Chapter 2
Early Farmers and City Dwellers
Producing Food
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Before 10,000 years ago, ALL HUMANS were
hunters and gatherers!
After the last Ice Age, groups of people were
able to spread out. Because of this, they:
-saw animals and plants they had never seen before!
-had additional food sources
-the population increased!
What happened to the Animals?
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It is a mystery why many large Ice Age
animals became extinct.
-Did the warmer temperatures…
loss of habitat…
overhunting….
kill off the animals?
The loss of animals meant…
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A loss of meat as a food supply!
Drought
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The climate of Southwestern Asia and other
places grew drier because of a drought which
caused food shortages!
This caused PROBLEMS!
How to survive a Drought!
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People started to figure out how to store food
to last for longer periods of time.
Others developed weapons to start to hunt
smaller prey.
Women gatherers in Southwest Asia tried
planting seeds of wild grasses such as rye,
barley and wheat (einkorn)- they became the
FIRST FARMERS!
?Question?
What challenges did
people face as Earth’s
climate changed after the
last Ice Age?
Answer
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People faced:
growing populations…
animal extinctions….
and droughts
after the last Ice Age.
Agricultural Revolution
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About 10,000 years ago in Southwest Asia,
people at Abu Hureyra and Jericho were the
first to DOMESTICATE PLANTS and
ANIMALS!
People selected plants that would grow,
making it possible to grow better and better
crops each season!
Abu Hureyra
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Was populated in two different periods:
Period 1: people hunted and gathered
Period 2: people farmed
This shows an area that transitioned from
hunting and gathering to farming!
Note* When agriculture replaced hunting and gathering, the
daily grind changed dramatically. The effects can be read in
Neolithic bones from what is now northern Syria. Among
them were arthritis and lower back injury in those who
ground wheat, and broken teeth and gum disease in those
who ate the breads made from it.
Use of Animals
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Wild dogs had been tamed to help people hunt.
Wild sheep and goats were now being captured
and kept in pens so people would be sure of a
meat supply during droughts.
Soon these penned animals (livestock) became
tame and provided resources and a consistent
source of meat.
These hunting/gathering
communities soon became
farming communities.
Before Agriculture became a way of life, most
people were nomads who settled where water,
wild plants and wild animals were plentiful.
After people started farming, they could build
longer-lasting shelters in permanent
settlements, like Abu Hureyra!
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People in Abu Hureyra lived in pits dug into
the ground, covered with reeds:
Later, they build houses of mud bricks
consisting of several rooms and providing
space for an entire family!
Agricultural Revolution
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This agricultural revolution that had taken
place allowed people to produce larger food
supplies in one place so more and more people
could live together, work together, organize
and create rules in permanent settlements
building communities.
?Question?
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In which regions around the
world did farming develop
independently?
Answer:
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Regions included
Northern Africa,
southern Asia, eastern
Asia and South America.
Farming as a way of Life:
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Agriculture took more work than hunting and
gathering.
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Men had to clear the land, protect crops and
herds and hunt.
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Women and children planted, cared for and
harvested the crops then prepared and stored
food.
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Soil had to be as fertile as possible in order for
plants to grow so crops were often planted in
river valleys.
If forests were thick, Slash and Burn Farming
was used to prepare the soil for planting.
Slash and Burn
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They had to clear the trees and brush from the
land, burn the trees and mix the ashes with the
soil to fertilize it and plant their crops.
Farming Families
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-passed on the ownership of land to their next
generations…
Farmers worshipped their ancestors as they believed
the spirits of their ancestors guarded the land!
Farmers grew enough food to give them surplus
(extra food) for times when seasons didn’t harvest
enough food.
They might even lend surplus food to other
communities in need, creating friendships OR present
surplus to the dead to show respect.
Trade
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People began trading surplus food for goods
such as home-building materials, clothing,
tools or other foods not found in their areas.
? Question?
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In what ways did people
use surplus food?
Answer
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People used surplus food for
planting,
as food,
to help others in need
as gifts for dead ancestors to show respect.
for trade.
