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How Agriculture Varied by Region During the Neolithic Revolution
Most people know that the Neolithic Revolution was a time when humans transformed from being strictly hunters and gatherers into farmers who grew crops and domesticated animals. Yet, there may be some who are unaware of how the climate, land, and availability of animals impacted the revolution throughout different regions of the world. Climate, types of crops, as well as species of domesticated animals varied by region. During the Neolithic Revolution agricultural development throughout the various regions of the world grew both differently and separately.
Many believe agriculture began in what is known as, the Fertile Crescent, about 12,000 years ago. This region
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Theirs began closer to 5,000 BC due in part to a shortage of horses and herd animals, large equipment, and varied climates and terrain. Mesoamerica was somewhat similar to East Asia in the fact that it had marshland, also like the Fertile Crescent some areas had temperate climates. However, Mesoamerica also had varying climates, seasons, and terrain from humid rainforest conditions to dry flat lands to terraced mountain sides. Here too, they grew different plants, such as squash, beans, and maize. They also had Turkeys. Unlike the other regions mentioned, there was not a big focus placed on the domestication of animals early on. Instead, this region concentrated mostly on plants. This lead to a slower transition into agriculture in general. Despite this difference, Mesoamerica went on to be a major contributor to the agricultural revolution.
In conclusion, during the Neolithic Revolution the domestication of plants and animals spread around the world through the migration of cultures at different times, and in different ways, which allowed for both diversity and discoveries. From the Fertile Crescent beginning it, to East Asia enhancing and spreading it, to Mesoamerica being late, but bringing new ideas and foods to the dinner table, each region played a part in our agriculture
The Neolithic Period was a shift to a more civilized man. The people had new ideas and were changing their environment making life easier. The adaptation of agriculture in the Neolithic Era was valuable because it created a stable life rather than a nomadic one. In Neolithic village life they grew crops and indulged
McNeill stated: “Perhaps Diamond makes too much of Eurasia 's east-west axis. After all, India and Southeast Asia occupy different latitudes from Europe, the Middle East and north China: and the deserts and highlands of central Asia pose obstacles to diffusions of crops comparable to any in Africa or America” (McNeill 3). But the spread of crops and grow local availability food on their own farm are usually a common act. Like seeds blown by the wind or spread through water canals to other areas, and animals who carries the fertilizers can easily bring the crop and growth of the crop to nearby areas. Along the East-West, the axis of Eurasia, cattle were such an important domestication in Europe, yet it wasn’t so important in China. This is because of the environment and the state of the weather was not suitable for raising the cattle. And because of cattle naturally can cope with the hot and cold weather they are more suitable to be raised in some area better than others, regardless of geography. Because of these reasons, I concluded that Diamond argues too much on the geography side of the history, rather than the actual history of the Neolithic
The people of early Mesoamerica had an abundance of different foods. One main food they had though in the 3 main groups (Aztecs, Olmecs, and Mayans) was maize. Maize is a corn like plant derived from teosinte that was domesticated around seven thousand B.C. to five thousand B.C.. Maize was about seventy percent of the Mesoamerican diet and around twenty one percent was meat . The Olmec’s had corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers (194). Each of their food items went in to a balanced diet of carbs, minerals, and vitamins. According to Concise Thematic Analysis “The Olmec system produced a food surplus that freed members of the community to take on specialized roles” (194) which just goes to show how much was around for them. Mayans ate corn and beans as their most important part of their diets, but also had some small domestic meats such as dog, turkey, duck, and fish. The Mayans also had honey and alcoholic drinks made from a stingless bee. The Aztecs had a good variety of plant foods as well with maize topping the charts of their diet with having other stable foods such as sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans chilies, squashes (also big in their diet), carrots, etc. They also, had a lot of animals to choose from but they did not
Farming also became a steady source of food for the early civilization. With established dwellings, communities were able to create crude irrigation systems to support their crops in the very dry dessert like climate. Domestication of animals also became a possibility as well with the more permanent living situation the early civilization h...
Firstly, the Neolithic Revolution is a great place to start in History because that is when the first major shift of among people’s way of life throughout the whole world occurs. It occurred approximately 10,000 years ago. Many hunter-gatherers turned into farmers because they saw it was a good opportunity to have a larger quantity of food readily available. This change in living caused a massive landslide of other changes to occur with it, such as growth in populations, cities were built and a rise of cities occurred, quantity of food over quality of food, sometimes crops were destroyed by nature, and disease spread because of larger populations living together. Although some negative effects from early farming occurred, the good effects eventually got better and overshadowed the negative. The main advantage to this change, is that people learned and continue to learn how to better develop farming, city building, and health techniques over time, even to this day in the year 2014!
