Cultural hearth and cultural realm, cultural region. Rajkumar porel. M.sc Geography.

1. 1.3 Origin of culture:
Cultural Hearth and Realm, Cultural Region
By:-
Rajkumar Porel .
M.Sc Geography .
BGC (WBSU)

2. Culture -
The way of life of the members of a society is known as culture. An eminent
anthropologist Ralph Linton defined culture as: ‘culture is the sum of the knowledge,
attitudes, and habitual behavior patterns shared and transmitted by the members of a
society.’
What is a Culture Hearth?
A culture hearth is a location that saw the origins of a culture Hearths are the centers of
origin of ancient civilizations which continue to inspire and influence modern societies
of the world today. According to historians, there are seven main Culture Hearths of the
world. They are the Nile River Valley, the Indus River Valley, the Wei-Huang Valley, the
Ganges River Valley, Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, and West Africa.
Ancient Cultural Hearths
The Ancient Culture Hearths
A cultural hearth is where civilization first began. These are the sites for the creation of
customs, innovations, and ideologies that changed the world. Early hearths formed in
areas of surplus in which agriculture freed some people to pursue occupations other
than farming. The earliest hearths developed in the valleys and basins of the great river
systems of Southwest Asia, North Africa, South Asia, and East Asia. Later hearths in the

3. Americas developed around mountain ranges and central highlands. Another hearth
developed in West Africa, much influenced by earlier hearths along the Nile River.
Another unique cultural hearth developed in the islands of the Aegean Sea where the
residents were joined by easy water access among islands and main lands. The hearths
grew until they came into contact with one another. Travel was still limited by levels of
technology and distance.

4. Early Culture Hearth Locations:-
The Nine original culture hearths are:
A. Mesopotamia
B. The Nile River Valley
C. Aegean Culture
D. The Indus River Valley
E. The Ganges River Valley
F. The Wei-Huang Valley
G. Southeast Asian Culture
H. Andean Culture
I. Mesoamerica
J. West Africa

5. Mesopotamia:-
Mesopotamia dates back to
5500 B.C. This is the oldest
of the ancient cultural
hearths. This is truly where
civilization began. The
culture diffused to the
southwest, across the
Fertile Crescent to the Nile
River Valley and to the east
to the Indus River Valley.

7. The Nile River Valley:-
The second of the great
cultural hearths is the Nile
River Valley. Egyptian culture
was born in this place. The
Nile Valley culture dates back
to 3300 B.C. The Nile River
Valley culture was influenced
by the Mesopotamian culture.
From Egypt, the culture
diffused to West Africa and
into sub-Saharan Africa.

9. Aegean Culture:-
The Aegean culture started in the islands of the Aegean Sea, centered on the large
island of Crete. The culture arose around 2500 B.C. Crete's culture was not influenced
by any other culture, however the Aegean culture diffused into Eastern and Western
Europe.

11. Indus and Ganges River Valleys:-
The Indus River Valley was home to a culture that began around 2300 B.C. The culture
was influenced by the Mesopotamian culture. The Indus River Valley culture spread
across what would become India into Bangladesh to the Ganges River Valley. The Ganges
culture did not diffuse past the mountains around South Asia. The Indus culture spread
into Northern China. The Indus Valley culture spread back across to Mesopotamia.

12. Wei Huang:-
The Wei Huang culture arose in
northern China in the river
basin of the Huang He around
2200 B.C. The Wei Huang
culture diffused into southeast
Asia (around the southeast
Asian culture) into Indonesia
and then spread across the
Indian Ocean to the island of Sri
Lanka.

14. Southeast Asian Culture:-
The Southeast Asian culture evolved independently of any other in the southern end of
the Indochinese Peninsula. The Southeast Asian culture did not diffuse, but stayed in
place. The Southeast Asian culture evolved around 1500 B.C. The Southeast Asian culture
may or may not have been influenced by the diffusion of the Wei Huang culture.

