Ch. 4, Sec. 1 Notes – Agriculture Changes the World

1. Ch. 4, Sec. 1 Notes – Agriculture Changes the World

2. The Birth of Agriculture • Around 12,000 years ago, Earth’s climate began to warm, plants and animals thrive • Humans begin to settle around permanent food supplies • Between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago (New Stone Age) people began to grow food on their own • Agriculture is the raising of crops and animals for human use

3. Domestication • Domestication is the process of training wild plants and animals to be useful to people. • The first plants domesticated were wheat, barley, peas, and lentils • Animals included cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and dogs • All of these come from the Middle East

4. Catal Huyuk • Located in Southern Turkey, Catal Huyuk is one of the world’s oldest cities • 8,500 years old • Once housed over 5,000 people • Plaster homes built close for protection • Religion focused on the success of domestic crops, animals

5. Surplus! • A surplus is an extra supply of something • Having an extra supply of food meant that people could not farm and concentrate on other work • Specialization is training people to do particular kinds of work

6. Specialization leads to trade • Because of agriculture, people could now specialize and learn to make special goods and services • Ex. People in Catal Huyuk learned how to melt and form copper into shapes such as beads, rings, or pins • These goods and services attracted people to trade, or exchange goods, for goods that they wanted

7. These changes in community life marked the beginning of a new civilization, or a new culture that has developed systems of specialization, religion, learning, government etc.