The Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution

Setting the scene
10,000 years ago: ice age
was ending
Climate became stable
Game became more scarce
Agriculture first emerged in
Southwest Asia, China, and
the Americas, independently
Agriculture then spread to
Greece, Egypt
In Europe, agriculture
spread from SE to NW
between 6000 and 3000 BC
Steps to an Agricultural Society
Hunter Gatherers: how
man had lived for millions of
years
Follow herds of wild animals
Gather food from wild plants
Short step from H-G to
herding domesticated
animals
Type of animals depended on
location: sheep, pigs, even
reindeer!
More stable than H-G: why?
Also hunted, gathered food
Agricultural Society
Grow your own food
Crops grown depended on
where people lived
Hunting and herding
supplemented agriculture
Result = food surplus
Implications of farming?
Man settled down in one
place
Food surplus led to larger
families
Food surplus led to
communities
Did the steps happen at the same
pace, everywhere?
NO!!!
Some people never got past
herding
Others skipped herding and
went right to farming
Still others stayed as H-G
Farming developed over 2-
3000 years
Occurred spontaneously
H-G / herders / farmers co-
existed, sometimes with
conflict
Types of Agriculture
Dry farming
First kind of farming developed
Dependent on amount of rainfall
only
Subsistence farming (little
surplus)
Slash and burn
Burn forest / grassland
Ash fertilized ground
Subsistence farming
Irrigation
Used rivers to water fields
Dug trenches, ditches & control
systems for flow of water
Required lots of people and
organization
BUT allowed for food surplus

Irrigation in SW Asia
Mesopotamia (Land
Between Two Rivers)
Irrigation developed around
4000 BC, probably because
people were forced out of
hills into river valley
Causes?
Overpopulation?
Conflict?
Irrigated agriculture led to
Civilization!
Civilization
Characteristics of Civilization
Advanced cities
Large population in small area;
challenges?
Concentration of people became
center of trade for region
Specialized workers
Most people worked as farmers
B/c of food surplus, some workers
became skilled in specific area of
work
If not farming, you had better be
producing something important!
Complex institutions
Government arose to organize
farmers to maintain irrigation
systems
Civilization
Characteristics (continued)
Complex institutions
Religion arose to explain the
world
Record keeping
Government needed to keep
track of taxes, laws
Religion maintained calendar,
stories of gods / goddesses
Trade kept track of debts,
transactions
Advanced technology
Agriculture led to ox drawn plows
Metallurgy (using metal for tools,
instead of stone, bone or wood)