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[[Image:Machu-Picchu.jpg|thumbnail|right|<center>The ruins of [[Machu Picchu]], "the Lost City of the Incas," has become the most recognizable symbol of the [[Inca]] civilization.</center>]]
[[Image:Machu-Picchu.jpg|frame|right|<center>The ruins of [[Machu Picchu]], "the Lost City of the Incas," has become the most recognizable symbol of the [[Inca]] civilization.</center>]]
A '''civilization''' or '''civilisation''' is a [[society]] or [[culture]] group normally defined as a [[complex society]] characterized by the practice of [[agriculture]] and settlement in [[city|cities]].
A '''civilization''' or '''civilisation''' is a [[society]] or [[culture]] group normally defined as a [[complex society]] characterized by the practice of [[agriculture]] and settlement in [[city|cities]].
Compared with less complex cultures, members of a civilization are organized into a diverse [[division of labour]] and an intricate [[social hierarchy]].
Compared with less complex cultures, members of a civilization are organized into a diverse [[division of labour]] and an intricate [[social hierarchy]].
The term ''civilization'' is often used as a synonym for ''culture'' in both popular and academic circles.<ref>"Civilization" (1974), ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'' 15th ed. Vol. II, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 956.</ref> Every human being participates in a culture, defined as "the arts, customs, habits... beliefs, values, behavior and material habits that constitute a people's way of life".<ref>"Culture", ''[[Wiktionary]]'', [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Culture]. Retrieved 25 August 2007.</ref> Civilizations can be distinguished from other cultures by their high level of social complexity and organization, and by their diverse economic and cultural activities.
The term ''civilization'' is often used as a synonym for ''culture'' in both popular and academic circles. Every human being participates in a culture, defined as "the arts, customs, habits... beliefs, values, behavior and material habits that constitute a people's way of life". Civilizations can be distinguished from other cultures by their high level of social complexity and organization, and by their diverse economic and cultural activities.
The term has been defined and understood in a number of ways different from the standard definition. Sometimes it is used synonymously with the broader term ''culture''. ''Civilization'' can also refer to society as a whole. To nineteenth-century [[England|English]] [[anthropology|anthropologist]] [[Edward Burnett Tylor]], for example, civilization was "the total social heredity of mankind;"<ref>"Civilization and Cultural Evolution" (1974), ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'' 15th ed. Vol. 4, 657.</ref> in other words, civilization was the totality of human knowledge and culture as represented by the most "advanced" society at a given time.<ref>"Civilization and Cultural Evolution," ''Britannica'' Vol. 4, 657.</ref> ''Civilization'' can be used in a [[normative]] sense as well: if complex and urban cultures are assumed to be superior to other "savage" or "[[barbarian]]" cultures, then "civilization" is used as a synonym for "superiority of certain groups." In a similar sense, civilization can mean "refinement of thought, manners, or taste".<ref>"Civilization" (2004), ''[[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]'' Eleventh Edition, Merriam-Webster, Inc., 226.</ref>
The term has been defined and understood in a number of ways different from the standard definition. Sometimes it is used synonymously with the broader term ''culture''. ''Civilization'' can also refer to society as a whole. To nineteenth-century [[England|English]] [[anthropology|anthropologist]] [[Edward Burnett Tylor]], for example, civilization was "the total social heredity of mankind;"<ref>"Civilization and Cultural Evolution" (1974), ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'' 15th ed. Vol. 4, 657.</ref> in other words, civilization was the totality of human knowledge and culture as represented by the most "advanced" society at a given time.<ref>"Civilization and Cultural Evolution," ''Britannica'' Vol. 4, 657.</ref> ''Civilization'' can be used in a [[normative]] sense as well: if complex and urban cultures are assumed to be superior to other "savage" or "[[barbarian]]" cultures, then "civilization" is used as a synonym for "superiority of certain groups." In a similar sense, civilization can mean "refinement of thought, manners, or taste".<ref>"Civilization" (2004), ''[[Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]]'' Eleventh Edition, Merriam-Webster, Inc., 226.</ref>