Neolithic Age - The Agriculture Revolution

The Neolithic Age, also called the Agricultural Revolution, is the shift to agriculture from hunting and gathering that changed humanity forever.

Context

Civilizations are societies that rely on sedentary agriculture, develop social stratification and economic specialization, and create populations that are sufficient to support urban life.  However, such civilizations have only existed for the last 9,000 years—a tiny fraction of the time that the human species has inhabited the earth.

Purpose

In this assignment, students will examine the evolution of the Neolithic Age, also known as the Agricultural Revolution, and review some of the theories why the Neolithic Revolution became the critical transition that resulted in the birth of agriculture. Students will  examine the transition from hunter-gatherer groups to a  sedentary lifestyle, and then a lifestyle that evolved into to farming villages and from there to technologically sophisticated societies. The Neolithic Age is often described as one of the first great transformations of human society.

Learning Objectives

• Distinguish between hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies
• Explain the importance of the agricultural revolution and why it was a turning point in history
• Analyze evidence for the evolution from nomadic hunter-gatherer to the rise of permanent civilizations

Instructions

• Review the Neolithic Age, paying close attention to the evidence presented.
• Read the materials and watch the accompanying videos.

The moves from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a sedentary farming lifestyle did not take place overnight. The Neolithic transition began in 12,000 - 8,000 BCE as the Earth warmed. A temperate climate meant that animals and people could stay in one place. During the agricultural transition, humans devoted much of their time and effort to the domestication of animals and manipulating various plant species. As people improved their food production they began to build permanent homes; settle in villages, these villages led to permanent towns, and the towns led to the development of complex cities. 

Gradually, Neolithic people developed complex social structures as their population grew. Social distinctions were heightened by the creation of an artisan, political, and religious class that became powerful and deeply involved in rituals and ceremonies. Living in permanent dwellings led to changes in the Neolithic culture. It created social stratification, work specialization, gender labor division, and innovation and trade. Social stratification is the hierarchical ordering of people in a society differentiated according to their wealth, power, prestige, and privilege. Hierarchical ordering comes about because as things people desire, aspire to and value is scarce, they have to compete for, or shared, acquired, and distributed unequally. A more organized and systematized way of life led to hierarchies that created upper classes who benefited from the work of laborers. The idea of stratum suggests that this hierarchical arrangement consists of different layers of society with some above or below others.

 Toward the end of the Neolithic Era, people began to use tools made from metal. Copper was the first metal used for tools. Eventually copper replaced the stone tools, leading to the Copper Age.