REVIEW:
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Turn to your partner and discuss the following:
1. How did changes in climate at the end of the
Ice Age affect food sources for people?
2. Explain Slash-and-Burn Farming?
3. How did early people domesticate animals?
4. What were some of the first crops that early
farmers raised?
1. How did changes in climate at the
end of the Ice Age affect food sources
for people?
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As the world’s climate grew warmer and drier,
people developed new ways to store food,
hunted smaller prey and began farming.
2. Explain Slash-and-Burn
Farming?
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Slash and Burn Farming required them to clear
the trees and brush from their land, burn the
trees and mix the ashes with the soil to fertilize
it before planting crops.
3. How did early people domesticate
animals?
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They domesticated wild dogs then started
capturing and penning wild sheep and and
goats. Soon these animals provided valuable
resources as well as meat.
4. What were some of the first crops
that early farmers raised?
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Rye, Barley and wheat (einkorn)
?Question?
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What might have happened to the development
of Agriculture, had the Ice Age ended a
thousand years later than it had?
Answer
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It probably would have developed a thousand
years later!
Lesson 2
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Forming complex Societies
Farming Villages
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Early farming settlements were small (a few
families)
People lived from one harvest to the next,
fighting hunger, bad weather (drought, storms,
extreme heat or cold).
Weather affected crops and livestock.
Farmers grew surplus food as often as possible
to help with hard times.
In Other Communities:
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Water was plentiful, soil was good, climate
was mild.
Farming was successful!
Farmers raised many different crops including
grains, root vegetables and plants they could
use for medicine, making clothing and for
building shelters!
Animals such as oxen, camels, dogs and
guinea pigs were kept.
Successful Farming Communities:
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Subsided/survived
Produced enough surplus for more and more
people.
Grew into villages of several hundred people!
http://app.discoveryeducation.com/search?Ntt=agriculture
By 7000 B.C., farming villages spread across SW Asia.
Abu Hureyra and Jericho grew into farming villages.
Jarmo had more than 25 houses!
Catal Huyuk and other farming villages in Turkey had
to be rebuilt many times because the baked clay
bricks of the houses crumbled over time. In Catal
Huyuk, people were more advanced and decorated
their homes with paintings/carvings of women, bulls,
etc.
Catal Huyuk
Farming Communities Spread:
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By 6000 BC, Agriculture spread to Greece and
southeastern Europe.
Crops- wheat, barley, other grains
Animals- cattle, sheep, pigs were kept.
Homes- wood, straw, materials they found nearby.
Bandkeramik pottery carved with lines became
popular in 5500 B.C.
Farming communities spread in India and Pakistan
(Asia) as well. Water Buffalo were raised there.
Bandkeramik pottery
Growth of Agriculture
Area
Years
Plants
Animals
Greece/
Europe
Banderamik
6000 B.C.
Wheat, barley,
etc.
Cattle, sheep,
pigs
5500 B.C.
pottery
India/Pakistan
(Asia)
5500 B.C.
Asia (Mehrgarh) 5000 B.C.
west of Indus
River
Grains and other
crops
Cotton to weave
into cloth for
trade
China
Terrace farming
4800 B.C.
Cattle, water
buffalo, etc.
Terrace Farming
The Yangshao People developed Terrace
Farming in China around 4800 B.C.
 Terraces were formed by cutting steps out of
flat land into the sides of hills and mountains.
This created more flat
land on which to grow
crops. It also protected
the village from floods!
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Artifacts have been found from early farming
along the Nile River in N. Africa. Flooding
buried most artifacts but experts believe
farming flourished along the Nile River by
5000 B.C.
?Question?
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What two advantages did
terraces provide for the
Yangshao people?
Answer:
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Terraces provided more flat land for farming
and protection from floods!
Changes in Technology
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Sticks used to dig up roots/make holes
Hoe- wooden/stone blade to break up and turn over
soil for planting, dig out rocks/tree roots.
Stick Plow- cut, lift, turn over soil. One end of a large
stick branch ws sharpened to dig rows in the soil in
which to plant seeds.
