Paleolithic Age• Paleolithic Era – Old Stone Age
(~2.6 million years ago – ~10,000 BCE)– Hunter/Gatherer societies
• Nomadic – Moved from place to place in search for food. Humans populated the world this way
• Men hunted• Women gathered fruits, nuts, grains,
etc.– Way of Life
• Cave paintings• Stone tools and pottery• Domesticated dogs
• Neolithic Era – New Stone Age (~10,000 BCE - ~3,000 BCE)– Farming – Neolithic Revolution
• People could remain in one place• Herding of animals – goats, sheep,
& cattle– Community
• Council of Elders/Chief – made important decisions
• Warrior class – needed to protect land
• Kept possessions
Neolithic Age
• Causes– Food-gathering women notice
seeds grow into new plants– Food-gathering women notice
that thinning results in stronger plants
– Game animals become scarceAgriculture Begins• Immediate Effects
– Abandon nomadic way of life and settle in villages
– Acquire more possessions– Develop new technologies– Develop calendars
• Long-Term Effect/Immediate Cause– Growth in population
• Immediate Effects– More interaction among
communities– Increased warfare
• Long-Term Effects– Women lose status
Neolithic Revolution - FarmingCauses and Effects
Çatalhöyük•The largest and best preserved Neolithic settlement found to date•Existed from ~7500 BCE to ~5700 BCE
Neolithic Revolution• Revolution in
Agriculture = domestication of plants and animals
• The first permanent human settlements emerged
• Stone tools were still used by became polished and made sharper by grinding
• Pottery first began to appear
Fertile Crescent• End of the Last
Ice Age• Warming
Climate• Wild grasses
abundant– Wild Grasses
closest to domesticated varieties
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
The area around these rivers is known to history as Mesopotamia
How did Agriculture Develop• Availability of calories determines how people get
food• End of ice age Plants thriving• Humans began “helping” plants along and selecting
for traits, to increase calories gathered• Certain plants were abundant and provided many
calories=Humans actively chose these– Wheat
Where and WhenLocation Dates (B.C.E) Plants AnimalsSouthwest Asia (Fertile Crescent)
9000-7000 Barley, wheat, lentils, figs Goats, sheep, cattle, pigs
China 6500-5000 Rice, millet, soybeans Pigs, chickens, water buffalo
Saharan and Sub-Saharan Africa
3000-2000 Sorghum, millet, yams, teff
Cattle (perhaps 8000 B.C.E)
Highland New Guinea 7000-4000 Taro, bananas, yams, sugarcane
Andes region 3000-2000 Potatoes, quinoa, manioc Llamas, alpaca, guinea pig
Mesoamerica 3000-2000 Maize, squash (perhaps 7000 B.C.E), beans
Turkey
Eastern woodlands of North America
2000-1000 Sunflower, goosefoot, sumpweed
Origins of Agriculture
• A sedentary lifestyle• The need for cooperation and group effort• Job specialization • Social Hierarchies (Social classes)• Patriarchy (Rule by males)• Population Growth
What does the Neolithic Revolution allow?
Results for Agricultural Society• Now that you have possessions,
what do you have to do?• Kings- to direct• Militaries – to protect• Priests – to protect and record
(BUREAUCRATS)• Scribes and writing – to protect
and keep accounts• Artisans- make storage vessels
(pottery)
