Facts About the Agricultural Revolution

1. 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.
2. The shift from hunting & gathering to agriculture led to permanent settlements, the establishment of social classes, and the eventual rise of civilizations.
3. Neolithic villages continued to divide work between men and women.  However, women's status declined as men took the lead in in most areas of these early societies.
4. Why did the establishment of agriculture prevail over hunting and gathering? Agricultural societies simply fed more people, allowed for larger families and so could push out, absorb or slaughter the hunter-gathering societies in the long run.
5. While no one knows for certain what conditions caused the shift from hunting and gathering to sedentary agriculture, changes in the climate may have been significant factors. It is also probable that increases in human population prompted changes in food production.
6. The first plants domesticated were the wild grains - barley and wheat - that were common in many regions of the Middle East.
7. Sheep, goats, and pigs were among the first animals domesticated around 8500 B.C.E. Cattle, more aggressive and faster than the other animals, were added to the agricultural system around 6500 B.C.E. 
8. The development of sedentary settlements accelerated the pace of technological development. Many of these innovations were directly connected to agriculture, including plows, implements, techniques of seed selection, and irrigation. The development of better tools led to better housing and systems for the storage of grain.
9. The production of food surpluses allowed social differentiation and economic specialization. Some people were freed from the processes associated with the production of food to make other commodities, such as cloth, pottery, and leather goods. Economic specialization led to social stratification and the creation of elite classes of rulers.
10. The favorite settlement locations were river basins and flood plains. These areas could be relied upon to bring regular floods for the irrigation of crops. 
11. However, Neolithic societies were noticeably more hierarchical than the Paleolithic cultures that preceded them and hunter-gatherer cultures in general.
12. Families and households were still largely independent economically, and the household was probably the center of life
13. A significant and far-reaching shift in human subsistence and lifestyle was to be brought about in areas where crop farming and cultivation were first developed: the previous reliance on an essentially nomadic hunter-gatherer subsistence technique or pastoral transhumance was at first supplemented, and then increasingly replaced by, a reliance upon the foods produced from cultivated lands.
14. Neolithic peoples were skilled farmers, manufacturing a range of tools necessary for the tending, harvesting and processing of crops (such as sickle blades and grinding stones) and food production (e.g. pottery, bone implements). They were also skilled manufacturers of a range of other types of stone tools and ornaments, including projectile points, beads, and statuettes.

Sources:

1. Facts 1 & 4:The Neolithic Revolution
2. Facts 2 & 3: Regents Prep: Global History: Change & Turning Points: Neolithic Revolution
3. Fact 5 - 9: The Neolithic Revolution and the Birth of Civilization Outline
4. Image Source and Fact 10: Chapter 5: The Neolithic Revolution
5. Facts 11-14: Neolithic Period on Ancient History Encylcopedia

Read More

"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 fields in order to grow more of their favorite foods. By cultivating plants, hunter gatherers began to have a reliable source of edible plants. They did not give up hunting and gathering entirely, but they cultivated plants to ensure food supply when prey became scarce. 

Source:

1. "Jimmy the Nomad" by xiam47 on DeviantArt.com

Read More

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. The agriculturalist lifestyle was a gradual change that developed over thousands of years. With that being said, here is an excerpt from the comic:

Your KEYS to a BETTER LIFE!

Harness Plant Power!

• Learn how the seeds you drop can become next fall's crop!
• Use seed selection to make future plants more production and easier to harvest!
• Preserve and store surpluses for hard times!
• Invent new ways of preparing and cooking plant foods!

Put Animals To Work For You!

• Learn which species are slow and submissive!
• Use food and fences to keep them around!
• Influence their choice of mates!
• Breed the best and eat the rest!

Disclaimer:

Plant and animal domestication can lead to overpopulation, deforestation, erosion, flooding, desertification, materialism, diminished nutrition, cavities, and television. Caution advised.

Your results may vary.

The advantages and disadvantages of adopting an agriculturalist lifestyle are clearly stated in the comic; however, why exactly did prehistoric humans feel the need to change their lifestyles? Were they pushed into it due to lack of resources, or were they pulled into it by observing the beneficial aspects of agriculture? 

Source:

1. Comic by David Steinlicht

Read More