1. THE NEOLITHIC (AGRICULTURAL) REVOLUTION
Causes and Effects

2. Agricultural Revolution
Evidence of plant and animal domestication appears about 10,000 years ago in Jericho and Catal Huyuk.
Change from hunter-gatherer societies.

3. POSSIBLE CAUSES
Human population increased, so more reliable sources of food were needed.
Climate change… the end of the last “Ice Age” begins.
The gradual experimentation by gatherers of wild plants (mostly women) led to dependence on plant cultivation.

4. EFFECTS
Global population increases. 8,000 BCE 6-8 million people to 1CE 300 million people.
Labor divided into food producing and non-food producing jobs. This “specialization” leads to social classes.
Women lose status.
Increase in diseases and higher birth rates.
Increase in technology: pottery, irrigation, and metallurgy (metal making).

5. Was the “Agricultural Revolution” a good or bad thing?