"A Brief Review of the Archaeological Evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic Subsistence"

The skeleton of a Neolithic woman in present-day Bulgaria. Richard's text A Brief Review of the Archaeological Evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic Subsistence aims to reconstruct past Palaeolithic and Neolithic diets by analyzing the three lines of evidence that describe these diets. Evidence revolves around studying the morphological adaptations that...

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"The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease"

The cover of Lieberman's text. Daniel Lieberman, a Harvard palaeoanthropologist, wrote this book in order to analyze how the gradual transition to agriculture impacted the lifestyle of modern humans. I chose to post about this book because he focuses on the differences in hunter-gatherer and agriculturalist lifestyles, and he specifically analyzes how the transition...

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Facts About the Agricultural Revolution

The Neolithic revolution was actually a gradual event. It probably developed from the practice that some hunter-gathering societies have of encouraging their favorite plants to grow by clearing away competing plants (weeding or burning) and saving the seeds and planting them. The shift from hunting & gathering to agriculture led to permanent settlements,...

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Comparing Lifestyles

Caveman comic by Baloo! This is the go-to post to identify the pros and cons of the hunting-gathering and agricultural lifestyles. I have taken the advantages and disadvantages from my previous posts and other websites (which will be cited below) and compiled them all into one list. If you would like to contribute, please comment below and I will update the list. Thank...

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Neolithic Artifacts

Many believe that the origins of agriculture began in the Neolithic era, thus claiming it as "The Neolithic Revolution". However, the origins of agriculture was gradual and began in many different areas at different times. Depicted below are some interesting artifacts that were used by cultivators and agriculturalists during the Neolithic era.  An array of Neolithic...

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"Jimmy the Nomad"

*Note: Open image in separate tab to enlarge. A humorous comic drawn by xiam47 depicting "Jimmy the Nomad" and his friend planting seeds to grow plants for food. Is this train of thought similar to those of the first prehistoric cultivators? It is thought that cultivation of plants first began when gatherers began to save seeds from the foods they ate and spread them across...

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The History of Agriculture

The Fertile Crescent from Source #1 It is frequently assumed that agriculture emerged in a single location and eventually spread across to the rest of the world; however, this simply isn't true. Nicholas Malinak proposes a three-part evolution of agriculture, which is the idea that agriculture developed independently in the Middle East, China, and Mesoamerica. There...

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Join the Neolithic Revolution!

*Note: Open image in separate tab to enlarge. Join the Neolithic Revolution! This humorous David Steinlicht comic provides a detailed list of the advantages and disadvantages of plant and animal domestication. As stated in my previous post, I must reiterate that the cultivation and domestication of plants and animals did not develop rapidly as the word "revolution" implies....

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