Stone Plow-had a stone or wooden blade- cut through
the ground faster. Animals later pulled the plows.
Allowed difficult soil to be now usable, like in
Europe. Fewer people had to plant larger crops now.
More land could be used for farming.
Irrigation- ditches were dug from rivers to the fields
so water could be transported to the crops when there
was little rain.
Irrigation
? Question?
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What benefits did the
development of the plow
bring?
Answer
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The development of the plow
allowed fewer people to plant larger
crops and to use more of the land for
farming.
Economic and Social Change
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Some villages had a surplus of food, others art objects
or pottery.
Bartering began between communities allowing
people to trade for things they didn’t have. A
community with a lot of food but little pottery could
trade with a village that had a lot of pottery but little
food!
Catal Huyuk began trading obsidian (volcanic glass
found nearby). Archaeologists have found tools over
the years made from Obsidian around the region.
Jarmo had Obsidian, seashells and other valuable
materials brought there by traders.
Obsidian
Leadership
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With trade, came the need for leadership.
Leaders came from the most important
families within villages.
Leaders controlled trade.
Leaders resolved conflicts.
Sometimes leaders united several settlements
with a common culture.
As the number of people under a leader grew,
so did the leader’s power.
Pastoral Societies
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Some people didn’t settle in communities,
instead they remained nomads (wanderers)
with herds of goats, sheep, horses or cattle.
These animals provided milk, hides and bones
for tools.
As they moved from settlement to settlement,
they might trade the milk, hides, bones for
items such as surplus grain or other supplies.
? Question?
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What resources did pastoral people get
from their animals?
Answer
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Pastoral people got milk, hides and bones for
tools from their animals.
Turn to your partner and discuss:
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1. Why did early people begin to live together in
villages?
2. What is a pastoral society and how do they live?
3. How did living in villages change people’s way of
life?
4. In what ways would irrigation require cooperation
among people in a farming settlement?
5. How do archaeologists know that the village of
Jarmo traded with other villages?
1. Why did early people begin to live
together in villages?
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Answer: With surplus food, farming
communities could feed larger numbers of
people. In time, these communities became
villages.
2. What is a pastoral society and how
do they live?
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Answer: A pastoral society is a society in
which people live as nomads herding animals.
They can trade the milk, hide and bones from
their animals for grain or other items they
made need.
3. How did living in villages change
people’s way of life?
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Answer: Village life led to the development of
more complex societies, new tools and trade.
4. In what ways would irrigation
require cooperation among people in
a farming settlement?
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Answer: People would need to cooperate in
digging ditches and making sure that everyone
had enough water!
5. How do archaeologists know that
the village of Jarmo traded with
other villages?
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Answer: They found obsidian, seashells and
other materials brought to Jarmo by traders.
Lesson 1 Vocab
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Drought-A long period of time with little or no rain.
Domesticate- to tame plants or animals for human
use.
Livestock-domesticated animals that provide
resources.
Agriculture-the knowledge of raising plants and
animals.
Slash-and-Burn Farming- a system of farming in
which thick forestlands are cut and burned to prepare
the soil for planting.
Surplus- an extra supply.
Lesson 2 Vocab
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Subsist- To survive
Terrace- flat areas built on the slopes of hills
and mountains.
Plow- a tool used to cut, lift and turn over soil.
Irrigation-ways to move water to land.
Barter-to trade for things people want.
Pastoral society-a group of people living as
nomads with herds of animals.
Lesson 3 Vocab
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Division of labor- a system in which people do different jobs
according to their abilities and the needs of the group.
Merchant- a person who sells goods bought from traders.
Social class-a group that has a specific level of importance in a
society.
Government- an organized system of leaders and laws.
Urban- relating to a city or cities.
Taxation- a system in which people pay taxes to support a
government.
Civilization- a society with developed forms of religion and
ways of governing.
Building Communities
Success at farming or trading allowed villages to
grow into towns such as Jericho.
Around 7000 B.C., the village of Jericho grew
into one of the earliest towns. It was a great
place to live. Crops grew well in the fertile
soil, farmers grew barley and wheat and raised
sheep and goats There was a surplus of crops.
