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Earth and Its Peoples Outline: Chapter 1

The document summarizes key aspects of the Agricultural Revolution and life in Neolithic communities. It discusses how climate change led early humans to adopt agriculture and domesticate animals for a reliable food source. This transition supported population growth and the establishment of cultures and religions. The document also notes that while agriculture provided more stable food, the farmer's lifestyle was more difficult physically and they faced new health issues. Neolithic communities showed specialization of labor and construction of religious sites and monuments, indicating the growth of complex societies centered around worship and ancestral traditions.

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10K views2 pages

Earth and Its Peoples Outline: Chapter 1

The document summarizes key aspects of the Agricultural Revolution and life in Neolithic communities. It discusses how climate change led early humans to adopt agriculture and domesticate animals for a reliable food source. This transition supported population growth and the establishment of cultures and religions. The document also notes that while agriculture provided more stable food, the farmer's lifestyle was more difficult physically and they faced new health issues. Neolithic communities showed specialization of labor and construction of religious sites and monuments, indicating the growth of complex societies centered around worship and ancestral traditions.

Uploaded by

eLLeeeN33
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 1: Nature, Humanity, and History: The First Four Million Years

The Agricultural Revolution- The change from food gathering to food production.
 Semi-cultivation- technique for farming in which seeds of desirable plants are grown where they would thrive
and discouraging the growth of competing plants.
 Specialization of tools and trade- settled agriculture required new, improved tools to do various jobs.
 Diffusion vs. Borrowing- spread of agriculture was not caused by diffusion, but by societies that borrowed new
plants, animals, tools, and techniques.
 Swidden agriculture (aka shifting cultivation) - some fields were left abandoned and new ones were cleared
nearby. They were left fallow (abandoned to natural vegetation) to restore its fertility.
 Animal domestication-to have ready supply of meat. Dogs were one of the first to be domesticated to help
hunters track game. Examples of livestock animals: goats, sheep, buffalo, cattle, etc.
 Pastoralism- a way of life dependent on herds of stock. Pastoralists migrated with their herds to new pastures
and watering places.
 Ecological explanation for farming- researchers believe that climate change pushed people more over to the
Agricultural Revolution in order to have a dependable food source.
 Population increase- the surpluses of food gave people a long-term advantage in population growth. Women
could stop working and take care of children. Communities were organized around kinship and marriage. As
populations increase, different religions and cultures are established.
 FA: Analyze
Changes in global climate appear to have caused the transformation from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to
farmers and food producers. Because of global warming (after the Ice Age), lands were fertile and able to be
cultivated, which drove people to abandon hunting and gathering in favor of a Pastoralism and agriculture. By
adopting this new lifestyle, people had a steady and dependable food source and shortages of wild food were
not a problem. The effects of the gradual adoption of food production were momentous and have created the
society we live in today.

Life in Neolithic Communities


 Reexamined assumptions- researchers are examining the assumption that the people were better off in
agricultural societies after finding evidence that an ecological crisis forced them to settle down.
o Food producers have to work harder and longer.
o Farmer’s diet was less varied.
o Survival rate was shorter because the people were exposed to diseases, water contamination, etc.)
 Gradual infiltration- farmers displaced foragers by gradually increasing in population, rather than rapid
conquest. Transition was smooth and peaceful and foragers eventually became producers too.
 Patrilineality vs. Matrilineality- tracing descent through men/women. In Neolithic societies, descent through the
mother’s side was more important than the father’s.
 Burial practices- people shared respect for the dead by performing rituals and worshipping ancestors.
 Hindu Story- /the fire god Agni asks Krishna and Arjuna to satisfy his hunger by burning down the forest and
every creature in it. Scholars interpret this as a sign that food gatherers cleared the land for cultivation and
destroyed wildlife.
 Spread of languages- The Neolithic Period also contributed to the scattering of large languages (German,
Roman, Greek, Latin, etc.). The differentiation of the language family into many related ones was caused by
gradual infiltration.
 Specialization- specialist workers focused on a specific craft or a job. These workers were needed because there
was already a surplus of food.
 Religious monuments- Çatal Hüyük (a town in the Middle East) had many shrines devoted to gods/goddesses,
animals, etc. There is evidence of food sacrificing/offerings.
 FA: Describe
In the city of Çatal Hüyük, there is evidence that the Neolithic people practiced religion in everyday life.
The most remarkable finds in the city were the many shrines and temples made of special material like gold and
silver. There is a shrine for every two houses, making it almost forty rooms, filled with shrines of various
creatures and gods. The people burned dishes of food as offerings as a method of worship. An interesting
observation was that female deities outnumbered the male deities, which lead researchers to believe that there
was a cult of the goddess administered mainly by women. The figure of the goddess most likely represented
fertility and power over nature. Overall, the sacred and spiritual findings of the Neolithic people reveal that even
early civilizations established religion in society.

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