The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

The Beginning of Agriculture

Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• The New Stone Age
• Development of Agriculture
• Map: Growth of Agriculture
• Agriculture Changes Society
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

The Beginning of Agriculture

Main Idea
The development of agriculture was a major turning point in
human history and significantly changed the way in which many
people lived.

Reading Focus
• What new tools and technologies did early humans develop
during the New Stone Age?
• How did early agriculture develop and spread?
• In what ways did the development of agriculture change Stone
Age society?
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

The New Stone Age

As prehistoric people developed more sophisticated tools,
the Paleolithic Era gave way to the Neolithic Era.

Paleolithic Tools Neolithic Tools

• Stones chipped to make • Polished stones to make
points points
• Wood and bone tools • More specialized tools:
• Nets from plant fibers and – chisels
animal sinew – drills
– saws
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

Contrast

How did toolmaking in the New Stone Age

differ from toolmaking in the Old Stone
Age?

Answer(s): Old Stone Age—chipped stones to

produce sharp edges; New Stone Age—polished
and ground stones to shape tools
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

Development of Agriculture
The development of agriculture, about 10,000 years ago,
radically changed how people lived. This shift to farming is
referred to as the Neolithic Revolution.
Plants Animals Growth of
• End of Ice Age • Domesticating Agriculture
• New plants animals • Available plants,
• Careful selection domesticated
• New food source
and breeding animals
• People learned to • 10,000 BC – dogs • Spread to regions:
farm • Larger and more – Asia: rice
stable supply of – Africa: cattle
• Domestication –
meat, milk, skins, Mexico: corn
• Larger food supply wool
– South America:
potatoes
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

Identify Cause and Effect

How did people benefit from farming and the

domestication of plants and animals?

Answer(s): more reliable food supply; people

could pool labor and resources
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

Agriculture Changes Society

• Agriculture dramatically changed Stone Age societies by providing a larger and more
reliable food supply.
• Some people began to live as nomadic pastoralists.
• Others gave up the nomadic lifestyle and formed settlements, pooling their resources.

Early Farming Societies New Technologies

• Small settlements
• Villages and towns
• Increase in trade
• Societies became more complex
• Social status, authority
• Religion, megaliths
• Warfare, disease increased
• New tools and methods
• Animals working in fields
• Grindstones, pestles, pottery
• Wool from sheep for yarn
• Spinning and weaving
• Copper, bronze, tin

• As people began to make items from bronze, the Stone Age gave way to the Bronze
Age, which began as early as 3000 BC in some areas.
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Çatal Hüyuk

A Neolithic settlement in what is now Turkey

• Largest Neolithic site found
– Home to 5,000–6,000 people in 6000 BC
– Covered more than 30 acres
– People raised barley, wheat, sheep, goats
• Houses
– One main room with areas for sleeping and
domestic tasks like cooking
– Religious shrines
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

Ötzi the Iceman

Discoveries added to our knowledge of Neolithic societies
• 1991- hikers discover frozen male body
• Scientific tests performed
• 5,300 years old, from Neolithic Era

Ötzi and belongings well preserved

• Clothes: three types of animal skins stitched together
• Leather shoes, woven grass cape, fur hat, backpack
• Quiver with arrows, dagger, ax with copper blade

Scientists’ theories
• Diet included coarse grains
• Did not live in location where found
• Might have been murdered
The Beginnings of Civilization Section 2

Summarize

How did the development of agriculture

affect Neolithic societies?

Answer(s): revolutionary changes; men and

women assumed different roles; led to towns,
government, religion, trade