A Brief Note On The Neolithic Period And The Formation Of States

Several critical developments distinguish civilizations from even the most advanced Paleolithic and Neolithic societies that preceded them. Some critical developments include inequality based on gender, status based on class, and lastly the beginning of written literature and more complex calendars. Specifically, one main critical development was inequality based on gender.

The start of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution led directly to the beginning of civilization. The Neolithic Revolution, which happened 10,000 years ago, was the shift from hunter-gathers to a food-producing culture meaning humans started to farm and domesticate animals. This was the catalyst to help create civilizations. We know now how to distinguish groups of humans from actual civilization if those groups have certain characteristics. Those characteristics are complex institutions, record keeping, advanced cities, specialized workers, and advanced technology. A result of the Neolithic Revolution is that more people were able to thrive since there was a surplus of food. These early civilizations were able to take advantage of the rivers and create irrigation systems to water their crops.

     The Neolithic Period extended from 10,000 B.C to 3,000 BC. It is also called the New Stone Age, and many new advances and changes took place in this time. Unlike the nomadic life of the Old Stone Age, the New Stone Age was the dawning of settled life. People lived more towards lakes and rivers instead of caves, and tree trunks. This led to the change of the jobs of the society.

The Neolithic Revolution began in Southwest Asia and other areas during 10,000 B.C.E to 3, 000 B.C.E (Council for Economic Education, 2012). The Neolithic Revolution also known as the Agricultural Revolution was a new way of life. Our society is constantly changing and moving forward. As a part of human culture, humans strive to learn, discover, create and evolve (Barber, n.d.). As a society, we have made many technological and social advancements, but have we ever taken the time to appreciate the past? The Neolithic Revolution is where it all began. Prior to the Neolithic Revolution, the early humans lived in the Paleolithic Age. This presentation will display life before the Neolithic Revolution and the shift that lead to some of the first social and technological advancements in history.

There is little information to support claims regarding individuals in the Neolithic period, but it is only safe to assume that by looking at certain artifacts and cultures that followed them one is probable to come across important information. Agricultural cultures were a more advanced version of the Neolithic man, as they emerged during the last years of the era. Most tribes used to focus primarily on fields like hunting, gathering, and herding before experiencing reform and starting to concentrate on agriculture. While earlier cultures were Apollonian in character, later communities were Dionysian.

The Neolithic Revolution started in Mesopotamia, which is located in the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates in 12,000 to 8,000 B.C.E. due to the creation of agriculture leading certain societies to urban settlements and civilizations.

Before the Neolithic Revolution, which began around 8000 B.C.E., the first human species, Homo sapiens, appeared in Africa 2.5 million years ago. As they evolved, the humans developed new uses of tools to equip themselves properly to hunt and gather, which more so began around 750,000 B.C.E. While hunting and gathering was a successful way to survive as a society, it was very dependent on their surrounding environment, causing the people to have to constantly migrate as the game population fluctuated. Through tens of thousands of years , the people spread widely across the globe stretching from Africa, Mesopotamia (now known as the Middle East), Asia, Eastern Europe, and parts of Latin America. The ending point of this time period began as

The surplus of food from farming during the Neolithic Revolution had an enormous impact on the lives of humanity and made the very existence of civilization possible; the greatest changes caused by this surplus of food were permanent settlements, specialized skills, and the development of complex social hierarchies. In the Paleolithic Period, before farming was developed, humans had to rely on savaging the land for their food, foraging for plants, nuts, berries, meat, and fish. “Over the last 10,000 years, the predominant result has been a shift from hunting-gathering to food production” (Diamond 109). After the ice age ended 10,000 years ago, land hidden beneath the glaciers was revealed and more water became accessible due to the melting

The appearance of urban living was one of the most influential developments in the Neolithic Revolution. Appearing as a result of another important advancement, agriculture, it resulted in a vast, albeit gradual, shift from nomadism and hunting-and-gathering to a sedentary lifestyle. Most importantly, this evolution would result in changes to social hierarchies, occupations in society, and the environment.

According to the article, Jared Diamond refutes the view that the human race is better placed because communities embraced agriculture about 10,000 years ago. Accordingly, in ‘The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race’, Diamond explains his point of view by showing that archaeological findings have proven that civilization was worsened after the Neolithic Revolution as it gave rise to inequality and people became less healthy. By using the account of Bushmen and the Hadza nomads from Tanzania, Diamond argues that the lives of primitive people improved with the adoption of farming instead of gathering, but goes ahead to challenge this assumption.

Although weapons have had major effect in society in the past and the present, I think that tools were more important in creating communities that led to civilization. Since the Paleolithic Age, humans used tools for hunting and obtaining their food source. They also used a variety of other tools, such as: stone tools for cleaning animal hides, spears for catching fish, and needles for sewing clothes. Tools could also have been used to make art. Tools also had an important impact in the Neolithic Revolution. Humans used stone axes to clear trees for farming, which had an important effect in the transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural way of life. Additionally, tools helped communities advance into civilization because

Definition of neolithic people: The Neolithic was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 10,200 BC, according to the ASPRO chronology, in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world and ending between 4500 and 2000 BC. The Neolithic Revolution was a turning point in history because there were changes in the way people lived. They started to make permanent houses. In addition, people started to grow and made better designs for houses.

The Neolithic revolution is a revolution because it profoundly affected the way human beings lived. During the Neolithic revolution people settled down, division of labor began, social inequality began, gender inequality began, the importance of surplus rose, and religious changes began. These were all the changes that happened during the Neolithic revolution. To this day some of these changes are still present.

The Neolithic Revolution had positive impacts and negative impacts on mankind. Some impacts were when hunting and gathering went to farming and when they started domesticating plants and animals. Also, when they went from temporary homes to permanent settlements. The Neolithic Revolution had both positive and negative impacts.

Agriculture was a horrible thing for the world. Most people believe that agriculture was a improvement to our society. However, the evidence argues that the development of agriculture has caused disease, social classes, and violence and war.