Agricultural Evolution and

Revolution
Transformation and Modernization of Agriculture
 The Technology of Paleolithic Societies
• Early tools - wood, bones, animal skins, and stone,
• Tools provided shelter, protection, clothing and food.
• Tools used to build tents, huts, wooden and stone
structures.
• Fire for light and warmth
• First weapons included rocks and clubs, knives,
spears, axes, and the bow and arrow.
• Mats and baskets were used to carry nuts, berries,
and plants.
Good to Know: Between 2 and 3 millions years ago, humanity's immediate
ancestors appeared in Africa. Between 100,000 and 200,00 years ago, true
humans or homo sapiens, (meaning wise human), appeared. The best known of
homo sapiens are the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon man. What seems certain is
that homo sapiens originated in Africa and then migrated outward. This is called
the “Out of Africa” thesis.
 Slash and Burn Technology

In many areas,
tribes would burn
off trees, farm the
area until the soil
was depleted and
then move on
(slash and burn
agriculture)
 Social Organization During
Paleolithic Age
• Family Unit
• Extended families clustered together, forming
clans bound by ties of kinship.
• Larger groups such as bands and tribes.
• Social groups sustained themselves by hunting
and gathering (foraging).
• Most hunter-gatherer societies were mobile or
nomadic.
• Coordination and teamwork were needed to
hunt large creatures and wage war.
 Social Organization During
Paleolithic Age
• Gender Division of Labor
• Men hunted, made war, and performed
heavy labor.
• Women gathered nuts, berries, and plants;
prepared food; maintained home; and
tended children.
• Some historians believe women and men
were basically equal.
Religion of Paleolithic Societies
• Worshipped gods or deities.
• Practiced a variety of religious rituals.
• Buried their dead.
• Made sacrifices to gods and spirits
• Performed various ceremonies

How do we know?
 Religion of Paleolithic Societies

• Oldest cave
paintings
discovered to
date are 32,000
years old.
 Intellectual Characteristics of
Paleolithic Societies
• Humans expressed
themselves in art and
music.
• The first known
musical instruments
are flutes from 30,000
years ago.
 Agricultural Revolution or
Agricultural Evolution?
• Agriculture was
not a sudden
transformation.
•The term,
“revolution,” is
often used because
of the magnitude of
change involved.
Why Change?
• Most evidence
suggests that
hunters-gatherers
resisted agriculture
as long as they
could.
• Why?
The Neolithic Revolution
(8000BCE-3500BCE)

•Sometimes termed the

Agricultural Revolution.
•Humans begin to slowly domesticate plant
and animal stocks in Southwest Asia.
•Agriculture requires nomadic peoples to
become sedentary.
•Populations begin to rise in areas where
plant and animal domestication occurred.
 Development and Spread of
Agriculture
• Farming developed
first in the Middle
East, in an arc of
territory running from
present-day Turkey to
Iraq and Israel (Fertile
Crescent)
• Barley and wild wheat
were abundant
 Development and Spread of Agriculture
• Farming then spread
to parts of India, north
Africa, and Europe.
• Agriculture spread
much later to Africa.
• Agriculture was
invented separately in
the Americas much
later (around 5000
B.C.E.)
• Followed by
Southeast Asia and
Japan
• And then Central Asia
Origin and Spread of Agriculture
 Independent Development vs.
Cultural Diffusion
• Areas of Independent Development:
1. SW Asia (wheat, pea, olive, sheep, goat)
2. China & SE Asia (rice, millet, pig)
3. Americas (corn, beans, potato, llama)

• Areas of Agriculture Through Diffusion:

1. Europe
2. West & Sub-Saharan Africa
3. Indus River Valley (rice cultivation)
 Agriculture Prompted New Ideas and
Techniques
The need for storage facilities for grains and
seeds prompted the development of basket-
making and pottery.

Agricultural needs also encouraged certain kinds

of science, supporting the human desire to learn
more about weather or flooding.

Discovery of metal tools (4000 B.C.E.) in the

Middle East
•Copper was the first metal, followed by bronze
– a more resilient metal.
 Sedentary Agriculturalists Dominate

•High starch diets slowly allow

Sedentary populations to grow.

•First plow invented c.6000BCE;

crop yields grow exponentially by 4000BCE.
Pop. grows from 5-8 million to 60-70 million.

•Eventually agricultural populations begin to

spread out, displacing or assimilating nomadic
groups; farming groups grow large enough for
advanced social organization.
 First Towns Develop

•Towns require social differentiation:

metal workers, pottery workers, farmers,
soldiers, religious and political leaders.
(POSSIBLE B/C FOOD SURPLUSES!)

•Served as trade centers for the area;

specialized in the production of certain
unique crafts

•Beginnings of social stratification (class)

 First Towns Develop

Catal Huyuk Jericho

Modern Turkey Modern Israel

First settled: First settled:

c. 7000BCE c. 7000BCE
 First Towns Develop
•Towns require social differentiation:
metal workers, pottery workers, farmers,
soldiers, religious and political leaders.
(POSSIBLE B/C FOOD SURPLUSES!)

•Served as trade centers for the area;

specialized in the production of certain
unique crafts

•Beginnings of social stratification (class)

Towns Present Evidence of:

•Religious structures
(burial rites, art)

•Political & Religious

leaders were the same

•Still relied on limited

hunting & gathering for
food
 Roles of Women

•Women generally lost status under male-

dominated, patriarchal systems.

•Women were limited in vocation,

worked in food production, etc.

•Women may have lacked the

same social rights as men.
 Metal Working: From Copper to Bronze

•Early settlements gradually

shifted from copper to the
stronger alloy bronze by
3,000BCE—ushers in the
Bronze Age!

