What was the Neolithic Revolution?

Lesson Vocabulary

Nomad-

People who move from place to place in search of food.

Cultural Diffusion-

The exchange of ideas, customs, and goods among cultures

Example: Our Music- Since 9/11 there has been a great interest In Arab culture. Artists from Jay-Z, Timberland, Busta Rhymes, 50 cent, and Dr. Dre have used Arabian Music and referenced Arabian themes in their music. Their videos have also have helped diffuse these

cultural messages in our society.

Polytheistic-Believing in many gods.

Monotheistic-

Believing in one god..

Civilization-

Civilizations are characterized by several basic features:

• Cities• Central Governments• Traditional economy• Organized religion• Social classes• Art and Architecture• Roads, bridges, and other public works• System of writing• Specialized jobs

Life Before the Neolithic Revolution

-The earliest people lived during the Old Stone Age, also called the Paleolithic age, which began more than 2 million years ago. Paleolithic people were nomads. Their simple social structure consisted of small groups of people who traveled together.

1) Adapting to their Environment

• They made simple tools and weapons, such as digging sticks and spears, from stone, bone, or wood.

• During this time, people developed language which allowed them to communicate and cooperate during a hunt.

• Paleolithic people invented clothing made of animal skins. They used fire for warmth as well as cooking food.

2) Spiritual Beliefs

• Paleolithic people developed some spiritual beliefs. Toward the end of the Old Stone Age, people began burying their dead with care, a practice that suggesting that they believed in the afterlife. They buried tools and weapons with their dead.

3) Migration

• Evidence supports the theory that the earliest people lived in East Africa. Their descendants spread to every part of the world.

• During the Old Stone Age, people migrated north and east into Europe and Asia. After many years, some migrated over a land bridge in to North America. Others migrated by boat to islands in the Pacific.

• Migration led to cultural diffusion. Cultural diffusion also occurred through trade and warfare.

Life After the Neolithic Revolution

- Environmental changes brought new climate patterns that contributed to the end of the Old Stone Age. Warmer weather allowed plants to grow where, previously, sheets of ice had dominated the landscape.

- Around 10,000 b.c. people made two important discoveries. They learned to plant seeds to grow food, and they learned to domesticate animals. These discoveries meant that people no longer had to wander in search of food. They could live in permanent settlements. This change marked the beginning of The New Stone Age, or Neolithic period. Historians call these discoveries the Neolithic Revolution because farming and domestic animals changed the way people lived.

From Hunting to Farming

Neolithic Timeline

Why Was the Neolithic Revolution a Turning Point in

History?

How did Agriculture impact Stone Aged people?

After the Neolithic Revolution, more abundant food helped the population to increase. Humans’ lives changed in many ways:

1. Permanent Settlements- People settled together in villages

2. New Social Classes- When resources were scarce, groups went to war. Chiefs or headmen emerged. Some men gained prestige as warriors and had great power.

3. New Technology- People began to develop technology, or tools and skills they could use to meet their basic needs, such as calendars and plows. Other new technology included the wheel, metal weapons, and metal tools.

1) Permanent Settlements:

• Villages were usually run by a Council of Elders composed of the heads of the village's various families.  Some of these villages may have had a chief elder as a single leader. When resources became scarce, warfare among villages increased.  During war, some men gained stature as great warriors.  This usually transferred over to village life with these warriors becoming the leaders in society. Early social class divisions developed as a result.  A person's social class was usually determined by the work they did, such as farmer, craftsman, priest, and warrior.  Depending on the society, priests and warriors were usually at the top, with farmers and craftsman at the bottom.

Social Class Pyramid

• Priests

• Warriors

• Farmers

• Craftsman

2) New Social Classes• During the Paleolithic Period, which lasts from the beginnings of

human life until about 10,000 BCE, people were nomads. They lived in groups of 20 -30, and spent most of their time hunting and gathering.  In these groups, work was divided between men and women, with the men hunting game animals, and women gathering fruits, berries, and other edibles.

• About 10,000 BCE, humans began to cultivate crops and domesticate certain animals.  This was a change from the system of hunting and gathering that had sustained humans from earliest times. As a result, permanent settlements were established.  Neolithic villages continued to divide work between men and women.  However, women's status declined as men took the lead in in most areas of these early societies.  

Gender roles are now more defined

3) New Technology

Weapons of stone and bone were replaced with weapons and tools of metal.

New Technology was used to meet their basic needs…

Including new ways to capture and cook food!

SO WHAT MRS. TILLMAN?

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION?????

WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED SUCH A LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG TIME AGO?????????????

The Neolithic Revolution’s Overall Effect on the World

-The New Stone Age was forever impacted by Agriculture. These changes paved the way for civilizations to emerge.

- The Neolithic Revolution changed the way humans lived.  The use of agriculture allowed humans to develop permanent settlements, social classes, and new technologies.  Some of these early groups settled in the fertile valleys of the Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, Yellow, and Indus Rivers.  This resulted in the rise of the great civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and India.

Map of the Fertile Crescent

Today’s Activity

• Create a cartoon strip: In your comic strip you are trying to persuade a person or group of people of another tribe/community to leave their life of hunting and gathering and join the Neolithic Revolution.

• Stop and Plan Here