By 6500 B.C., Jericho became an important trading
town with 2000-3000 people! There was water and a
place to rest for travelers crossing the desert. Beehive
shaped houses covered 10 acres of land there.
A wall was built around Jericho to defend it from
enemies and wild animals. Guards stood watch and a
moat was dug out around the wall.
The dead were buried, sometimes under their homes,
with a great amount of respect. Religious beliefs
were important.
Around 6000 B.C., the settlement of Jericho was
abandoned. No one knows why.
?Question?
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What allowed many early villages to grow into
towns?
Answer
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Success at farming or trading allowed early
villages to grow into towns.
Catal Huyuk
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Catal Huyuk was near a good supply of water in and
area with good soil for crops. It was near important
trade routes with allowed people to exchange good
with people from far away. By 6500 B.C., it’s control
of Obsidian trade made it a success!
Catal Huyuk also respected its dead, burying them
with sculptures, jewelry and weapons. They also built
many shrines.
Homes were small and had separate rooms for
cooking, sleeping, worshipping, etc.
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Catal Huyuk made the first linen weaving the flax
plant’s fiber into cloth for making clothing.
No outside walls were built around the community.
Instead, the walls of the houses formed the defenses
of the town. Houses could only be entered from the
roofs (like later day Adobes). When ganger struck,
people pulled up their ladders and stayed inside for
protection.
Towns grew all over and people exchanged more and
more goods, changing their lives forever.
?Question?
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What artifacts have archaeologist found in
graves at Catal Huyuk?
Answer
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Sculptures, jewelry and weapons have been
found in graves at Catal Huyuk.
Labor, Leaders and Laws
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Larger communities enabled jobs other than
farming to exist. A division of labor developed
as people began to work according to their
abilities. Some people:
Grew crops
Made tools/clothing
Became merchants who bought/sold goods
Leaders of Towns
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Because of different levels of responsibility, society
became divided into Social Classes.
Highest Class was made up of rulers, priests, and
other important leaders and their families.
These members ruled in towns and passed their
positions on to their chosen family members, keeping
the power in the family.
Leaders had to control more people, larger food
supplies and wider trade than leaders of villages did.
Leaders created many unwritten laws townspeople
had to live by. This was the start of GOVERNMENT
(organized system of leaders and laws).
?Question?
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What social divisions developed among people
of early towns?
Answer
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A division of labor and social classes
developed among people of early towns.
Cities and Civilizations:
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Around 3500 B.C., some towns in SW Asia
developed into cities. Early cities had 5000
people or more living in them. People lived
closer together in cities than they did in towns.
Longer walls had to be built for defense
Leaders had to maintain water supplies and
nearby irrigation systems.
Leaders supervised the construction of
temples, palaces and other buildings.
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In cities, people learned to do even more
specialized jobs: merchants, craftworkers,
traders, city government officials who helped
manage the city.
The management of cities led to TAXATION.
Many paid their taxes while working on
government projects while others paid their
taxes with crops. The city used the crops to
pay city officials and to trade for other goods
and materials.
First Cities
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FIRST CITIES: Eridu, Kish, Ur, Uruk (southeast Asia) along
the Mesopotamia.
Around 3100 B.C., cities in Mesopotamia gave rise to the
world’s first civilizations.
Early Civilizations covered larger areas, had better organized
societies and economies and constructed larger buildings and
temples.
A central government was usually in control.
Advances were made in science, mathematics and
transportation.
They developed a form of writing, record keeping, trade and
taxes.
Religions began.
? Question?
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What were some of the responsibilities of
government in early civilizations?
Answer
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Some of the responsibilities of government in
early civilizations included:
taxation
organization
society
economy
construction
religion
Turn to your partner and discuss:
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1. How did early cities begin?
2. What does Urban mean and describe what
Urban life was like.
3. Where did the earliest cities develop?
4. How were early cities different from early
towns?
5. Why did a system of taxation come about in
early cities?
