Zach Wood

10/3/13
History 5
Modifications and Adaptations

Modifications and Adaptations

Section I- Introduction

A cold narrow river slowly flows around the mountains of Zachaville.
When the Zachians walk out of the freezing water there is a small patch of tall
golden grass in front of the mountain. The bottom of the mountain is coated in
trees and little bits of snow every so often. The blanket of dark and dense trees
looks beautiful covering just the bottom half of the environment. The trees cover
the hard rock that covers the mountains. It gets steeper the higher they go. From
about the middle the amount of soft white snow thickens, it is probably colder
towards the top and it sounds like somebody is whistling but really it is just the
wind. Getting to the valleys would be difficult because of the wet, gray, and steep
rock surrounding them. At the top is where it is covered in snow and probably the
coldest and windiest part of the environment. Breathing would be hard because of
the thin amount of oxygen in this area. This would be the most difficult part to live
in due to the lack of food, hypothermia from the extreme cold weather, and the
lack of air up at the top of the high mountains. At the top the amount of trees
becomes scarcer and scarcer. It is just darker, steeper, and sharper rocks and the
area seems much more dead where no one would live. Even though the sky looks
light blue and sunny, it is still covered in snow and harsh freezing winds. The fog
lightly folds over the mountaintops. Overall this might not be a difficult
environment to live in if the Zachians choose the correct location.
It is in this unfavorable geographic environment that the civilization of
Zachaville will be founded. It is a civilization whose design takes its inspiration
Zach Wood
10/3/13
History 5
Modifications and Adaptations
from the study of past civilizations such as the Arabs, Aztecs, Greeks, Mayans,
Mesopotamians, and the Romans. This book will document the necessary steps to
take in order to create a successful civilization.
Human Changes to the Land
Part I- Analysis of the Problem
The first step in building a successful civilization is to secure basic human
needs such as food and water. Due to its geography, the major challenges the
civilization of Zachaville faces in achieving a basic food and water supply include
the following:
1. Food is one of the huge necessities for a civilization to survive but there
are many things in the cold, mountainous environment to stop them. Finding food
might be a problem because animals will be hard to catch on the mountain. There
is not much flatland to farm. Many animals will be at the top of the mountain
where the Zachian people cant get to because of the rocks and it will be slippery
from melted snow. Many plants need somewhat warm weather, which will be very
infrequent. The weather will be cold and windy which makes it difficult to start a
fire, which cooks food and keeps them warm. The harsh weather during the winter
might drive some of their main sources of food away. Trading will also be a
problem because Zachaville is surrounded by mountains and cant get to other
civilizations that have some things that the Zachians cannot get in their
environment.
2. Zachaville has lots of water but the Zachians are not so sure its clean
water because of fish and other things. Getting to that water will always be hard
because of the mountains. The Zachians need to find a way to make this water
more accessible. Another problem is that the river might be cold for washing
Zach Wood
10/3/13
History 5
Modifications and Adaptations
themselves, which could be a huge problem because of hypothermia on the cold
and windy mountains. If the Zachians overcome all of these challenges, Zachaville
will most likely thrive, but the people need to do this quickly or they will all die
within a short period of time.

Part II- Proposed solutions

1. Adaptations are things people can change in their behavior to help them survive
by having a good and reliable way of getting their food. Modifications are important for a
civilization by making physical changes to the environment to make a system for a stable
food or water supply. These are changes people make to their environment and behavior
to fit the way they live. Making changes to the Zachians behavior and environment for
their food and water are the first things they need to have a civilization thrive.
2. There are many ways the Zachians could make more farmland like making
terraces in the mountains or slash and burn technique. Since the Mayans solved the
problem of not enough land for farming with terraces and slash and burn technique, the
Zachians could also build terraces to maybe help with farmland. In city-states like
Palenque (in present-day Mexico), the Maya used slash-and-burn agriculture (Frey 268).
Slash and burn technique helps get farmland by cutting and burning trees for farmland.
Although Slash and Burn might be lousy for the environment, but it might also be a
critical part of maintaining a food supply for the Zachians. Terraces could also help them
with shelter by giving flatland to start it. Meat from animals is another way the Zachians
could find food. They could go up to the top of the mountain maybe once a month and set
traps to get the food they need. One great and convenient way of trade is to build canoes
like the Aztecs (Frey 274) to travel on the water and be able to trade with other
civilizations on other parts of the mountain. All of these ideas are what the people of
Zachaville are going to try to do to maintain a reliable food supply.
3. The Zachians could make a modification for getting an accessible water supply
by using the Aztecs invention of aqueducts. Another helpful modification from the Arabs
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History 5
Modifications and Adaptations
and Aztecs is to make a dam to keep water staying in the river by Zachaville. The people
should make it durable so the wall doesnt collapse like the Arabs wall in about 580 C.E.
(Frey 79). They will also have walls that keep the water from flooding our civilization.
The Zachians could take many smart ideas that the Arabs, They conserved rainwater in
canals and reservoirs (Frey 79). That is something the Zachians could do to store water
if they arent keeping their shelter near the river. Another way the Arabs stored water was
in hollowed out trees (Frey 80). This would be a smart idea for Zachian families since
Zachaville is coated with trees. The Zachians could modify the environment and make
paths to know where they are and have a simpler way to get to the water source. These
are some things that will help them keep a stable water supply.