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The Transformations Brought by Agriculture. Transformation of Society. Agricultural Cultivation farming Pastoralism raising livestock domestication. Domination of Environment. C hanging natural world; not just using it shaping the landscape selective breeding of animals
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Transformation of Society • Agricultural Cultivation • farming • Pastoralism • raising livestock • domestication
Domination of Environment • Changing natural world; not just using it • shaping the landscape • selective breeding of animals • Domesticationcreated mutual dependence • many domesticated plants & animals came to rely on humans • humans lost gathering and hunting skills
Domination of Environment • Intensification More food & resources from less land Greater need to exploit land More people
Agricultural Breakthroughs • Womenas agricultural innovators (they were the gatherers)
Agricultural Breakthroughs • Technology– development of sickles, baskets, and other tools to make use of wild grain
Agricultural Breakthroughs • Establish more permanent villages in resource-rich areas
Food Crisis of Settlement • Population growth food crises • Now required to support growing populations • subject to sudden short-term weather fluctuations (drought, cold, etc.) • couldn’t move away
Food Crisis of Settlement • Solutions to “food crisis” • Experimentationrapid innovations • Communities work together to solve problems • begins development of specialized trades
Spread of Agriculture • Diffusion • Gradual spread of techniques, plants and animals, but without movement in the human population • Colonization • Migration of agricultural peoples • Language & culture spread with agriculture
Spread of Agriculture • Process took about 10,000 years • Where agriculture was resisted: • Land was unsuitable for farming (unsuitable climate or soil) • Where there was great natural abundance • Steady erosion of nomadic ways of life
Drawbacks of Agriculture • Meant much harder work • Health deteriorated • New diseases from interaction with animals • First epidemicsthanks to large communities
Drawbacks of Agriculture • New vulnerability to famine • Due to dependence on a small number of plants or animals to survive • Can’t move • New constraints on human communities • Settled in permanent villages • Begins to result in the loss of freedoms
Benefits of Agriculture • More reliable food source • Surplus of food • Storage to prevent against famine • Healthier people; live longer • Carry babies to term; lower infant mortality die less frequently • More food = more people (always!)
Benefits of Agriculture • Specialized labor • Produces technological innovation to improve production, trade, transportation
Benefits of Agriculture • pots (essential for carrying surpluses)
Benefits of Agriculture • textiles (fibers, looms) • women were the inventors
Benefits of Agriculture • wheels & wheeled carts
Benefits of Agriculture • Plows
Benefits of Agriculture • Metallurgy
Benefits of Agriculture • Weaponry • Beginnings of warrior class & class of elites
Benefits of Agriculture • Secondary products revolution • Started c. 4000 B.C.E. • New uses for domesticated animals • Milking Riding • Hitching them to plows and carts • Only available in the Eastern Hemisphere – not in Americas