1. Life in neolithic communities
By: Meredith Proffitt and Tanvi Patel

2. Life in Neolithic communities
Neolithic (New Stone Age): associated with agriculture
Farming provided a secure food supply
Ecological crisis may have driven people to food production
Food producers had to work for longer periods of time and had to do more work that food gatherers
Pastoralists has to guard their herds from wild predators, guide them to fresh pastures, and tend to their needs
The diet of the farmers of the Neolithic times was less nutritious and less varied
Dependable food supply and the ability to store harvests allowed the permanent settlements to flourish
People in permanent settlements were exposed to diseases from water contamination (by human waste) and disease carrying insects and animals

3. Rural Population and Settlement
Some violence might have been involved between the farmers and the foragers (when the farmers tried to clear land)
Farmers displaced foragers by a process of gradual infiltration rather than a rapid conquest
Small agricultural surpluses gave the people an advantage in population growth (high rates of survival during times of crisis)
Farming communities were based on/around kinships and marriages
Nuclear families existed
Landholding was likely to be bestowed in the large kinship units

4. Kinship systems influenced the Neolithic peoples vision of the world
Cultural Expressions
Kinship systems influenced the Neolithic peoples vision of the world
The death of a respected elder was marked by elaborate burials
Religion of the farmers reflected their awareness of their relationship with nature
The religions of the farmers tended to focus on sacred groves, springs, and wild animals
The religious practices of the farming communities centered on the Earth Mother and the Sky God
Religions focused mainly around ancestors, Earth Mother, and the Sky God
Megaliths: structures made out of large stone constructed for ceremonial and religious purposes
Cultural contribution: dissemination of the languages spoken by the families (these languages served as the base of most languages spoken today)

5. Early Towns and Specialists
Farmers lived in villages
Towns were centers of trade and consisted of elaborated housing and ceremonial buildings
Houses were made out of mud brick, stone, and wood
The people used and made pottery jugs, pots, and baskets
Large communities devoted their attention to making products with complexity and beauty
2 important towns that were excavated in the Middle East were Catal Huyuk and Jericho

6. Agriculture was the basis of the towns existence
Catal Huyuk
Catal Huyuk: B.C.E; excavations revealed plastered mud brick rooms and no defensive fortifications
Catal Huyuk was a prospering town that traded obsidian, fine pottery, baskets, cloth, beads, and working leather and wood
Catal Huyuk farms produced barley, emmer wheat, legumes, and vegetables
Agriculture was the basis of the towns existence
Both settlements were found to have elaborate wall paintings of hunting scenes which were closely linked to earlier cave paintings (and therefore earlier practices)
Men were buried with their war weapons and bones (as proof that wild game was prominent in their diets) not with the tools of farming
No evidence of a dominant class or a centralized political structure

7. Metal working was an important occupation
Catal Huyuk
Metal working was an important occupation
Copper and Lead objects were very common
The discovery of metals, gold, silver, etc. in graces suggested that they were symbols of status and power
Growth of towns, specialized crafts, and elaborate religious shires contributed to the amount of agricultural workload that had to be done

8. religions of catal huyuk
Religious shrine for every 2 houses
No evidence of live animal sacrifices (instead they sacrificed wild grains, legumes)
A cult of the goddess was central to the town’s religion
The cult of the goddess was led largely by women
Large number of females that had received elaborate burials were priestesses

9. Had defensive walls and towers
Jericho
Jericho: located in central Anatolia; excavations revealed round mud brick structures, and a millennium later revealed rectangular rooms with plastered walls and floors
Both settlements were found to have elaborate wall paintings of hunting scenes which were closely linked to earlier cave paintings (and therefore earlier practices)
Had defensive walls and towers
Existence of plastered skulls may be evidence of a practice of worshipping ancestors
Men were buried with their war weapons and bones (as proof that wild game was prominent in their diets) not with the tools of farming

10. THANKS FOR WATCHING!