INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE

1
INVENTION OF AGRICULTURE

• First people to engage in agriculture were from
  the Middle East
• Began around 7000 BC
• Wheat and barley
• Sheep and goats
• Agriculture then gradually spread from Middle
  East to Europe, Africa, and elsewhere

2
THE FIRST FARMER

• Probably a woman
• Did most grain-collecting as part of their
  general food gathering duties
• Noticed that that stored wild grain could be
  grown on purpose
• Domestication of animals probably came from the
  keeping of pets or from the temporary retention
  of animals after a hunt

3
RESULTS OF AGRICULTURE

• Required intensification of group organization
• Neolithic farmers lived in settlements which had
  populations that ranged from 150 (Jarmo) to 2000
  (Jericho)

4
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

• Settlements originally ruled by a council of
  elders but, over time, authority became vested in
  a single chieftain
• Individual independence was limited
• Inhabitants worked together collectively in a
  very close-knit society
• Communal granaries, communal ovens, and communal
  fields abound in Neolithic sites
• Private property limited to an individuals
  personal possessions

5
POSSESSIONS

• Needs of agriculture and stability and relative
  prosperity provided by agriculture increased
  human possessions
• Clay pottery
• Woven baskets
• Woolen and linen clothing
• Sophisticated tools and weapons
• Metallic ornaments
• Carts and wagons with solid wheels
• Plow

6
OUTSIDE CONTACTS

• Neolithic communities had links to larger world
• Existence of walls indicates that they were
  sometimes fearful of these contacts
• Other contacts were more peaceful
• Obsidian and turquoise items in Jericho came from
  at least several hundred miles away
• Either gifts or received in exchange for grain

Jericho
7
Agriculture appeared in China and Greece around
5000 BC
BIG POINT There was no universal transition point
between Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages It was a
gradual and uneven process with some regions
adopting agriculture very early and other regions
adopting it much later
Spread of Agriculture into the rest of Europe was
slowdue to harsher climate and widespread forests
Agriculture did not appear in Germany until
100-200 AD
8
DIFFERENCES IN LIFESTYLE

• Determined by the region where men settled and
  the environmental factors they had to deal with
• Lake houses in Switzerland, long houses along
  Danube, stone huts in Britain, reed lean-tos in
  Egypt, and clay brick huts in Middle East
• Tools and weapons also varied, as did social and
  political organization and even ideas
• Broad language groups appeared
• Semitic, Indo-European, etc.

9
CIVILIZATION I

• THE PRESENCE OF FIRMLY ORGANIZED STATES WHICH
  HAVE DEFINITE BOUNDARIES AND SYSTEMATIC POLITICAL
  INSTITUTIONS (LED BY CLEARLY IDENTIFIED POLITICAL
  OR RELIGIOUS LEADERS)
• THE DISTINCTIONS OF SOCIAL CLASSES
• THE EXISTENCE OF A SOCIAL HIERARCHY WITH PEOPLE
  RANKED IN SOCIAL GROUPS, ONE ABOVE THE OTHER

10
CIVILIZATION II

• ECONOMIC SPECIALIZATION
• DIVISION OF OCCUPATIONS SUCH AS FARMER,
  CRAFTSMAN, MERCHANT, PRIEST, WARRIOR, ETC.
• ALL INTERDEPENDENT
• CONSCIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF ARTS AND INTELLECTUAL
  ATTITUDES
• RISE OF MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE
• USE OF WRITING TO KEEP RECORDS OR COMMUNICATE
  FAMOUS DEEDS
• ELABORATION OF THEOLOGY
• EXPRESSION OF RELIGIOUS VIEWS ABOUT THE NATURE OF
  THE GODS, THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH MEN, AND ABOUT
  THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD

11
CIVILIZATION III

• USUALLY CONNECTED TO CITIES BUT CITIES ARE NOT AN
  ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT TO CIVILIZATION
• NEOLITHIC JERICHO COULD BE CONSIDERED A CITY BUT
  IT WAS NOT A CIVILIZATION
• CIVILIZATION DEVELOPED FIRST IN EGYPT WITHOUT
  CITIES
• CITIES AND CIVILIZATION DID DEVELOP TOGETHER IN
  MESOPOTAMIA

12
UNIQUENESS OF CIVILIZATION

• Civilization was not simply the next inevitable
  step from the Neolithic Age
• Many people in the world remained at the simple
  food-raising stage for thousands of yearswithout
  developing any sort of civilization
• Only three locations in the world developed
  civilizations entirely on their own
• China
• Central America and Peru
• Mesopotamia/Egypt

13
MESOPOTAMIA
In north, rivers are far apart and separated by
hills and numerous tributaries
In south, rivers are closer together and this is
where civilization would emerge
Variously called Sumer, Akkad, and Babylonia
Tigris
Means Land Between Two Rivers
Euphrates
14
MESOPOTAMIAN GEOGRAPHY
Southern region is one of dried mud flats,
stagnant pools, and reed swamps
Little incentive for men to settle thereexcept
for the fact that its soil was fertile, light,
and easy to cultivate and the rivers provided a
reliable source of water
No natural building materials and no metallic
depositswith the exception of clay
Normally very hot and dry with temperatures
approaching 120 degrees in the summer
Seldom rained but, when it did, it came in
torrential downpours
15
GEOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES
Continual movement of new people into region
constantly exposed Mesopotamia to new influences
and also allowed it to spread its influence more
widely throughout the Middle East
Tribes also periodically wandered into the region
from the foothills and mountains of Armenia and
Iran This is where the Sumerians probably first
came from
Arabian Desert to south and west supported
nomadic population of Semitic-speaking people who
periodically wandered into Mesopotamia