"Birth of Religion" Novice and Expert Jigsaws

Step 1: Break into "jigsaw" groups of four.  Using last night's reading, analyze the following questions.  While you may all contribute to the analysis, each student in the group should choose one question for which they want to be the designated "expert."

1. Identify the conventional wisdom concerning the Neolithic Revolution.  What is it? How did it occur?  Why did it?

2. How do the archeological finds at Gobekli Tepe challenge this conventional wisdom?  How would Schmidt explain the, what, how, and why of the Neolithic Revolution?

3. Upon how many assumptions or inferences are Schmidt's arguments based?  Identify and evaluate these assumptions or inferences.  How strong are they in your mind?

4. How have some archeologists suggested you may reconcile Schmidt's view with the Childe/Diamond view of the Neolithic Revolution?

Step 2:  Join your expert jigsaw group (all 1s together, all 2s together, etc) and work on improving your answers to the above questions.

Step 3: Share with me and the other groups in whole-class format.

Step 4: Let's discuss the test essay question, "To what extent did the Neolithic Revolution transform the life-ways of early humans?"  

• What sources would you use to answer it?

• What aspects of the GET PAST seem most relevant?

• What approaches might you take in answering the question?