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The neolithic revolution history1
Paleolithic age to neolithic age
The role of technology in agriculture
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Twenty thousand years ago the Ice Age was ending, and the Long Summer began. This period in time was the start of many changes that became known as the Neolithic. The Neolithic was a period during which humans started to abandon hunting and gathering. Instead, large scale agriculture was established. The development of agriculture led to technological advances. These big changes raised questions. What caused human beings to focus on agriculture as the main source of food supply? What caused the Neolithic? The first theory that was accepted was Childe’s theory. V. Gordon Childe, an archaeologist, proposed that non-human factors, specifically climate change and geography led to the development of agriculture. However, a more practical theory was proposed some time afterward, Watkins’s theory. The Neolithic was caused by the development of the human mind and cognitive ability, not geography and climate change.
The Neolithic is commonly known as a revolution. Revolution implies an event that occurred quickly and violently. However, the events that occurred during the Neolithic, agricultural and technological developments, happened gradually. There is evidence of agriculture before the Neolithic; humans were just not able to maintain it for a long period of time. During the Neolithic, this altered. Agriculture was large-scaled, and this allowed for technological advances. As farming grew, humans created tools that would help them with the process. They created tools that would help them with grinding, created pots to assist them in storing water, and used pottery to invent other forms of storage and cooking. The changes were feasible because of human civilizations and organization, not non-human factors.
V. Gordon Childe sided with ...
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...nitive ability, humans would not have been able to even understand how farming works. Therefore, the climate change and geography would have been useless and have no effect. The ability to process information takes priority, which is why Watkins’s theory is better and more comprehensive.
Human factors led to the Neolithic. The human mind allowed for civilizations to develop before agriculture did. Although Childe’s theory is widely accepted, Watkins’s theory includes aspects and considers evidence that Childe’s theory does not. Childe has failed to address the evidence discovered in Iraq, Euphrates, and Turkey. Watkins does not. Childe has failed to address factors other than climate change and geography. Watkins does not. The change of lifestyle from hunting and gathering to agriculture was a big transformation that was caused by more than just non-human factors.
“The development of agriculture was a radical change in humans’ way of life.” (Stearns, 2) It set the basis for faster change in human societies. Metalworking allowed farmers to work more efficiently. The development of languages increased the chances of civilizations because people were able to communicate with each other. Record keeping and innovated technology also brought people together because they began discovering new things about the society.
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
When analyzing ancient civilization and how it began, there are many elements and aspects that should be considered. Questions such as how did civilization begin? What lead to its creation? Where did it begin, and why in that particular location? Many of these questions can be examined and answered by researching what many believe is the world’s earliest civilization, Mesopotamia. It is widely believed that this region was chosen and supported one of the world’s first civilizations. This area was settled over 10,000 years ago by a group of people known as the Sumerians (Cunningham & Reich, 2010).
These great changes were the start of agriculture and the start of animal domestication. The start of agriculture was a major factor in the improvement of civilization. Due to agriculture, women didn’t have to keep searching for fruits, berries, roots, and grasses, like they usually did. Scientists don’t really know how and why agriculture came to be in this time period, but believe it had to do with the change in climate. Due to the start of agriculture, women just had to plant their fruits and berries instead of going out of their way to try to find their resources. In addition, due to agriculture, resources wouldn’t run out and it also led to a settled way of life. Another great change that came in the Neolithic period was animal domestication. The expert knowledge of hunters on wild animals played a key role in animal domestication. Due to animal domestication, hunters didn’t have to keep hunting and wasting their resources, all they had to do was to get one male and one female animal together in a barn, and more food would be produced. Agriculture and animal domestication were the two great changes that came in the Neolithic period, and both led to a settled way of
The Neolithic Revolution was the period in time where agriculture was created. Many people question whether the transition from nomads to settlements was a positive or negative impact in human history. The transition brought upon; population increases, lack of crucial vitamins, various diseases and even deforestation. I believe that the Neolithic Revolution was a negative impact on humans because of all the risks that came with it. Before the Revolution people were happily living a nomadic lifestyle. They painted, had dedicated faith, sang, told stories, and had more time to bond with their families. The transition increased health risks, warfare and the laziness of people. It brought on social classes which lead people to only think about
The Neolithic Period, which includes events from 12,000 years ago, is one of the most important revolutions to occur in history. The Neolithic lifestyle was established first in the Middle East, and then later in the Yellow river basin in China, which then spread over the years into the Western Hemisphere. During this time period, the domestication of plants and animals and the development of cities was starting to become more prominent and well known to many different civilizations across many different countries. It consisted of many changes in human cultures from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of farming and settlement, which supported a larger population. As civilizations expanded, so did traditions and techniques. A major technological and cultural change to modern ways of thinking and acting began in Western Europe, and from these beginning new approaches to science and law spread quickly around the world. It spread to countries, causing more people to become aware of when and where to properly irrigate a crop, which type of area had the best security, and other common living strategies. Surely enough, many years later, traditions are the same as they were thousands of years ago. Although traditions may not have changed, the way people think about their God and religions have changed from culture to culture. Throughout the years, men and women from the Middle West completely changed their relationship from nature, to a more independent lifestyle; human beings learned to have more control over their lives.
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
Paleolithic is often referred to as the Old Stone Age. "Paleo" means old and "lithic" means stone. The Neolithic time period is often referred to as the New Stone Age. "Neo" means new and "lithic" also means stone. The Paleolithic culture or way of life began about 2.5 to 2 million years ago. The Paleolithic Period ended at different times in different parts of the world, generally around 12,000 years ago in Europe and the Middle East. When the Paleolithic period ended, the Neolithic period took over and began 12,000 years ago somewhere in the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is characterized by the beginning of farming, the domestication of animals, the development of crafts such as pottery and weaving, and the making of polished stone tools. Life changed dramatically between Paleolithic and Neolithic times.
Authors, Various. The Origins Of Civilizations, "The Agrarian Revolution And The Birth Of Civilization." Last modified 2007. Accessed March 23, 2012. http://history-world.org/neolithic.htm.
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...
The separation of the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages mark a great divide in the lives and cultures of prehistoric peoples. Many aspects of everyday life were modified to suit a new standard of living. Society, Economy, and Technology were greatly affected by the "Agricultural Revolution" that spawned the Neolithic Age.
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
A civilization is the starting point of a society. Civilizations have existed for millions of years and are the basic unit of structure for a society. Civilizations were the base of great societies such as Egypt and Rome. If not for civilizations these societies would not have flourished or even existed.
During the Neolithic revolution around 11,000 B.C., people made the first semi-permanent settlements. Storing Grain in pits made it possible to survive without moving in the winter months. Around 6,000 B.C. Agriculture was becoming widely used as a primary means of survival. The first evidence of domesticated cattle was also found in this time frame. Primitive civilizations such as Jericho were growing at this time and a series of long distance trade routes were established. This was a step towards the first urban-based civilizations, as a significant number of people were becoming full time in a non-agricultural trade.