The Neolithic RevolutionMs. Carmelitano

The Neolithic RevolutionThe “New Stone Age”The Agricultural Revolution

The shift from “food gathering” to “food producing”

Began between 9000 – 5000 BCE

Important NoteThis was not one sudden “Revolution”

It was a slow change from hunter-gathering to farming

These changes took place at different times all over the world

Where it all Began"Fertile Crescent" in what is now modern Iraq A crescent-shaped region Contains moist and fertile land in otherwise arid

areaAgriculture and pastoralism diffused from

Mesopotamia to Egypt, Western Europe and the Indus Valley

Causes of the Neolithic Revolution

Warmer Climate ChangeBig game migrated to the mountains, limiting the

food sourceLonger growing season and drier landThis leads to a population boom Hunting and gathering could no longer support the

population Farming provides a steady source of food

“Invention of Farming”

Effect of the NR: 1. New Farming Techniques

Slash and burn farming – cut trees and grasses and burned them to clear a field The ashes fertilized the soil Crops planted for a year or two and then moved to a new area so

the grasses could grow back Domestication of animals - taming

Horses, cows, goats, pigs Pastoral Nomads

They moved their animals to new pasture grounds and watering holes

Map of Crops

Effect of the NR: 2. Job Specialization

In Hunter-Gatherer clans every person was required for hunting or gathering

In sedentary societies, people could now have specialized jobs Builders Inventors/scientists Artists – wove baskets, made pottery and jewelry

Effect of the NR: 3. The Economy The establishment of traditional economies

An economy based on agriculture, manufacturing, and trade The first social classes emerge as a result

Warrior, farmer, craftsman classes Stratification between men and women

Effect of the NR: 4. Metal Tools Metal tools and weapons replaced stone tools

Farming allows for job specialization Smiths could make innovations to tools

Useful to agriculture and herding Metal farming tools were more efficient

Metal plow Metal hoes and farm tools Advanced tools increased food production increases the population

more job specialization more inventions to make life easier

Neolithic Ice Man

The Neolithic Ice Man has given scientists evidence of Neolithic tools He was found with:

a 6-foot long bow 14 arrows a stick with an antler tip for sharpening

flint blades a flint dagger a copper ax a medicine bag

He was found in the mountains between Austria and Italy

Effect of the NR: 5. New Diseases Clans began to live in close quarters with animals Disease became rampant

Smallpox, Tuberculosis, measles, influenza, malaria The rat

Immunity Introduction to these diseases helped people develop immune

systems

Spread of Ideas As nomadic clans passed through these new settlements,

the ideas spread