The Neolithic RevolutionWorld History: Libertyville HS

The Neolithic Revolution Setting the scene

10,000 years ago: ice age was ending

Climate became stable Game became more scarce

Agriculture first emerged in Southwest Asia, China, and the Americas

Agriculture then spread to Greece, Egypt

In Europe, agriculture spread from SE to NW between 6000 and 3000 BC

Steps to an Agricultural Society• Hunter Gatherers: how man

had lived for millions of years– Follow herds of wild animals– Gather food from wild plants

• Short step from H-G to herding domesticated animals– Type of animals depended on

location: sheep, pigs, even reindeer!

– More stable than H-G: why?– Also hunted, gathered food

Agricultural Society• Grow your own food• Crops grown depended on

where people lived• Hunting and herding

supplemented agriculture• Result = food surplus• Implications of farming?

– Man settled down in one place

– Food surplus led to larger families

– Food surplus led to communities

Did the steps happen at the same pace, everywhere?

• NO!!!– Some people never got past

herding– Others skipped herding and

went right to farming– Still others stayed as H-G

• Farming developed over 2-3000 years– Occurred spontaneously– H-G / herders / farmers co-

existed, sometimes with conflict

Types of Agriculture• Dry farming

– First kind of farming developed– Dependent on amount of rainfall

only– Subsistence farming (little surplus)

• Slash and burn– Burn forest / grassland– Ash fertilized ground– Subsistence farming

• Irrigation– Used rivers to water fields– Dug trenches, ditches & control

systems for flow of water– Required lots of people and

organization– BUT allowed for food surplus

Irrigation in SW Asia

• Mesopotamia (“Land Between Two Rivers”)– Irrigation developed

around 4000 BC- why?– Probably because

population pressure in hills led to people moving into river valley

• Irrigated agriculture led to Civilization!

Civilization• Characteristics of Civilization

– Advanced cities• Large population in small area;

challenges?• Concentration of people became

center of trade for region

– Specialized workers• Most people worked as farmers• B/c of food surplus, some workers

became skilled in specific area of work

• If not farming, you had better be producing something important!

– Complex institutions• Government arose to organize

farmers to maintain irrigation systems

Civilization• Characteristics (continued)– Complex institutions

• Religion arose to explain the world

– Record keeping• Government needed to keep

track of taxes, laws• Religion maintained calendar,

stories of gods / goddesses• Trade kept track of debts,

transactions

– Advanced technology• Agriculture led to ox drawn plows• Metallurgy (using metal for tools,

instead of stone, bone or wood)