole region between the Volta and Niger area was acutely convulsed and destabilised by the direct involvement in the gun and gun powder trade across the Atlantic between 1500 and 1800 by the British, Dutch and Portuguese traders. The desire to capture cities with precious metals as well as those with direct access to the Atlantic coasts directly affected and influenced many of the Atlantic access nation kings to participate actively in the trans-Atlantic trade. The ultimate desire of the traditional rulers was to acquire, among other things, firearms from the triangular trade through the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British[20]. 1590-1621 saw the Dutch swarm out all over the European, Atlantic and Asian seas and established new overseas markets. The Dutch state supported their traders in overseas trading operations and in a decisive movement accelerated the production of more ships to enhance trade and changing market opportunities. Moreover, the build-up of a reorganised army and navy in the Dutch Republic stimulated the growth of a new infrastructure of arms trade and arms production, which provided an important condition for the expansion of Dutch interests overseas[21]. The Sea is the only Empire which naturally belongs to us, conquest is not in our interest, wrote the Englishman Andrew Fletcher in 1698[22]. Few of the great ancient empires relied so much on sea power; Europe used the one resource that gave it an advantage, namely its skill in shipbuilding and navigation, to create something quite unprecedented, seaborne empires[23]. When trading possibilities proved disappointing or local populations proved hostile, Europeans turned to conquest (expansionism), along with forced extraction of resources. Next was the importation of European herds and crops, altering forever the ecological balance of these places. The production of sugar using slave labour, already perfected on Mediterranean isles, was first transferred to the near Atlantic islands and then to the Caribbean. And islands were to remain the preferred destinations for plantation economies for centuries. When one thinks about the expansion of Europe we often conflate an oceanic presence or a bounded presence on an island or a littoral, with continental territorial control, wrote Elizabeth Mancke[24]. 5.0  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusion During the period 1500-1800, the world saw the expansion of trade beyond the borders of most Western European nations. Countries like Britain, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, and France began to explore the other side of the world through the sea. The Atlantic was a convenient way for these European traders to reach beyond boundaries. Their expertise in ship-building helped them establish trading ports in Africa and Asia. However, when the local population of the African and Asian countries began to revolt, the European traders with the help of their respective rulers began to exploit and embark on a conquest policy. This way, some of the Western European nations, including Britain, Portugal and the Netherlands began to show their ascendancy in forging expansionism roles. It was from its mastery of the seas, not land, that Europe experienced its first great economic boom. The wealth accumulated through its archipelagic empires of access found its way back to Europe, partly to be invested in land, partly to capitalise new industrial enterprises that would ultimately overturn the old order of things. By the late eighteenth century the boundary between land and sea became more definite and during the nineteenth century new nation states concentrated their energies on their own interiors. The European plunderers forced many Asian and African peasants to bonded labour and took back with them all possible resources available (John R. Gillis, 2003). 6.0  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography â€Å"Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson†, The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change, and Economic Growth, [electronic bulletin board] May 4, 2004, [cited 27 February 2007] available at econ-www.mit.edu/faculty/download_pdf.php?id=1181 â€Å"O’Rourke Kevin H and Williamson Jeffrey G†, From Malthus to Ohlin: Trade, Growth and Distribution since 1500, [electronic bulletin board] April 2003, [cited 27 February 2007] available at www.tcd.ie/Economics/TEP/2002_papers/TEPNo5KO22.pdf â€Å"O’Rourke Kevin H and Williamson Jeffrey G†, After Columbus: Explaining the Global Trade Boom 1500-1800, [electronic bulletin board] February 2001, [cited 27 February 2007] available at www.tcd.ie/Economics/TEP/2001_papers/TEPNo6KO21.pdf â€Å"Prof. Munro John†, ECONOMICS 303Y1, The Economic History of Modern Europe to1914, [electronic bulletin board] September 2001, [cited 27 February 2007] available at eh.net/coursesyllabi/syllabi/munro/01dutcom.pdf â€Å"Engerman Stanley L†, The big picture: how (and when and why) the West grew rich, Policy Research, Vol. 23, 1994, 547-559, [electronic bulletin board] 1994, [cited 28 February 2007] available at www.compilerpress.atfreeweb.com/Anno%20Engerman%20The%20big%20picture%20Research%20Policy%201994.htm â€Å"Koc Mustafa†, Globalization as a Discourse, [electronic bulletin board] [cited 2 March 2007] available at www.mrs.umn.edu//chollett/anth%203204/Course%20Readings/Globalization%20as%20a%20Discourse.rtf