The Neolithic Revolution

1. The Neolithic Revolution

2. 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.

3. 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 Populations 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

4. 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

5. The Neolithic Revolution Costs & Advantages of Agriculture

6. 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

7. The Neolithic Revolution Agriculture Slowly Spreads: What do you notice about the core areas?

8. 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)

9. 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)

10. 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.

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

12. 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)

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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 3,000BCE—ushers in the Bronze Age! • Metal working spread throughout human communities slowly as agriculture had.

17. The Neolithic Revolution Further Technological Advancements

18. 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.

19. 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.