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

Life of Paleolithic Humans

The Neolithic

RevolutionWhat is this?

Where did it happen?

When did it happen?

WHY did it happen?

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

What was in the Americas?

Only the guinea pig, turkey, and…

llamasong.flv

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)

Did Everyone Switch?

NO!• Who Didn’t? • Why Not?

River Valley Civilizations:Called that for a reason!

Eurasian Steppe

(grasslands)

African Savannah

Inuit Lands