Acemoglu Daron, Johnson Simon and Robinson James, The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change and Economic Growth, [electronic bulletin board] p.6, September 10, 2003,[cited 3 March 2007] available at http://web.mit.edu/sjohnson/OldFiles/www/attach/Rise20%20of%20Europe%20final%20revision.pdf Harvard University, 1999 WP Abstracts, [electronic bulletin board] December 9, 1999 [cited 3 March 2007] available at www.fas.harvard.edu/~atlantic/abst99.html Gillis R. John, Islands in the Making of an Atlantic Oceania, 1400-1800, [electronic bulletin board] 2003 [cited 4 March 2007] available at www.historycooperative.org/proceedings/seascapes/gillis.html [1] Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson, Abstract, p.2, The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change, and Economic Growth [2] John Munro, The Dutch and the Macro-Economic Trends of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, p.2, The Economic History of Modern Europe to1914 [3] Kevin H. O’Rourke and Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2003, Introduction, From Malthus to Ohlin: Trade, Growth and Distribution since 1500, p.2-3 [4] N.F.R. Crafts, The Industrial Revolution in R Floud and D. McCloskey, The Economic History of Britain Since 1700, Vol.1, Cambridge University Press J Mokyr, The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress, Oxford University Press Temin, Two Views of the British Industrial Revolution, Journal of Economic History, 57 (March) 63-82 [5] Kevin H. O’Rourke and Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2003, Introduction, From Malthus to Ohlin: Trade, Growth and Distribution since 1500, p.3 [6] K. H.O’ Rourke and J. G. Williamson, After Columbus: Explaining the Global Trade Boom 1500-1800, Journal of Economic History 62 (March), 1-31 [7] Kevin H. O’Rourke and Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2003, Introduction, From Malthus to Ohlin: Trade, Growth and Distribution since 1500, p.2-3 [8] Douglass C. North and Robert P. Thomas, The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History, Cambridge University Press Douglass C. North and Barry R. Weingast, Constitutions and Commitments: Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth Century England, Journal of Economic History, 49, 803-832 [9] Kevin H. O’Rourke and Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2003, Introduction, From Malthus to Ohlin: Trade, Growth and Distribution since 1500 [10] Mustafa Koc, Phases of Global Expansion, p.266, 13 Globalization as a Discourse [11] Atlantic trade opportunities became available only during the late 15th century, thanks to the discovery of the New World and the passage to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope. This resulted due to a series of innovations in ship technology, pioneered by the Portuguese that changed rigging and hull design of ships and developed the knowledge of oceanic navigation. [12] Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson, The Rise of Europe: Atlantic Trade, Institutional Change and Economic Growth, p.6, 2003 [13] La Population des villes europ ´eenees de 800 `a 1850: Banque de donn ´ees et analyse sommaire des r ´esultats, Centre d’histoire  ´economique Internationale de l’Uni. de Gen`eve, Libraire Droz, Geneva [14] McEvedy, Colin and Richard Jones (1978) Atlas of World Population History, Facts on File, New York [15] Maddison, Angus (2001) The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, Development Centre of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD, Paris [16] Atlantic Trade and the Rise of Europe, Data, p.7 [17] Ch.1.2, Economic Growth in Europe, p.10, Atlantic Trade and the Rise of Europe [18] Ch.1.5 Interpretation, p.15, Atlantic Trade and the Rise of Europe [19] The establishment of political institutions limiting the power of the monarchy must have created positive spillovers on the rest of the economy of the rest of the non-Atlantic British cities, especially on the industrial capitalists, Ch.2.1, The Argument, p.17, [20] Folasade Ifamose, The Indigenous Aristocracy, the Atlantic trade, and the Gunpowder Economy, University of Abuja, Nigeria, www.fas.harvard.edu-1999 WP Abstract [21] Michiel de Jong, The Role of the State in the Expansion of the Dutch Overseas Trade Networks, 1590-1630, Universite it Leiden, The Netherlands, www.fas.harvard.edu-1999 WP Abstract [22] Quoted in Anthony Pagden, Peoples and Empires: Europeans and the Rest of the World from Antiquity to the Present (London: Weidenfeld and Nicoloson, 2001), p. 94. [23] C.R. Boxer, The Dutch Seaborne Empire, 1600-1800 (London: Penguin, 1973) [24] Elizabeth Mancke, Early Modern Expansion and the Politicization of Oceanic Space,†Ã‚   The Geographical Review, 89, nr. 2 (April 1999), p. 227

Early Modern English Exemplified in Shakespeares Hamlet, Act V Scene 1

