IA1-L5.

Lesson Handout
Reading
True/False/Not given and Short-answer questions
Test practice
Complete the test task.
Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
Write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. Studies prove that the Agricultural Revolution was prompted by a rise in
the birth rate at the time.
2. The Agricultural Revolution enabled people to eat more than the daily
minimum requirement.
3. An increase in illness amongst the population at that time is likely to have
been caused by factors connected to the Agricultural Revolution.
4. Not until modern times have people in Greece and Turkey reached the
same average height as their hunter-gatherer ancestors.
5. The superior strength of hunter-gatherers' bones is explained by the fact
that they did a greater amount of work than agriculturalists.
Questions 5-9
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for
each answer.
6. To what extent did people's teeth worsen as a result of an agricultural diet?
7. What chemical element was lacking in the diet of agriculturalists?
8. What physical evidence is there that catching illnesses from others at that time
was common?
9. What was greatly reduced as a result of diet and illness in post-agricultural
times?
10. What kind of food did the early farmers have problems processing?
IA1-L5. Lesson Handout

A better life?
For over two million years, humans foraged for
wild plants and hunted wild animals: since no
food was grown and little stored, these
hunter-gatherers had to endure a daily
struggle if they were to avoid starvation. Then
'progress' came, in the form of the Agricultural
Revolution.

At the end of the Ice Age, 10000 – 12000 These developments produced a
years ago, the Agricultural Revolution revolution in human lives. Most notably,
took place, something which was to small communities that had previously
transform people's lives forever. Whether been forced to make seasonal moves
this was a consequence or the cause of across the landscape to follow the
the dramatic population growth which we shifting availability of naturally occurring
know occurred around this time is still resources could now settle in one place
unclear. What is beyond doubt, however, for long periods and expand in size. The
is that during this period, evidence of the negative aspect to this was that because
domestication of select plants and agriculture encouraged people to settle
animals began to emerge in the together in crowded societies, it
archaeological record. This happened accelerated the spread of parasites and
more or less simultaneously in a number infectious diseases, whereas when
of regions throughout the world, the populations were scattered in small
practice spreading until by the first bands that continually moved camp,
century AD the vast majority of the global epidemics could not take hold.
population were agriculturists.
The health of agriculturalists of this time
Perhaps the most significant consequence can in part be assessed by the newly
of this change was the ability to produce emerging techniques of paleopathology,
a surplus of food beyond the immediate which study the remains of ancient
needs of daily subsistence. The care and peoples. One example of this work
controlled breeding of selected species concerns historical changes in size:
led to genetic changes that allowed skeletons from Greece and Turkey show
greater production and increased the that around 10,000 years ago male
geographical ranges across which the hunter-gatherers were 5'9" tall, while
domesticated species could be grown, women were 5'5". Following the adoption
thus greatly expanding the potential food of agriculture, this dropped and by 3000
resources available to humans. BC had reached an average height of only
IA1-L5. Lesson Handout
5'3" tall for men and 5' for women before bone lesions were three times more
very slowly beginning to rise again. evident which points to an increase in
infectious diseases and a rise in
Studies also show that hunter-gatherers
degenerative spinal conditions was the
living about 7,000 years ago had bone
result of the gruelling physical work. One
density proportionally similar to that seen
expert observed that life expectancy
in modern primates. By contrast,
dropped by about seven years from the
agriculturalists living 6,000 years later
pre-agricultural average of twenty-six
had significantly lighter and weaker
years to just nineteen years in post-
bones. However, these findings do not
agricultural society indicating the
imply that the latter worked fewer hours:
negative impact of nutritional deficiencies
data suggests that the differences can
and infectious disease on the population.
principally be attributed to changes in the
pattern of physical activity, from being The evidence suggests that while hunter-
highly mobile foragers to relatively gatherers enjoyed a varied diet including
sedentary agriculturalists. wild plants and protein, early farmers
obtained most of their food from a limited
Another example of paleopathology at
amount of starchy crops such as wheat,
work is the study of Native American
gaining cheap calories at the cost of poor
skeletons from burial mounds in the
nutrition. Using new food sources such as
Illinois and Ohio River valley, when they
dairy products proved difficult as humans
assessed health changes that occurred
had not adapted to digest it. In addition,
when a hunter-gatherer culture changed
dependence on a restricted number of
to intensive maize farming around AD
crops meant the risk of starvation were
1150. Studies by George Armelagos and
one crop to fail.
his colleagues then at the University of
Massachusetts show these early farmers The lasting impact of the Agricultural
paid a price for their new-found Revolution was to enable Homo sapiens
livelihood. to succeed as a species in direct
proportion to the increase in the amount
When compared with their hunter-
of food they produced. However, the
gatherer ancestors, the farmers were
short-term effect was that small groups
found to have significant health
of relatively healthy people disappeared,
deficiencies which indicated malnutrition.
to be replaced by large villages of people
For example, a bone condition called
suffering from disease and
porotic hyperostosis increased by four
malnourishment.
times indicating iron-deficiency anaemia,