The Neolithic Revolution World History: Libertyville HS

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 Slash and burn Irrigation 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)