6. What caused social classes to develop?
1. How did early cities begin?
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1. Cities developed from towns.
2. What does Urban mean and
describe what Urban life was like.
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Urban means relating to a city or cities.
People lived closer together in heavily
populated Urban areas.
3. Where did the earliest cities
develop?
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The earliest cities developed in Mesopotamia.
4. How were early cities different
from early towns?
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Cities had urban areas, a highly organized
government, more specialized jobs and
taxation.
5. Why did a system of taxation
come about in early cities?
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A system of taxation came about to support the
governments’ management of cities.
6. What caused social classes to
develop?
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Social classes developed when a need for
division of labor came about.
Vocab Review 1
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____ 1, A long period of time with little or no rain.
A. Livestock
____ 2. to tame plants or animals for human use.
B. Surplus
____ 3. domesticated animals that provide resources.
C. Domesticate
____ 4. the knowledge of raising plants and animals.
D. Drought____
____5. a system of farming in which thick forestlands
E. Agriculture
are cut and burned to prepare the soil for planting F. Slash
____6. an extra supply.
And Burn
Vocab Review 2
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_________To survive
_________flat areas built on the slopes of hills and mountains.
_________a tool used to cut, lift and turn over soil.
_________ways to move water to land.
_________to trade for things people want.
_________A group of people living as nomads with herds of animals.
A. Barter
B. Plow
C. Pastoral Society
E. Terrace
F. Subsist
D. Irrigation
Vocab review 3
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_______________ a system in which people do different jobs according to their
abilities and the needs of the group.
____________a person who sells goods bought from traders.
____________a group that has a specific level of importance in a society.
____________an organized system of leaders and laws.
____________relating to a city or cities.
____________ a system in which people pay taxes to support a government.
____________a society with developed forms of religion and ways of governing.
A. Government
E. Division of Labor
B. Merchant
F. Taxation
C. Civilization
G. Social Class
D. Urban
Which developed first?
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Cities or Irrigation? Explain
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Irrigation developed first with terrace farming
in the Yangshao village.
About how long after people began
to domesticate plants did people
develop the plow?
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10,000 years ago, people started domesticating
plants.
About 6000 years ago people invented the
plow.
What changes after the Ice Age led
humans to begin farming?
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Warmer temperatures, growing populations,
animal extinction and droughts all led to the
need for farming.
What were two animals that early
farmers in SW Asia kept?
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Farmers in SW Asia started to domesticate
Sheep and Goats!
How did the Yangshao people change
their land to make it better for
farming?
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They formed terraces into the sides of hills and
mountains.
What kinds of crops did the first
farmers grow:
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A. fruits
B. grains
C. nuts
D. vegetables
Answer
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B. Grains (barley, wheat and rye)
Which of the following is true about
the people of Abu Hureyra and
Jericho?
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A. they were fierce soldiers.
B. they had a written language
They learned to build dams.
They domesticated plants and animals.
Answer:
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D. They domesticated plants and animals.
Compare/Contrast Abu Hureyra and
Jericho
Show What You Know:
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VILLAGES
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TOWNS
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CITIES
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CIVILIZATIONS
What did leaders do?
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___kept it in the family ____ assigned jobs
___ made unwritten laws ____ control people
___ grew crops
____control trade
___ controlled larger
____ started religion
food supplies
True or False?
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____Priests were in the highest social class?
____Merchants sold goods they bought from
other traders.
____ Catal Huyuk had a moat around its town.
____ Stone plows came before stick plows.
____ Dogs were the first domesticated animal.
____ Extreme weather could have led to Ice
Animals becoming extinct.
____ Archaeologists found limestone around Jarmo
that showed that trading existed.
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____ Bandkeramik pottery was made of circles.
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____ Tortoises helped make land flat for
farming and protected villages from floods.
____ Obsidian was used in tools, weapons & art.
____ Cats and Frogs were caged &domesticated.
____ No one knows why Jericho was abandoned.
____ Division of Labor developed when people began
to work according to their abilities.
____ Ur was one of the first cities.
____ The first cities were located in southern Asia.