The Neolithic: Making Food, Being Made by Food

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The Neolithic Making Food, Being Made by Food
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The Neolithic

• period from 9,000-5,000 years ago
• characterized by the polished stone tools and
  increased use of microliths hafted into wood
• most importantly, characterized by the transition
  from hunting-gathering to food production
• ends with the development of metal copper tools

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Neolithic Tools
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The Neolithic

• period from 9,000-5,000 years ago
• characterized by the polished stone tools and
  increased use of microliths hafted into wood
• most importantly, characterized by the transition
  from hunting-gathering to food production
• ends with the development of metal copper tools

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Domestication

• Def genetic modification of a wild animal or
  plant in such a way as to make it more useful to
  people, sometimes to the extent that it is unable
  to survive without human assistance.

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Domestication of Corn
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• Fractioning vs. Non-fractioning wheat
• Loss of protective devices

• Domesticated Animals
• Reduced protective devices
• Different fossil age-sex ratios

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Early Centers of Domestication
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Domesticated Plants and Animals
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Why Agriculture?

• Neolithic people are smarter?
• No
• Agriculture is easier?
• No
• Agriculture is more secure?
• No

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So Why the Shift to Agriculture?

• Environment less abundant
• Climatic changes expanded area where cereals
  could grow
• Technological innovations sickles,
  mortar/pestles, baskets
• Increasingly sedentary large populations gt
  Once you adopt agriculture
• Absence of amenorrhoea incentive for more kids

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Consequences of Agriculture Nutrition Health

• Less varied diet
• More physical wear and tear ailments
• Grit grinds down teeth
• Problems of sanitation
• Epidemic diseases

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The Social Nature of Disease

• Crowd diseases smallpox, flu, malaria, plague,
  measles gt require large populations
• Domesticated herd animals disease

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The Fertile Crescent
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Animal Domestication

• Diet
• Growth Rate
• Breeding
• Disposition
• Flight response
• Social structure

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Social Consequences of Sedentism

• Larger, denser groups
• Accumulation Surplus
• Private property
• Stratification Hierarchy
• Division of labor gt specialization
• Warfare (beneficial)
• Politics ? Big Man societies