1. The Birth of Agriculture 10,000-5300 B.C.E.
Neolithic Age
The Birth of Agriculture
10, B.C.E.

2. Essential Standard
6.H.2- Understand the political, economic and/or social significance of historical events, issues, individuals and cultural groups.
6.G.1- Understand geographic factors that influenced the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations, societies and regions (i.e. Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas) over time.

3. Clarifying Objective
6.H.2.3- Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed civilizations, societies and regions over time (e.g., agricultural technology, weaponry, transportation and communication).
6.G.1.1- Explain how the physical features and human characteristics of a place influenced the development of civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., location near rivers and natural barriers, trading practices and spread of culture).
6.G.1.4- Explain how and why civilizations, societies and regions have used, modified and adapted to their environments (e.g., invention of tools, domestication of plants and animals, farming techniques and creation of dwellings).

4. Essential Question

5. Earth Begins to Warm Again
The Earth begins to warm again
The snow turned to rain
A new age is born
Neolithic Age

6. Neolithic Age In the Middle East the Neolithic Age begins
Now in a warmer climate mankind begins once again hunting and gathering

7. Neolithic Age
But they will soon realize a way to revolutionize their food supply once again which will lead to the birth of the first settlements, towns, cities, & civilizations of the world
The end of the Stone Age (Paleolithic & Ice Age) marked a time when mankind would farm & live in permanent settlements for the first time
It all starts with “Our Farming Mother”

8. Our Farming Mother
Nobody really knows exactly who she was but her discovery is one of the most important of all time
It could be said that without her discovery mankind would have died off thousands of years ago

9. The Double Edged Sword
What are Farming Mother discovers gives changes the direction & speed of Mankind’s Story
Her discovery leads to cities, new technology, new science techniques, civilizations, powerful empires being built
It also leads to crime, poverty, disease, & war

10. Women Gather While men hunt women gather grains & seeds
For every calorie a woman spends gathering seeds & grains she is able to provide 50 calories of energy to her people

11. Settling Patterns People settle around rich sources of grains & seeds
People also settle around rivers & lakes so they have a water source for growing
Çatal Hüyuk is one of the earliest agricultural farming villages found to this day
And it is during this time that Our Farming Mother makes a breakthrough

12. Agriculture is Born
Discarded seeds take root in the ground & begin to grow there
This gives her an idea
She plants her best seeds in a fertile patch of land hoping they too will take root and grow

13. Agriculture is Born
The plants begin to grow and she has just discovered Agriculture
There in the Middle East around 8000 B.C.E. Agriculture is born
Agriculture is the planting of seeds to grow plants that can be eaten by humans
Agriculture is the root of the beginning of all civilizations

14. Agriculture is Born
Now humans had more of a guarantee of a food source
For the first time humans were able to have extra food
They didn’t have to worry about gathering seeds & plants because they could just grow their own seeds and plants

15. Mankind’s First Farm Our Farming Mother tends to the seeds
She weeds & waters
She puts them in her own sectioned off plot of land
She invents the plow to till the soil and make it more fertile which gives more crops
Mankind’s first garden

16. Farming Feeds the Masses
Now an acre of land can feed 100 times as many people as hunting & gathering
She then invents the SICKLE to cut down the wheat that she has grown
Farming & Agriculture was THE GAME CHANGER OF SOCIETY
This was the difference of having millions of people on the planet & billions of people on the planet

17. Wheat A new crop conquers the globe (WHEAT)
1 sixty bushel of wheat can make 70 loaves of bread
By 3000 B.C.E. farming reaches Europe which creates a blueprint of the future
Farming & agriculture from that point on devolved independently by its self in all parts of the world

18. Irrigation
More villages begin to spring up along rivers & lakes because rivers and lakes provide a natural water source
They use this water source to water their crops
They develop a system called IRRIGATION where they dig ditches from the rivers & lakes to their gardens so the water flows to their gardens and they don’t have to haul water to their gardens anymore

19. Village Because of Agriculture the Village comes into existence
This was mankind’s first settled communities
Villages were the first time that mankind got together to own a piece of land and farm that land

20. Village
Shortly after the first village mankind domesticated the goat & sheep
These were the first animals to be domesticated by the Agricultural communities
These were the first farm animals

21. Domesticating Farm Animals
This is a turning point
Now the Goats, pigs, oxen, & sheep could be used for human use
Now mankind not only has Agriculture but domesticated animals to eat & help farm with

22. Domesticating Farm Animals
This leads to a population boom
Eventually however domesticated farm animals moved out of the Middle East because of a drought that made farming the region very hard. Because of the drought there was also no grass for the animals to graze on

23. The New Challenge
Agriculture opens a new battle against an enemy that we still face today
That enemy is disease
The domesticated farm animals carried diseases such as syphilis, Bubonic Plague/Black Death, & Smallpox

24. Smallpox for Domesticated Animals

25. Another New Enemy
Farming & owning land gives way to what be the greatest enemy in the history of mankind
Each other
In a neighboring village the crops have failed and the villagers begin to starve

26. Mine vs. Yours It comes down to Mine vs. Yours
THIS IS MY LAND. I worked hard for this land
I put in my time, effort & energy into that land
My family lives on that land
If you come & try to take my land I have to do something about it

27. Man Battles Man for the First Time
They organize an attack plan to attack the neighboring village and steal their agricultural crops
They use any tools that they have made as weapons and leave to attack

28. Man Battles Man for the First Time
They attack quickly killing villagers & stealing agricultural crops
The birth of warfare
Because of Agriculture and having enough food to survive Mankind builds its first STANDING ARMIES and pays them with food to protect their villages

29. End of the Neolithic Age
By the end of the Neolithic Age agriculture was in full force
Standing armies existed for protection
Metal working had been discovered and people were able to make such things as jewelry, weapons, & tools
This gave way to the Dawning of a new age

30. Important Points
6.H.2.3- (Agricultural Technology) “Our Farming Mother” did more for human society that she will ever know. The discovery of Agriculture allowed for masses of people to be fed and marked the end of hunting & gathering for survival
6.H.2.3- (Agricultural Technology) Agriculture was the basis the starting point of all beginning civilization throughout history
6.G.1.4- (Domestication of Animals) The Neolithic people also domesticated goats & sheep to provide another food source & to help them with farming tasks
6.G.1.1- (Location near Water) Geographically villages, towns, cities, civilizations & Empires all got their start around some kind of natural water source. If you tried to build you village too far away from a river, lake, ocean your village would die off
6.G.1.4- (Invention of Farming Techniques) The Neolithic people not only invented “farming” but also invented sickles to cut their wheat & an irrigation system to water their crops