What are the 5 keys to civilization?

Question

What are the 5 keys to civilization?

Answer 1

I learned their were 6 characteristics of what constitutes a "civilization."  They are:

Religion

Economic system

Social system

Political system

Art and Architecture

Written Language

Answer 2

Written language, irrigation, use of fire, central government, and domestication of animals.

Answer 3

1> Cereal based agriculture, with which you can have the spare food to have specialists like artists and metalworkers. Otherwise everyone has to work on the land, and you don't have enough population density to defend against other peoples, or to become specialists that discover new technology. You can't have cities without agriculture.

2> Writing and mathematics, otherwise you can't run any kind of government.

3> A system of laws.

4> Currency replacing barter as the norm for trade. Not necessarily coins, cowri shells and cocoa beans have been used too.

5> Some sort of leadership system with a hierarchy, so people know who's in charge.

After this I'd put any number of technologies like fire, pottery, building, and armies.

Answer 4

who knows? we have yet to see them.