15. Andean Culture:-
Around 1500 B.C., about
the same time as the
development of the
Southeast Asian culture,
the Andean culture was
developing in the Andes
Mountains of South
America. The Andean
culture eventually became
the Incas. The Andean
culture diffused further
into South America.

16. Mesoamerican
Culture:-
The Mesoamerican Culture
was developed around 1250
B.C. in Mexico and northern
Central America. The
Mesoamerican culture
eventually became the Mayas.
The Mesoamerican culture
diffused further into North
America.

18. West Africa:-
The West African culture was established around 400 B.C. It is the youngest of the
ancient culture hearths. The West African culture diffused into sub-Saharan Africa. The
West African culture was influenced by the Nile River Valley culture.

19. Major and Minor Cultural Realms of the World
(With Maps)
The major cultural realms are:
1. Occidental Realm
2. Islamic Realm
3. Indian Realm
4. East Indian Realm
And the minor cultural realms are:
1. South-East Asian Realm
2. Meso-African or Negro African Realm. (Fig. 6.1).
Occidental Realm:
Occidental culture is the culture of the European society. It is influenced to a great extent by
Christianity. It has regional modifications on the basis of varying levels of industrialisation, political and
economic thought, colonisation, commercialisation, urbanisation, and development of transport
system, land development of social, political and economic institutions.
In many parts of the occidental culture, the impact of non-religious factors, particularly the effect of
modernisation, is so great that the religious values are sidelined. Post- industrial Europe is fast
emerging as a society where traditional values are nearly abandoned. The occidental culture covers a
vast area. It is further divided into six sub-regions considering the impact of regional environment.
(i) West European is the most industrialised and urbanised culture.
(ii) Continental European culture is influenced by different political and economic thoughts,
while Christianity remains an important influence.

20. (iii) Mediterranean Europe includes countries lying to the south of the Alps. It is the region of
dominance of Christianity. To many geographers, the deep-rooted traditional social system is the
principal cause of limited economic development in countries like Spain, Portugal and southern Italy,
compared to countries of northern and western Europe which adopted necessary changes in their
social systems.
(iv) Anglo-American and
(v) Australian cultural realms are practically the offspring’s of west European culture. Both are
inhabited by migrants from west Europe. There are only some regional differences.
(vi) Latin American culture is very similar to the Mediterranean culture. It is the only region of
occidental culture which lies in the tropics and is underdeveloped. It became a part of the occidental
culture as a result of conversion of tribes into Christianity. The colonial languages, Spanish and
Portuguese, have become the state languages. Regional architecture has been influenced by the
Spanish and Portuguese styles. Practically all countries maintain economic, cultural and social ties with
the Mediterranean countries.

21. Islamic Cultural Realm:
The culture here is influenced by Islamic values. It covers a vast geographical area from Morocco in
the west to Pakistan in the east. The population is sparsely distributed due to inhospitable
environment. The coasts, river basins and oases have been the cradles of Arabian culture in this
realm. The British call it the Middle-East while the Germans call it a region of oriental culture. This
cultural realm lies between the traditional Indian culture in the east and the modernised European
culture in the west.
Islamic culture is highly orthodox and based on traditional beliefs, the impact of which can be seen in
high female illiteracy rates. These countries have very high per capita incomes, but the level of
modernisation is very low.
Indie Cultural Realm:
This is the culture of the Indian sub-continent. Baker called it a sub-continental culture, while D.
Stamp used the term paddy culture. This cultural realm is well-defined; it lies between Himalayas in
the north, Indian Ocean in the south and Hindukush Mountains in the west.
This cultural realm is characterized by joint family, village community, caste system, semi- feudal land
relations, subsistence agriculture, paddy farming, seasonal climate changes and agricultural season
coming at the same time all over the region. The culture of this region is greatly influenced by Vedic
values. Though the region is inhabited by various communities, the social system has the hidden
impact of Vedic cultural values.
East Asian Culture:
This culture is basically a Buddhist culture with regional modifications. True Buddhist culture can be
seen in South Korea and Japan. Even these two countries have felt the impact of industrialisation,
urbanisation and modernisation. The culture of mainland China has modified the Buddhist system.
This culture was adopted after the Second World War.