Early Modern English Exemplified in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act V Scene 1 The period of Early Modern English occurred from approximately Fifteen Hundred to some time between Sixteen Fifty and Sixteen Seventy. While this period was characterized mostly by the translation of texts from other languages into English, the language saw its first prominent writer in William Shakespeare contribute works of literary significance to the world. Hamlet Prince of Denmark, in its abbreviated, performed version, was originally included in the quarto of 1603. The current version of the text is based on the 1604-05 version of the text, which is believed to be printed from Shakespeare's own draft (Farnham). Lines 241-280 of Act V scene 1 in Hamlet are an example of Early Modern English as written (and possibly spoken) in the early Seventeenth century; it illustrates aspects of the language such as vocabulary, spelling, syntax and grammar relative to this time period. The dialogue in Hamlet would be recognizable to readers from the Seventeenth century to the present: although Shakespeare's style may differ from the spoken and written dialects of these time periods, his vocabulary is not totally alien. The online version of the Oxford English Dictionary indicates many of the words in this passage had the same or similar meanings when Shakespeare wrote as they do presently. Some examples include madness, "mental disease or insanity"; dangerous, "Fraught with danger or risk; causing or occasioning danger; perilous, hazardous, risky, unsafe"; and whine, "To utter a low somewhat shrill protracted sound or cry, usually expressive of pain or distress." The concept of madness, the adjective dangerous, and the infinitive 'to whine' originate prior to t... ...-279). In the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries, while common people were becoming increasingly literate, it was mostly an intellectual demographic that wrote; one certainly would not consider Shakespeare a common user of Early Modern English. However, although Shakespeare did write Hamlet, he intended it to be performed: theatre-goers might have been impressed hearing a more refined and thought-out usage of Early Modern English than what they spoke, but players would have difficulty speaking a language with which they were unfamiliar, just as an audience would have difficulty understanding the performed lines. Therefore, while his writing may be more structured than the general speech of the time, Shakespeare's text can be considered a likely portrayal of the language of his time. Works Cited Hamlet. Edited by Willard Farnham. New York: Penguin Books, 1957.

Neolithic Art and Architecture Paper Essay

During the â€Å"New† Stone Age, also known as the Neolithic Period, art and life in general began to change drastically for humans. Many new onsets began to bloom, for example humans of this time period had begun to live in single locations versus before they were nomadic hunter-gatherers. This new life introduced new challenges and new opportunities. Within this paper I will discuss three Neolithic Locations, Jericho, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, and Stonehenge. Also, what made each of these sites significant, what new forms of buildings were present at each, and what is still perplexing modern day historians and archaeologists about these sites. I will start with the oldest of the three locations from above, Jericho. Jericho is a city of Palestine, but has been under the occupation of many. Its most important fact is that it is one of the oldest known permanently occupied cities in the world, occupied during the Natufian era (10,800 – 8,500 BCE) to present day. It was primarily occupied during a time known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period (PPN: 8,500 – 6,000 BCE), which is further broken down into two more time frames called PPNA (8,500 – 7,300 BCE) and PPNB (7,300 – 6,000 BCE). Along with being one of the oldest known cities, Jericho shows us that humans of the Neolithic Period had begun to create permanent structures for living. After the domestication of plants and animals it is believed that Jericho was chosen to be a permanent settlement because it was a plateau of the Jordan River valley with a spring that supplied a constant source for water. During the PPNA, oval homes made from mud bricks with roofs made from wooden branches covered in earth began to appear at Jericho. Around 7,500 BCE, a rock-cut ditch and thick walls approximately 5 feet wide surrounded the city. Within the wall there is a single circular tower (fig. 1), approximately 30 feet high and almost 33 feet in diameter. These walls and towers mark the beginning of monumental architecture. Later, during the PPNB era the architects of Jericho began building the homes with rectangular  mud bricks and a plaster-like mud mortar, these houses were made into rectangular shapes due to the rectangular bricks. During this time we can also find evidence of new forms of art, plastered human skulls. It is believed these heads may have been used for a cult or religion of some sort. The heads were formed around a human skulls with the plaster-like mud mortar and then shells were placed in the eyes, and traces of paint were also found to shown a resemblance of skin and hair (fig 2). Next, let’s discuss another major settlement of the Neolithic Period that was formed between 7,000 and 5,000 BCE, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k. This site is important because it is possible to retrace human evolution of the Neolithic culture over the period of approximately 800 years. The people of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k were Neolithic weapon and toolmakers, especially in the use of obsidian. More importantly though was the village itself, it’s architecture and the