The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2
Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• The New Stone Age
• Development of Agriculture
• Map: Growth of Agriculture
• Agriculture Changes Society

The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2
The Beginning of Agriculture
Main Idea
The development of agriculture was a major turning point in human history and significantly changed the way in which many people lived.
Reading Focus
• What new tools and technologies did early humans develop during the New Stone Age?
• How did early agriculture develop and spread?
• In what ways did the development of agriculture change Stone
Age society?

The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2
The New Stone Age
As prehistoric people developed more sophisticated tools, the Paleolithic Era gave way to the Neolithic Era.
Paleolithic Tools
• Stones chipped to make points
• Wood and bone tools
• Nets from plant fibers and animal sinew
Neolithic Tools
• Polished stones to make points
• More specialized tools:
– chisels
– drills
– saws

The Beginnings of Civilization
Section 2
Answer(s): Old Stone Age —chipped stones to produce sharp edges; New Stone Age —polished and ground stones to shape tools

The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2
Development of Agriculture
The development of agriculture, about 10,000 years ago, radically changed how people lived. This shift to farming is referred to as the Neolithic Revolution .
Plants
• End of Ice Age
• New plants
• New food source
• People learned to farm
• Domestication
• Larger food supply
Animals
• Domesticating animals
• Careful selection and breeding
• 10,000 BC – dogs
• Larger and more stable supply of meat, milk, skins, wool
Growth of
Agriculture
• Available plants, domesticated animals
• Spread to regions:
– Asia: rice
– Africa: cattle
– Mexico: corn
– South America: potatoes

The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2
Answer(s): more reliable food supply; people could pool labor and resources

The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2
Agriculture Changes Society
• Agriculture dramatically changed Stone Age societies by providing a larger and more reliable food supply.
• Some people began to live as nomadic pastoralists .
• Others gave up the nomadic lifestyle and formed settlements, pooling their resources.
Early Farming Societies
•
Small settlements
• Villages and towns
• Increase in trade
• Societies became more complex
• Social status, authority
• Religion, megaliths
• Warfare, disease increased
New Technologies
•
New tools and methods
• Animals working in fields
• Grindstones, pestles, pottery
• Wool from sheep for yarn
• Spinning and weaving
• Copper, bronze, tin
• As people began to make items from bronze, the Stone Age gave way to the Bronze
Age, which began as early as 3000 BC in some areas.

The Beginnings of Civilization
Çatal Hüyuk
Section 2
A Neolithic settlement in what is now Turkey
• Largest Neolithic site found
– Home to 5,000–6,000 people in 6000 BC
– Covered more than 30 acres
– People raised barley, wheat, sheep, goats
• Houses
– One main room with areas for sleeping and domestic tasks like cooking
– Religious shrines

The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2
Ötzi the Iceman
Discoveries added to our knowledge of Neolithic societies
• 1991- hikers discover frozen male body
• Scientific tests performed
• 5,300 years old, from Neolithic Era
Ötzi and belongings well preserved
• Clothes: three types of animal skins stitched together
• Leather shoes, woven grass cape, fur hat, backpack
• Quiver with arrows, dagger, ax with copper blade
Scientists’ theories
• Diet included coarse grains
• Did not live in location where found
• Might have been murdered

The Beginnings of Civilization
Section 2
Answer(s): revolutionary changes; men and women assumed different roles; led to towns, government, religion, trade