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The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies
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Farming:The Biggest Mistake???
• Food production = Hard Work!
• It often led to:– poorer health– shorter lifespan– harder labor for the
majority of people
So Why Did People Switch From Hunting and Gathering To Farming?
Paleolithic EraThe Pre-Farming Era
• Definition: the time before people started doing agriculture
• 2 million BCE – about 10,000 BCE• Literal Meaning: “Old Stone Age” – use of
stone tools
Neolithic Era After 10,000 BCE
What?• “Agricultural Revolution” =
domestication of plants & animals
• Literal Meaning: New Stone Age
• The first permanent human settlements emerged
• Still used stone tools• Pottery appears
Catal – Hyuk: A stone-age village in modern Turkey
Where?“Fertile Crescent” (modern day Iraq)
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
The area around these rivers is known to history as Mesopotamia
• End of Last Ice Age
• Warming Climate
• Wild grasses abundant ~Wild Grasses closest to domesticated varieties
How did Agriculture Develop?
• Availability of calories determines how people get food
• End of ice age Plants thriving• Humans began “helping” plants along and
selecting for traits, to increase calories gathered
• Certain plants were abundant and provided many calories=Humans actively chose these– Wheat
Where & When?Location Dates (B.C.E) Plants Animals
Southwest Asia (Fertile Crescent)
9000-7000 Barley, wheat, lentils, figs
Goats, sheep, cattle, pigs
China 6500-5000 Rice, millet, soybeans Pigs, chickens, water buffalo
Saharan and Sub-Saharan Africa
3000-2000 Sorghum, millet, yams, teff
Cattle (perhaps 8000 B.C.E)
Highland New Guinea 7000-4000 Taro, bananas, yams, sugarcane
Andes region 3000-2000 Potatoes, quinoa, manioc
Llamas, alpaca, guinea pig
Mesoamerica 3000-2000 Maize, squash (perhaps 7000 B.C.E), beans
Turkey
Eastern woodlands of North America
2000-1000 Sunflower, goosefoot, sumpweed
What else is needed for a Neolithic Revolution?
• Animal Domestication – what is it?– An animal will breed where and when we want
it to and often. It will come to us for food. It is not aggressive.
• Examples?
Important Domesticated Animals
• Horse• Cow• Pig• Sheep• Goat• Chicken• Ox• Indian Elephant
• All from Eurasia
So What?
What does the Neolithic Revolution allow?:– A sedentary lifestyle– The need for cooperation and group effort– Job specialization – Social Hierarchies (Social classes)– Patriarchy (Rule by males)– Population Growth
Results for Agricultural Society• Now that you have
possessions, what do you have to do?
• Kings- to direct• Militaries – to
protect• Priests – to protect
and record (BUREAUCRATS)
• Scribes and writing – to protect and keep accounts
• Artisans- make storage vessels (pottery)
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