The Early Preclassic Era is the time period when the beginnings of agriculture emerge in Maya culture. The earliest evidence of agricultural field burning and cultivation of maize along with other crops dates well before the beginning of the Early Preclassic period. Agriculture was already being practiced in some areas of Guatemala that were settled by distinctively Maya groups.
12,000 years ago, the discovery of agriculture triggered such a change in society and the way in which people lived that we now call this important era in time the “Neolithic Revolution.” Traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles were cast away in favor of more permanent settlements and a reliable food supply. Agriculture helped form cities and civilizations, and because crops and animals could now be farmed to meet growing demand, populations skyrocketed from around five million people 10,000 years ago, to more the more than seven billion people that walk this earth today.1
“The discovery of agriculture was the first big step toward a civilized life.” (Arthur Keith)
Watkins, Jeffery. Regents Prep: Global History: Change & Turning Points:, "Neolithic Revolution." Last modified 2003. Accessed March 23, 2012. http://regentsprep.org/Regents/global/themes/change/neo.cfm
The blessing and curse of the Agricultural Revolution is advocated with its augmentation and dissemination. Taking the stipulative definition of “blessing” and “curse” from the original premise, one can only superimpose the layman’s terms of “negative” and “positive”. Upon examination of the two classifications within the Neolithic Period and ancient Mesopotamian civilization one can confirm the premise. Therefore, the agriculture revolution was a blessing and a curse for humanity. Human society began to emerge in the Neolithic Period or the New Stone Age. This new age began around 9,000 B.C.E. by the development of agriculture in the region surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and what is commonly referred to as “The Fertile Crescent” located in West Asia.1 The very development of agriculture had benefited humans by no longer having to move about in search of wild game and plants. Unencumbered by nomadic life humans found little need to limit family size and possessions and settled in a single location for many years. One negative aspect of this settling is that the population increased so much so that wild food sources were no longer sufficient to support large groups. Forced to survive by any means necessary they discovered using seeds of the most productive plants and clearing weeds enhanced their yield.2 This also lead humans to develop a wider array of tools far superior to the tools previously used in the Paleolithic Period or Old Stone Age. The spread of the Agricultural Revolution in the Neolithic Period also cultivated positive aspects by creating connections with other cultures and societies. Through these connections they exchanged knowledge, goods, and ideas on herding and farming.3 Another major positive aspec...
There were major shifts in human development over different times of human existence, two of
One of the most significant inventions was introduced during the Neolithic period. It was the shift from hunting animals and gathering plants to the production of food. People no longer had to travel long distances to search for water and food because they learned how to grow
Agriculture has been around for about 11,000 years. Around 9.500 BC, the first signs of crops began to show up around the coastlines of the Mediterranean. Emmer and einkorn wheat were the first crops that started to show up in this area, with barley, peas, lentils, chick peas, and flax following shortly. For the most part, everyone was a nomad and just travelled along with where a herd went. This went on until around 7.000 BC, and then the first signs of sowing and harvesting appeared in Mesopotamia. In the first ...
The first people that started to depend on farming for food were in Israel and Jordan in about 80000 B.C.. Farming became popular because people no longer had to rely on just searching for food to get their food. In about 3000 B.C. Countries such as Egypt and Mesopotamia started to develop large scale irrigation systems and oxen drawn plows. In about 500 B.C. the Romans started to realize that the soil needed certain nutrients in order to bare plants. They also realized that if they left the soil for a year with no plants, these important nutrients would replenish. So they started to leave half of a field fallow (unplanted). They then discovered that they could use legumes, or pulses to restore these vital nutrients, such as nitrogen, to the soil and this started the process known as rotating crops. They would plant half the field one year with a legume...
Establishing an adequate supply of food is historically one of the fundamental challenges facing mankind. The modern food infrastructure employed by contemporary society is rooted in the creation and innovation of food production. Its effective utilization decreases the level of societal labor contribution required and discourages food shortage trepidation amongst individuals. It is hard to fathom given the current status of our society massive agricultural-industrial complex that the hunter-gatherer organization of society dominated for more than 99 percent of our existence (Fagan 2007: 126). The hunter-gatherer population was characterized by their primary subsistence method, which involved the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild. The primary methods employed were foraging and hunting, which were conducted without any significant recourse to the domestication of either food source (Fagan 2007: 129). Food production is presumed to have emerged approximately 12,000 years ago as a system of “deliberate cultivation of cereal grasses, edible root plants, and animal domestication” (Fagan 2007: 126). The pronounced change from hunting and gathering to agriculture and domestication can be simplistically designated the Agricultural or Neolithic Revolution (Pringle 1998). The catalytic developments of the Neolithic Revolution mark a major turning point in the history of humankind. The resulting animal and plant domestication established the foundation on which modern civilization was built.