The ruins of Mesoamerican city Teotihuacan

This "urban revolution" marked the beginning of the accumulation of transferable surpluses, which helped economies and cities develop. It was associated with the
state monopoly of violence, the appearance of a soldier class and endemic warfare, the rapid development of hierarchies, and the appearance of human sacrifice.[41]

The civilized urban revolution in turn was dependent upon the development of sedentism, the domestication of grains and animals and development of lifestyles that
facilitated economies of scale and accumulation of surplus production by certain social sectors. The transition from complex cultures to civilizations, while still
disputed, seems to be associated with the development of state structures, in which power was further monopolized by an elite ruling class[42] who practiced human
sacrifice.[43]

Towards the end of the Neolithic period, various elitist Chalcolithic civilizations began to rise in various "cradles" from around 3300 BCE, expanding into large-scale
empires in the course of the Bronze Age (Old Kingdom of Egypt, Akkadian Empire, Assyrian Empire, Old Assyrian Empire, Hittite Empire).

A parallel development took place independently in the Pre-Columbian Americas, where the Mayans began to be urbanized around 500 BCE, and the fully-fledged
Aztec and Inca emerged by the 15th century, briefly before European contact.

Axial Age

Main article: Axial Age

Further information: Iron Age, Hinduism, Christianization, Spread of Buddhism, and Spread of Islam

The Bronze Age collapse was followed by the Iron Age around 1200 BCE, during which a number of new civilizations emerged, culminating in a period from the 8th
to the 3rd century BCE which Karl Jaspers termed the Axial Age, presented as a critical transitional phase leading to classical civilization.[44] William Hardy McNeill
proposed that this period of history was one in which cultural contact between previously separate civilizations saw the "closure of the oecumene" and led to
accelerated social change from China to the Mediterranean, associated with the spread of coinage, larger empires and new religions. This view has recently been
championed by Christopher Chase-Dunn and other world systems theorists.

Modernity

Further information: Modernity

Further information: Middle Ages, Early Modern period, European miracle, and Age of Discovery

Further information: Cultural bloc, Major world religions, World language, and The Clash of Civilizations

A major technological and cultural transition to modernity began approximately 1500 CE in Western Europe, and from this beginning new approaches to science and
law spread rapidly around the world, incorporating earlier cultures into the technological and industrial society of the present.[43][45]

Eurocentric Views of Civilizations

Modern academia regarding the study of civilizations, and history as a whole, has had a distinctly Eurocentric viewpoint dominate the field.[46] Eurocentrism, as the
name implies, treats European history as the central subject of study; it excludes other civilizations in favor of Europe.[46] While it cannot be denied that European
history plays an important role in global history, Eurocentric views dismiss the study of the rest of the world.[46]

The prevalence of Eurocentric thought in academia can be attributed to the fact that Europeans have been the main figureheads in academia.[46] Despite Europe's
slow start onto the world stage, Europe soon became the colonial powerhouse that would dominate the rest of the world.[47] History is written by the winners;
Europeans were the only large group of people that could extensively study history, and thus Eurocentrism was born. Rather than examine other cultures, academics
began measuring civilizations against a Western standard.[48] This framework also was supported by Americans; the country had come from European roots, and so
follow European thought, thus perpetuating the continuing cycle of Eurocentric thought.[46]

Religious Origins

When learning about civilization there was often a need to emphasize European civilizations and under appreciate eastern civilizations. There are many reasons for
why this Eurocentric viewpoint took over history classes and textbooks. One of the reasons is religion. At the time of making history, religion was important for
every aspect of civilization. People depended on religion, legally, politically, socially, and culturally, all around the globe [49]. Many countries led with Christian
inspired viewpoints, while other's led with Islamic viewpoints [50], regardless of where people were, and what their religious beliefs were, religion cultivated every
part of day-to-day lives. Some examples of this can be in Roman Catholic countries, people studied astronomy in order to explain how God created the cosmos where
the reason for Gregorian Reform was to explain and further exceed God’s power on the Catholic People [50] and “astronomy...was absolutely central to the authority
of Rome” [51], so “the Roman Catholic Church gave more financial and social support to the study of astronomy than did any other institution" [51]. In Islamic
countries, people studied astronomy for the sole purpose of knowing which direction to pray in [50]. Therefore, it makes sense that when European and American
countries started recounting history about powerful civilizations, they would only include Christian led civilizations. However, this Eurocentric viewpoint came at an
expense though, where now multiple historians are upset and discouraged with the lack of information on other civilizations outside of the European circle. And have
written many articles highlighting powerful civilizations all throughout the Eurasian continent, and the cultural richness and significance outside of the Eurocentric
circle.

Criticism

Our understanding of what distinguishes a Civilization has been debated by historians for decades.  In the late 20th century, historians began critiquing Eurocentrism
with respect to what is considered civilization.  Historians such as Edward Farmer and Syed Farid Alatas have argued that a Eurocentric view of what a Civilization is
has led to the simplifying and paternal view of the Eurasian landmass.[46]  Farmer argues that Asia is not a comparable unit to that of Europe. Asia has no unifying
tradition, religion language or culture and is often used to describe the non-European portion of the eurasian landmass.[46] Farmer argues that there are more than
three civilizations in Asia which could be comparable to Europe.  This is portrayed most serious as an intellectual problem.  Farmer offers an example of
Eurocentrism in the scholastic world citing a popular textbook by R.R Palmer and Joel Colton entitled “A History of the Modern World” which is described as “a