The Agricultural
Revolution
The Neolithic Era
8000BCE–3500BCE
AP World History
Steps towards the
Neolithic Era
• Before the Neolithic Era was the Paleolithic Era.
– Hunting and gathering.
• Discovery of Tools.
– Flint points, axes, weapons (the spear and the bow and
arrow), snares, and hooks.
– Changing from gathering and scavenging to hunting.
– The development of hunting societies was the first form
of social organization.
• Discovery of Fire.
– Fire provided heat and light, which expanded the food
supply.
– The cooking of foods made for more edible, palatable,
and sanitary foods.
– The discovery of techniques to preserve fire and to make
fire through combustion is a key discovery of humankind.
Steps towards the
Neolithic Era
• Invention of Agriculture.
– Agriculture refers to a series of discoveries.
• These include the domestication, culture, and
management of plants and animals.
– Agriculture led to historical social changes.
– Agriculture is the basis for civilizations.
• Invention of the Wheel
– The basis for the mechanical and transportation
revolution.
– Makes the technologies of ceramics and
spinning possible.
What was the Neolithic Era?
• Neolithic means the new stone age.
• This era is characterized as the time period in which
farming techniques evolved.
– Irrigation and the plow.
– Domestication of plants and animals.
• Agriculture required nomadic people to become
sedentary.
• Populations began to rise in areas where plants and
animals domesticated.
• A return to hunting and gathering would be impossible.
• Early forms of agriculture were very labor intensive.
The Advantages and the
Results of Agriculture
• Advantages
– Steady food supplies.
• Results
=
– Heavily dependant on
certain food crops.
• failure = starvation.
– Greater populations.
=
– Disease from close
contact with animals,
humans, & waste.
– Leads to organized
societies.
=
– Cannot easily leave
sites.
Where did it all begin?
• Mesopotamia.
– Modern day Iraq.
– Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
– Also know as the Fertile Crescent.
• Region of modern day Pakistan.
– Indus River Valley.
• Northern China.
• Egypt.
– Nile River.
• Central America.
The Spread of Agriculture
Agricultural Diffusion
Independent
Development
• Southwest Asia.
– wheat, peas, olives,
sheep, and goats.
• China & Southeast Asia.
– rice, millet, and pig.
• Americas.
– corn, beans, potatoes,
and llamas.
Development through
Diffusion
• Europe.
• West and Sub-Saharan
Africa.
• Indus River Valley.
– Rice cultivation.
How did Agriculture
Changed the Way of Life?
• Populations became more sedentary and worked
longer hours.
• On average, families could produce five times what
it needed.
– This created a surplus.
• Sedentary life caused an increase in population.
– Fertility rates increased.
• Villages grew into towns which eventually grew into
cities.
– The growth of cities would no occur until after the
Neolithic Era.
How did Agriculture
Changed the Way of Life?
• Specialized trades begin, outside of farming.
– Metal workers, potters, weavers, priests, scribes,
artists, bureaucrats, aristocrats, law-makers,
traders, etc.
– This is the creation of social differentiation.
• Time to think allowed for new inventions.
– Writing, astronomy, architecture, city-planning,
etc.
• Unfortunately, this also led to an increase in
diseases.
– Smallpox, measles, influenza, tuberculosis,
malaria, etc.
Creation of Cities
• The following cities emerged
between 8000–7000 BCE
• Jericho.
– West bank of Jordan River.
• Catal Huyuk.
– Central Anatolia.
– Modern day Turkey.
• Danpo.
– China.
• Harappa.
– Modern day Pakistan.
• The number of cities in the world
would not increase until between
4000–3000 BCE.
• Do we have a civilization yet?
Jericho
10,010 years later
Jericho
10,010 years later
Emerging City-States
• Agricultural populations begin to spread out,
displacing or assimilating nomadic groups.
– Farming groups grew large enough for advanced
social organization.
• Early forms of warfare are believed to be
between people living in river valleys and
those in the mountain regions.
– This would also led to inequality.
Emerging City-States
• A cycle of warfare and peace between
nomads and sedentary people would occur
throughout history.
– Trade vs. Raid.
• Warfare resulted as city-states competed for
land.
• Warfare also led to the emergence of
permanent, centralized bureaucracies.
– Originally led by priests.
– These are known as “states”.
From Chiefdoms to States
• Chiefdoms
– Ranked society.
• States
– Class society.
• Competition among chiefdoms drives state
formation.
• Warfare and trade push for the creation of
states.
Functions of the State
• Law are created to stop internal disorder.
• Defense against external threats.
• Redistribute resources from producers to
consumers.
• Appease the gods to maintain harvests.
Social Inequality
• Evidence of social inequality beginning during the
early years of the Neolithic Era.
– Access to food and land was based on kinship.
• Individuals captured during warfare were enslaved.
• Slavery and inequality were later legally instituted
through Mesopotamian law codes,
– Assyrian law code.
– The Code of Hammurabi
• Some women from poorer families were sold into
domestic slavery.
– This is the origin of veiling.
Role of Women
• Women generally lost status under
patriarchal systems.
• Women had limited opportunities.
– Worked mainly in food production.
• Most women lacked the same social rights
as men.
From Copper to Bronze
• Metal work for essential for development of
tools & weapons.
• Early settlements gradually shifted from
copper to the stronger alloy bronze by 3,000
BCE
– This began the Bronze Age.
• Metal work spread throughout communities
slowly just as agriculture did.
Advances in Technology
• Wheeled Transportation
– Saved labor.
– Allowed for the transport of large loads.
– Increased trade.
• Potters Wheel.
– Allowed for the construction of more durable clay
vessels and artwork.
• Irrigation & Driven Plows.
– Allowed for an increase in food production.
– Population growth.
Environmental Effects
• Deforestation in places where copper,
bronze, and salt were produced.
– How did this happen?
• Erosion and flooding where agriculture
disturbed soil and natural vegetation.
– How did this happen?
• Extinction of large land animals and weed
plants due to hunting & agriculture.
– How did this happen?
– Why do weeds matter?