22. South-East Asian Culture It is a transitional culture lying at a place where different cultures have
intermingled. Dominance of Buddhism can be seen in Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Influence of
Christianity can be seen in the Philippines and of Indie culture over islands of Indonesia. The Islamic
influence is evident in Malaysia and the Indonesian islands. No other region has such peculiarities.
Meso-African Culture:
This culture is also known as the Negro culture. It principally includes tropical Africa. Similar cultural
systems can be seen among the American Red Indians, Latin American tribes, Australian aboriginals
and several tribes of Asia-Pacific region.
Historian Toynbee has used the term ‘marginalised culture’ for these traditional culture units. Some
geographers even include Eskimos under this cultural realm. Thus, it is a widely scattered cultural
realm characterised by marginalised and relatively isolated communities.

24. Cultural area:-
A cultural area is a region (area) with one relatively homogeneous human activity or complex of
activities (culture). These areas are primarily geographical, not historical (but see below), and they
are not considered equivalent to Culture circles. A culture area is a concept in cultural anthropology
where a geographic region and time sequence (age area) is characterized by substantially uniform
environment and culture. For example, a music area is a cultural area defined according to musical
activity, and may or may not conflict with the cultural areas assigned to a given region.
Global Cultural Areas:-
The prescribed cultural areas constitute vast social spaces made up of territories with common
geographic and cultural characteristics— architectural, linguistic and religious characteristics, among
others.
Culture Regions:-
A culture region is a portion of Earth’s surface that has common cultural elements. Identifying and
mapping culture regions are significant tasks of cultural geographers. This can show us where particular
culture traits or cultural communities are located. Maps of culture regions provide answers to the most
fundamental geographical questions like Where and what are together or away from each other.
Culture regions differ greatly in size. The Hindu culture region in South Asia is an example. While
studying the world's Hindu culture region, anybody may logically think that only Hindus may live there.
But it is not so. That region also is a home to millions of Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and other non-
Hindus. Some Culture regions are exceedingly large, like the Islamic culture region that encompasses
millions of square miles of North Africa and Southwest Asia. Some are very small, like Spanish Harlem,

25. which encompasses about two square miles of Manhattan. Many others are of intermediate size, like
the Corn Belt, which occupies a portion of the mid-western United States.
Culture regions can be found in urban, suburban, or rural settings. Many cities contain ethnic
neighborhoods. A typical American suburb may exhibit unique housing, land use, and lifestyles that
differ significantly from what is observed on the periphery of cities in West Africa or Central
America. Similarly, the rural parts of the world may differ on the basis of language, religion, or some
other cultural component like agricultural practices. The rural culture regions in some parts of the
world might be dominated by cattle ranches, rice fields, banana plantations, or some other form of
agriculture.

26. Over a period of time, the culture regions tend to appear and disappear, and expand and contract in
between. The ancient Phoenician culture region which initially gave way to form the Roman culture
region, got disappeared, later. The prevailing culture may also unite and divide humanity. It also
creates differences (perhaps deep animosities as seen among some nations) between others.
Accordingly, maps of culture regions may provide important perspectives on the contemporary
problems that are rooted in cultural differences.
Cultural boundary:-
A cultural boundary (also cultural border) in ethnology is a geographical boundary between two
identifiable ethnic or ethno linguistic cultures. A language border is necessarily also a cultural border,
as language is a significant part of a society's culture)l, but it can also divide subgroups of the same
ethno linguistic group along more subtle criteria, such as the Brünig-Napf-Reuss line in German-
speaking Switzerland, the Weißwurstäquator in Germany or the Grote rivieren boundary between
Dutch and Flemish culture.
In the history of Europe, the major cultural boundaries are found:-
in Western Europe between Latin Europe, where the legacy of the Roman Empire remained
dominant, and Germanic Europe, where it was significantly syncretized with Germanic culture.
in the Balkans, the Jireček Line, dividing the area of dominant Latin (Western Roman Empire) from
that of dominant Greek (Eastern Roman Empire) influence.