The Neolithic Revolution

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The Neolithic Revolution
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The Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution (8000BCE-3500BCE)

• Sometimes termed the
• Agricultural Revolution.
• Humans begin to slowly domesticate plant and
  animal stocks in Southwest Asia.
• Agriculture requires nomadic peoples to become
  sedentary.
• Populations begin to rise in areas where plant
  and animal domestication occurred.

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The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural
Societies
WHEN? End of the last ice age about 10,000 years
ago Some groups adapted to the new
environment Some groups remained hunter
gatherers The groups that adapted created a more
reliable food supply less diversified huge
impact upon the environment animals were
domesticated for food and labor RESULT Population
s increased Family groups gave way to village
and later urban life Patriarchy and forced labor
developed Emergence of Pastoralism in Africa and
Eurasia. Pastoralists mobility became conduits
for spreading technology and ideas as the
interacted with settled communities
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The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural
Societies
Around 10,000 years ago, NR let to the
development of new and more complex ECONOMIC and
SOCIAL systems Mesopotamia, Nile River, Indus
River, Yellow River, Mesoamerica Pastoralism
developed on the grasslands of Eurasia and
Africa Different crops and animals were
domesticated Agricultural impacted environmental
diversity Grazing large numbers of animals led
to erosion
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The Neolithic Revolution
Costs Advantages of Agriculture
Advantages Costs
Steady food supplies Greater populations Leads to organized societies capable of supporting additional vocations (soldiers, managers, etc.) Heavily dependant on certain food crops (failure starvation) Disease from close contact with animals, humans, waste Cant easily leave sites
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The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural
Societies
You must be able to identify the CORE and
FOUNDATIONAL CIVILIZATIONS on a
map. Mesopotamia in the Tigris and Euphrates
River Valley Egypt in the Nile River
Valley Mohenjo-Daro and the Harappa in the Indus
River Valley Shang in the Yellow or Hwang He
River Valley Olmecs in Mexico Chavin in Andean
South America
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The Neolithic Revolution
Agriculture Slowly Spreads What do you notice
about the core areas?
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The Neolithic Revolution
Independent Development vs. Cultural Diffusion

• Areas of Independent Development
• SW Asia (wheat, pea, olive, sheep, goat)
• China SE Asia (rice, millet, pig)
• Americas (corn, beans, potato, llama)
• Areas of Agriculture Through Diffusion
• Europe
• West Sub-Saharan Africa (?)
• Indus River Valley (rice cultivation)

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The Neolithic Revolution
Interactions Between Nomadic Peoples and
Sedentary Agricultural Peoples

• Some nomadic peoples
• engaged in pastoralism.
• Some practiced slash burn agriculture.
• The violent and peaceful interaction between
  nomads and agriculturalists endures throughout
  history. (Trade raids)

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The Neolithic Revolution
Sedentary Agriculturalists Dominate

• High starch diets slowly allow
• Sedentary populations to grow.
• First plow invented c.6000BCE
• crop yields grow exponentially by 4000BCE.
• Pop. grows from 5-8 million to 60-70 million.
• Eventually agricultural populations begin to
  spread out, displacing or assimilating nomadic
  groups farming groups grow large enough for
  advanced social organization.

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The Neolithic Revolution
First Towns Develop
Catal Huyuk Modern Turkey First settled c.
7000BCE
Jericho Modern Israel First settled c. 7000BCE
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The Neolithic Revolution
First Towns Develop

• Towns require social differentiation metal
  workers, pottery workers, farmers, soldiers,
  religious and political leaders.
• (POSSIBLE B/C FOOD SURPLUSES!)
• Served as trade centers for the area specialized
  in the production of certain unique crafts
• Beginnings of social stratification (class)

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The Neolithic Revolution

• Towns Present Evidence of
• Religious structures
• (burial rites, art)
• Political Religious leaders were the same
• Still relied on limited hunting gathering for
  food

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The Neolithic Revolution

• Roles of Women
• Women generally lost status under male-dominated,
  patriarchal systems.
• Women were limited in vocation,
• worked in food production, etc.
• Women may have lacked the
• same social rights as men.

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The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural
Societies
Agricultural and Pastoralism began to transfer
human Societies Reliable and more abundant food
supplies resulting in an increase in
population Surplus food and other goods led to
specialization of labor and new social classes
(artisans, warriors, elites) Technical
innovations led to improvements in agricultural
production, trade, and transportation Pottery
Plows Woven Textiles Metallurgy Wheels and
wheeled vehicles
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The Neolithic Revolution
Metal Working From Copper to Bronze

• The working of metals became very important to
  early human settlements for tools weapons.

• Early settlements gradually shifted from copper
  to the stronger alloy bronze by 3,000BCEushers
  in the Bronze Age!
• Metal working spread throughout human communities
  slowly as agriculture had.

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The Neolithic Revolution
Further Technological Advancements
Wheeled Vehicles Saves labor, allows transport of large loads and enhances trade
Potters Wheel (c.6000BCE) Allows the construction of more durable clay vessels and artwork
Irrigation Driven Plows Allows further increase of food production, encourages pop. growth
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The Neolithic Revolution
Early Human Impact on the Environment

• Deforestation in places where copper, bronze, and
  salt were produced.
• Erosion and flooding where agriculture disturbed
  soil and natural vegetation.
• Selective extinction of large land animals and
  weed plants due to hunting agriculture.

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The Neolithic Revolution
Advanced Civilization The Next Step?

• By 3500BCE, relatively large, advanced
  preliterate societies had developed along the
  Indus, Huang He, Nile, and Tigris Euphrates
  Rivers.
• As societies grew in size and need, sedentary
  human beings were once again faced with pressures
  to adapt to changing natural and human
  environments.