art that thrived within. Most important about its architecture is that adjoining buildings, meaning it had no streets, formed this village. In July of 2012, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k was inscribed as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site. There are two types of buildings that were constructed within Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, houses and shrines. The houses were made of mud bricks that were strengthened by timber frames. These homes contained no doors, but openings at the top that served as an entrance and a chimney. The interiors were plastered and painted; with platform shelving that was used as sites for sleeping, eating, and working (fig. 3). The dead of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k were buried right under platforms of the homes. Although the houses of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k were decorated on the inside there were other buildings slightly larger that contained more decoration, ornate murals, animal heads, paintings and figurines, are the shrines. These buildings still intrigue archaeologists today, as we do not know their true purpose. Along with the architecture of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, you see the beginning of narrative paintings. Although people had begun to raise animals of their own, hunting still played a major part in human life. This is shown in wall painting from Level III of Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k (fig. 4). Also at Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, we find what now referred to as the first map, or the first landscape painting (fig. 5). This landscape painting remained unique for thousands of years, and with carbon dating this painting was executed in or around 6,150 BCE. In addition to painting, at Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k we find sculpture, weaving, pottery  and even techniques of smelting lead. Now let us move on to the most intriguing and puzzling place of these three Neolithic sites, Stonehenge. Stonehenge is a formation of rocks as high as 17 feet and weighing as much as 50 tons. Because these stones are so large historians have called them megaliths, meaning great stones. Stonehenge exists on the Salisbury Plain of southern England. Stonehenge itself is a megalithic monument constructed over the course of several years, in several phases. Stonehenge Phase 1, known as the earthwork monument. The first phase of Stonehenge was begun around 2,950 to 2,900 BCE. During phase one Stonehenge consisted of four sections and two entrances (fig. 6). The four sections are as follows from outside to inside: the Outer bank, the Ditch, the Circular bank, and the Aubrey Holes. The ditch, which is enclosed by two earthen banks, has the same center as the 56 Aubrey Holes inside it, therefore telling historians they came from the same time period. The second phase of Stonehenge is one that still perplexes historians, but the best evidence we have tells us it occurred sometime between 2,900 BCE and 2,550 to 2,400 BCE. During this time of its construction all evidence shows us that Stonehenge was more than likely being used as a cremation site. This phase it is known as the timber monument. All across the in circle of Stonehenge and around both entrance excavations have revealed post-holes which indicate that at this stage in Stonehenge’s construction it was made from timber and not the megalithic stones that now stand. These post-hole sites are divided into three distinct locations, the northeastern entrance, the southern entrance and the confused central pattern. The patterns displayed in the confused central pattern raise many concerns for historians and this is something that still raises questions for them, as it is unknown exactly how big the structures were or how they looked at this time. The third and final phase of Stonehenge is known as the stone monument. This is when what we see today was added to this monument. There are two types of megalithic stones found at Stonehenge, the bluestones and the sarsen stones. The final stage took the form concentric post-and-lintel circles. There are four circles and two horseshoes that were formed in the final stage of Stonehenge. The first two circles formed inside of Stonehenge’s Circular bank are referred to as the Rings of Y and Z Holes. These holes show evidence that Stonehenge may have never been completed, as holes were dug prior to placing stones inside the  monument. Inside of these two circles was a large circle formed out of sarsen stone lintels, then followed by a circle of bluestones. Inside of the two stone circle were the horseshoes, one made of sarsen stones and another inside of that made out of bluestones, with a single stone called the Altar Stone in the center of the bluestone horseshoe (fig. 7). Along the Circular bank four more stones appear, known as the Station Stones. Only two of the four stones still remain, but when you run a line between each of stones it forms a rectangle whose center pinpoints the exact center of the monument. From the center of the monument traveling out toward the northeast entrance you see the last two megaliths of Stonehenge, the Slaughter Stone and the Heel Stone. The Heel stone aligns with the center of Stonehenge at the midsummer solstice, thus giving historians the