The Neolithic
SOC 370: Social Change
Dr. Kimberly Martin
The Neolithic Revolution
The shift from hunting and gathering to
subsistence based on domesticated plants and
animals
The shift was gradual, moving from simple hunting
and gathering through complex hunting and
gathering to domestication.
• 13,000 YA (years ago) the beginnings of
domestication, combined with hunting and
gathering (more recent dates than the 10,000
YA dates)
• All parts of the world: West Asia (Middle East),
East Asia, SE Asia, Europe, Africa, N & S.
America
Domesticated Animals
Approximate dates and locations of some original domesticated animals
Species
Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)
Sheep (Ovis aries)between
Goat (Capra aegagrus hircus)
Pig (Sus scrofa domestica)
Cow (Bos taurus)
Cat (Felis silvestris catus)
Chicken (Gallus gallus)
Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus)
Donkey (Equus asinus)
Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)
Horse (Equus caballus)
Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius)
Llama (Lama glama)
Date
Location
15000 BC East Asia
11000 BC Southwest Asia
10000 BC Iran
9000 BC Near East, Middle East
8000 BC India, Middle East, SubSaharan Africa
7500 BC Near East
6000 BC India & Southeast Asia
5000 BC Peru
5000 BC Egypt
4000 BC India, China
4000 BC Central Asia
4000 BC Arabia
3500 BC Peru
5 Characteristics of the Neolithic
1. The neolithic occurred around the world
independently in many places
2. The neolithic is associated with the same
consequences everywhere (social ranking,
sedentary, population increases)
3. The neolithic is a gradual process
4. This was a technological, not an intellectual
shift (the knowledge was always there, they
just used it differently)
5. Domesticates were more trouble, therefore
much resistance to the changes
Pre 1960’s Theories about the
Neolithic
• The Neolithic was a logical outgrowth of
the expansion of human knowledge over
time.
• Domesticates were “obviously superior” to
hunting and gathering (ethnocentric and
not true)
Population Pressure Theories
Esther Boserup
“Law of Least Effort”
People will only expend effort when
they have to
Populations pressure is what made
the added effort of domestication
necessary
Population Pressure 2
• Cohen – humans began to domesticate when
they were forced to settle for less desirable wild
foods because of population size.
• Domesticates are NOT easier or more secure
than hunting and gathering
• Advantage of domesticates is only that you can
produce more calories per unit of land
• Only when large numbers of calories are
required does domestication provide an
advantage
Climate Change Theories
Climate change at 11,000 YA caused grasslands
to turn to forests, reducing the big game herds
that supported H & G
Humans were forced to shift to small game and
domesticates
Alternative “oasis theory” says that as climate
dried out, people were forced to crowd together
at oases and there was not enough wild food to
support the crowd at the oasis
Cultural Selectionist Theories
• Domestication is a result of a symbiotic
relationship between plants and humans
• No intentionality or rationality to the process
• The plants that humans use get disbursed by
them, and become more common in their
environments
• The more common they become, the more they
are used and their use selects for domestication
features (poor natural disbursal, larger food
portion) until at last, humans are raising them
Study Guide
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Neolithic revolution
Logical outgrowth theories
Population pressure theories
Boserup
Law of least effort
Cohen
Climate change theories
The oasis theory
Cultural selectionist theories