•Metal working spread

throughout human communities
slowly as agriculture had.
Further Technological Advancements

Wheeled Vehicles
•Saves labor, allows transport of
large loads and enhances trade
Potters Wheel (c.6000BCE)
•Allows the construction of more
durable clay vessels and artwork
Irrigation & Driven Plows
•Allows further increase of food
production, encourages pop. growth
Early Human Impact on the Environment

•Deforestation in places where copper,

bronze, and salt were produced.

•Erosion and flooding where agriculture

disturbed soil and natural vegetation.

•Selective extinction of large land animals

and weed plants due to hunting &
agriculture.
 Discovery of Neolithiic Village
Catal Huyuk (shot-l- hoo-yook) in
southern Turkey (est. 7000 BCE)
 Neolithic Village: Catal Huyuk (shot-l-
hoo-yook) in southern Turkey
•on 32 acres
•Houses made of mud bricks set in timber frameworks
crowded together with few windows
•People spent time on rooftops to experience daylight
and make social contact (broken bones)
•Houses were lavishly decorated with hunting scenes
•Religious images of powerful male hunters and mother
goddesses representing agricultural fertility
 Neolithic Village: Catal Huyuk
(shot-l- hoo-yook) in southern
Turkey
•Some trade with hunting people who lived in
surrounding hills
•Large villages like Catal Huyuk ruled over
smaller communities, bringing about
specialization in politics and organization of
military.
•Accumulation of wealth initiated social classes.
•By 3000 B.C.E., Catal Huyuk had become part of
a civilization.
Drawing Depicting Catal Huyuk
(shot-l- hoo-yook) in southern
Turkey
Wall Painting from Catal Huyuk
(shot-l- hoo-yook) in southern
Turkey
 Civilizations
• Developed writing,
starting with cuneiform
(writing based on
wedge-like characters)
in the Middle East
around 3500 B.C.E.
– One of the earliest
written records from
the Middle East is a
recipe for making
beer.
 Civilizations
• People in civilizations looked down on any
society lacking in civilization.
• The ancient Greeks coined the word
“barbarian” to describe such cases.
• As a result of labels like this, it is easy to
think of much human history as divided
between civilizations and primitive
nomads.
Modern Agriculture
Why Technology? Why Change?
Why Change in Agriculture?
 Why Should You Care?

• We are all consumers

of food, fiber and fuel.
• We all have a voice in
shaping policy for the
future.
 Outline
• Define Agriculture and Sustainability
• Determine the social sustainability of
modern agriculture
• Determine the economic sustainability of
modern agriculture
• Technology in Modern Agriculture
• Determine the environmental sustainability
of modern agriculture
Define Agriculture:
• Agriculture is the
science of growing
crops and raising
animals to meet the
food, fiber, fuel, and
other needs of
humans. It includes
many areas, such as
soil conservation,
pest management,
and mechanics.
-www.mycaert.com
Sustainable Agriculture Defined
• The term ''sustainable agriculture'' means an integrated
system of plant and animal production practices having a
site-specific application that will over the long-term:
– Satisfy human food and fiber needs.
– Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base
upon which the agriculture economy depends.
– Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-
farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological
cycles and controls.
– Sustain the economic viability of farm operations.
– Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.
• That definition is a central element of the legislation of the
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE)
program of NIFA.
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Sustainable Agriculture
• In simpler terms:
– Meeting consumer
demands for food,
fiber and fuel
– Conserving and
enhance natural
resources
– Maintain farm
profitability for the
economy and farm life
 Social Impact
• Some Food for Thought
– Jobs from Agriculture- 24 million
– Growing population- 9 billion by 2050
– Preserves a way of life
 Growing Population
• Food security
• “produce more food in
the next 50 years
than the last 10,000”
• 24,000 people die
each day from hunger
• This is down 40%
from 20 years ago
– www.msu.edu
 Feeding the World
• Norman Borlaug-
improved seed
technologies to
increase grain
production by 70%
• This saved millions of
peoples lives!

AFBF Farm Facts

 Family Farms
• 98% of all farms are
family farms
• Rebout Farms- 4
families work together
to maintain a way of
life and make the
farm viable in the
future

-Wisconsin Farm Bureau- Farm

Facts
 Economic Impact
• World wide market for American
Agriculture products
• Agriculture uses local businesses to run
their business
 Global Market
• US Ag Exports-
$115.8 billion
• US Ag Imports- $81.9
billion
• Positive trade balance
of $33.9 billion dollars
to America’s economy
 Local Economies

• Buy supplies locally

– Fertilizer, seed, fuel,
feed, animals,
employees
• Sell products locally
– Grain elevators, farm
produce stands
Technologies in Modern Agriculture
• Animal Nutrition
• Today’s dairy cow is
40% more feed
efficient than a cow
30 years ago
• Less feed, more
product
Technologies in Modern Agriculture
• GPS Systems
• Pinpoint fertilizer
applications based on
yields
• Improved seed
technologies
decrease need for
pesticides/ herbicides
• A combine with GPS
system- $435,000
base price
Technologies in Modern Agriculture
• Nutrient Management
Systems
• Reuses recycled
water
• Safer application of
waste solids
Technologies in Modern Agriculture
• Animal Comfort
• Bedding
• Fans, water sprinklers
• Cooling pads in barns
 Environmental Impact
• 50% decline in soil erosion since 1982
• 63% of soil is farmed with conservation
tillage
• More than 50% of farmers intentionally
leave food and shelter for wildlife
 Modern Agriculture= Sustainable
• My farm- soil better
than 50 years ago
• Crop yield increased
more than 360% since
1950 while using 15%
less land
• Modern agriculture
continues to create high
quality, affordable food
for America and World