11/4/15

Early
Agriculture

The Neolithic Revolution

What: The period when people developed farming. It was a big deal. Thats why
they call it a revolution, or a complete change in ways of thinking, working or
living.

When: About 10,000 years ago people began to learn how to farm.
Within a 2000-4000 year period people all over the world independently developed farming. We
call this period the NEOLITHIC ERA, or the New Stone Age (neo=new, lithic=stone)

What environmental changes lead to

farming?
About 12000 years ago, the Ice Age ends
-The world gets warmer
-Ice melts
-Sea levels rise
-More rain makes some areas rich in plants and animals
-People start to stay in one space or a smaller area than they did as huntergatherers
because plants and animals are easily available there.

11/4/15

Humans adapt to and change their

environment
Some large Ice Age animals did not adapt to these changes and died off.
People had to hunt for new food sources. Some started to hunt smaller
animals. Some began to live near rivers and lakes so they could fish.

Staying in the same area allowed people to notice that if they scattered seeds
on the ground, new plants grew next year. This lead to...

Domesticating Plants and Animals

People need to eat. Food was probably Stone Age peoples #1 concern.
People learned to domesticate, or change the growth of plant and the behavior of
animals in ways that are useful to humans.
Domesticated plant (crops) became a nutritious and reliable food source.
Grains(for food): wheat, rice, maize
Animals (for food): meat, eggs, milk, honey
Animals (help to get food): Horses and oxen
Animals (for clothing): sheep and llamas

Why was domestication of plants and

animals so important?

11/4/15

Difference between wild and domesticated

breeds
Domesticated
pig
Domesticated tomato

Wild pig
wild tomato

Why do you think the wild breeds look

different from the domesticated breeds?

New Tools for a New Way of Life

Farmers invented new tools; axes to cut down trees; sickles to harvest grain
crops; hand mills to grind grain into flour. Tools were first made out of stone. Then
people made more efficient tools out of bronze and iron. Historians refer to
different stages of early history as the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron
Age.
Todays mechanical
reapers do the same
job as the sickles to
the left

Stone
sickle

Bronze sickle. Lighter

with a sharper edge

Iron sickle, even

stronger than
Bronze

11/4/15

The Spread of Farming

Southwest Asia believed to be the first center of agriculture
Farming appeared independently in different parts of the world.
First crops to be domesticated in different areas:

millet

East Asia: rice

Europe: millet
North America: gourds
South America: potatoes, beans, and squash

sorghum

Africa: sorghum and yams

Costs and Benefits of Farming

Costs

Benefits

Planting crops and herding animals took a

lot of energy

Farming made more food and used less

land than hunting and gathering

Uncertainty: If a crop failed, a family might

starve

Allowed people to build permanent homes

and farming villages

Others could steal your food

Provided new sources of material for

clothing

*Some groups tried farming for a while then went back to hunting and gathering.
Most people remained farmers.

New Kinds of Shelter

People began to make permanent shelter usually out of mud brick.
People started living together in larger groups
One of the oldest known
farming village was
Catalhoyuk. It stood in
present-day Turkeymore
than 8000 years ago.

11/4/15

New Kinds of Clothing

Hunter-gatherers used hides and furs for clothing.

Farming made lighter and easier-to-work-with material available.

Farmers domesticated :
Cotton plants for cotton
Flax plants for linen
Sheep and Yaks (wool and animal hair for yarn or thread)
Silkworms for silk

Surpluses and Specializations

As crops and herds improved through domestication and new technologies, the
amount of food farmers could produce each year increased.
Families produced a surplus, or more than people need to feed themselves.
Surplus, or extra food meant more people could eat; as a result, villages grew.
With a surplus not everyone needs to farm. People could do other things.
Specialization occurs when people spend most of their time on a single job or
craft. People could then trade the goods they made or the work they do for
the surplus of food grown by the farmers.
Some Specializations: potters, toolmakers, healers, storytellers. Can you think

of others?

How Did Farming Lead to Specialization?

11/4/15

Social Organization
Farming required people to work together. Heads of families came together to
make important decisions like when to plant and harvest crops or how to
protect the community from raiders. Leaders began to emerge.

Having permanent place to live meant people could own more possessions.
Over time some families accumulated more possessions than others.

As surpluses increased and people began to specialize, greater social

differences emerged.
.

What are some benefits and drawbacks of

job specialization?

Why is the Neolithic Revolution important

in human history?