belief that Stonehenge was used a Calendar. The true use of Stonehenge may never be known, as evidence has also proven that Stonehenge might have been used as an observatory of astronomical aspects. Of these three sites we have learned a lot about our past. We have discovered many forms of artwork, and architectural changes to the human culture. But what we know of these sites is still growing. What will the future hold for us? While we continue to excavate and research these sites, will we find that the humans of Neolithic times were smarter or as smart than we are today? Are there any more new architectural discoveries to be found at these sites? Will we find more art that change the way we look at Art History? These three locations are a vast pile of knowledge still waiting to be discovered and hopefully it will not take us as long to discover the knowledge as it took the ancients to create the locations. Figure 1, Great Stone Tower, Jericho. Reproduced from smarthistory, http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/jericho.html. Figure 2, Plastered Skulls from Yiftah’el. Reproduced from smarthistory, http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/jericho.html. Figure 3, On-site restoration of a typical interior, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, 2005. Reproduced from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Catal_H%C3%BCy%C3%BCk_Restauration_B.JPG. Figure 4, Deer Hunt, 5750 BCE. Level III, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, Turkey. Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara. Reproduced from Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), 26. Figure 5, Landscape with volcanic eruption, 6150 BCE. Level III, Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k, Turkey. Museum of Anatolian Civilization, Ankara. Reproduced from Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011), 27. Figure 6, Stonehenge: Phase 1. Reproduced from David Souden, Stonehenge Revealed (New York, NY: Facts on File Inc., 1997), 31. Figure 7, Stonehenge: Phase 3, inner circles. Reproduced from David Souden, Stonehenge Revealed (New York, NY: Facts on File Inc., 1997), 39. Bibliography German, Senta. Çatal Hà ¶yà ¼k. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/catal-hoyuk.html (accessed 12 January 2013). German, Senta. Jericho. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/jericho.html. (accessed 12 January 2013). German, Senta. Stonehenge, Salibury Plain, England. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/catal-hoyuk.html. (accessed 12 January 2013). Hirst, K. Kris. â€Å"The Archaeology of the Ancient City of Jericho,† Jericho (Palestine). http://archaeology.about.com/od/jterms/qt/jericho.htm. (accessed 12 January 2013) Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, A Global History (Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2011. Souden, David. Stonehenge Revealed. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc., 1997. Wikipedia. Çatalhà ¶yà ¼k. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, Jericho. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Pottery_Neolithic. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, Stonehenge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, UNESCO. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO. (accessed 12 January 2013). Wikipedia, World Heritage Site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site. (accessed 12 January 2013).

Business Ethics - 6343 Words

Project Paper The Role of Cultural Values in Business Ethics: the case of ICT companies Muhammad Fikri Bin Ahmad (1022133) (Email:fikriahmad91@gmail.com) Mohamad Amali Bin Maulan (1013901) (Email: aku_amali@yahoo.com) Muhammad Muslim Bin Samsudin(1012545) (Email: aim_messi@yahoo.com) Tengku Muhammad Ihsan bin Tengku Hishamuddin (1027923) (Email: ihsan_libra@hotmail.com) MGT 3020 Business Ethics Section 1 IIUM Gombak 15th June 2011 The Role of Cultural Values in Business Ethics: the case of ICT companies Tengku Muhammad Ihsan Bin Tengku Hishamuddin, Mohamad Amali bin Maulan, Muhammad Muslim Bin Samsudin, Muhammad Fikri Bin Ahmad Kuliyyah of Economics And Management Sciences, International Islamic University†¦show more content†¦Then methodology of research which is consists of interview data is described. Lastly, result and limitation of the research are discussed. Before the interview feedback is discussed, the some concepts are explained in the form of framework discussion. We serve the previous research as reference of interpretation in our finding. A lot of publish articles look potential in assisting this project paper. 3. Literature Review Before the results of the investigation are discussed, some concepts are explained that form the framework of the discussion. Some previous studies may serve as reference material in the interpretation of the findings. This section gives an overview of relevant literature on the topic of how cultural values plays it role in business ethics as the case in ICT companies. Lots of works was published on the potential usefulness and development of cultural values. However few sources can be found that tackle this topic in the ICT domain. Based on 15 articles that we have reviewed we have found out several patterns that can be further discussed throughout this study. 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