Chumash vs San Essay

The emergence of agriculture was a major stepping stone in human history. During this birth of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic revolution, humans began inhabiting permanent settlements, grow their own crops, and domesticate both plants and animals for food (Weisdorf, 2005). Considering humans have been hunter-gatherers for the majority of their approximately 7 million years of existence, the emergence of agriculture in the Old World only occurring 10,000-5,000 years ago, marks a significant transformation in food sustenance techniques (Weisdorf, 2005). However, this turning point in history is associated with both positive and negative implications. There is much controversy over whether or not the introduction of

Introduction: The emergence of agriculture was a major stepping stone in human history. During this birth of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic revolution, humans began inhabiting permanent settlements, grow their own crops, and domesticate both plants and animals for food (Weisdorf, 2005). Considering humans have been hunter-gatherers for majority of their approximately 7 million years of existence, the emergence of agriculture in the Old World only occurring 10,000-5,000 years ago, marks a significant transformation in food sustenance techniques (Weisdorf, 2005). However, this turning point in history is associated with both positive and negative implications.

From the early prehistoric society until now, we often heard the word “adaptation”, which means the process of changing something or changing our behavior to deal with new situations. The ways people adjust their natural environment varies according to time, place, and tribe. Foraging is common way of adaptation that people uses for most of human history; however because of the population pressure, some people adopt agriculture to fulfill their need. This essay, will discuss the positive and negative aspects of life in hunting and gathering societies compared to the agricultural societies based on Martin Harris’ article “Murders in Eden” and Jared Diamond’s article “The Worst Mistake in the History of Human Race.”

Political, economic, and social conditions have often led to turning points that have changed the course of history for nations and people. The Paleolithic Era and Neolithic Revolution was a turning point that changed the orbit of history for mankind. In Documents 1, 2, and 4, they explain life before the Neolithic Revolution and what changed during the period and provide an analysis of results of the revolution. They introduce food supply and settlement, and civilization and trade.

When people first shifted to agriculture, they abandoned their nomadic past in favor of a stationary lifestyle. As a result, new ideas and culture initially began to be transferred less and less. However, with the advent of agriculture also came the emergence of pastoralists. Such people became the critical vectors of cultural and technological exchange, representing one of the first globalizations of the world. Whereas civilizations had no means to establish trade routes, pastoralists naturally came across civilizations as they travelled with their grazing animals. With such

One way pastoral nomads lived a different lifestyle than transhumant herders was through agriculture. First, agriculture was a big part of the nomad’s lifestyle. The earliest sign of agriculture is in Southwest Asia and was their main form of survival which included planting crops and domesticating animals. Agriculture gave people a regular food supply, and eventually was able to produce surpluses of food (pg.7). Thus, surpluses of food allowed for large populations and for labor specialization. Large populations and labor specialization led to social classes which ranked from highest to lowest was: elites (kings, religious leaders), commoners (craftsmen/farmers), and slaves. As wealth and social standings grew, so did the gender gaps. Women were thought of as being the first to begin the systematic care of plants, while men began to capture animals and domesticating them (pg.7). Transhumant herders lived a much different lifestyle than those of the nomads.

The Chumash people have a deep history which has attracted the attention of various researchers. They lived along the Pacific Coast and had a population of about 20,000 individuals who occupied 150 villages. Notably, their political structures consisted of hereditary chiefs who were responsible for making the crucial decisions regarding their respective communities. Additionally, they represented their people in the confederation meetings and also handled any disputes that arose. The establishment of the villages was subject to the availability of resources such as fish and other animals, or the presence of good natural defenses (Sutton, 2016).

Prior to the “Agriculture Resolution”, humans who migrated out of Africa lived by traveling in groups from one location to the next which is the technique used to exploit seasonal food supplies. Tools like bows and arrows, fishhooks and needles were used in order to live. But with the agricultural resolution, there was a large change brought about with people beginning to settle in areas which eventually built villages and the introduction of new technologies, including pottery, wheeled vehicles and writing. With the switch of from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle

These migrating “First People” in the Maya region developed their tool and hunting technologies and went from being nomadic hunter-gatherers into forming more permanent settlements. These settled groups became more developed as they exploited the plentiful local resources.

These nomads were known for their farming, growing staple crops to survive. They were called one of the five “civilized tribes”. The main issues that

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.

Chapter 1 Level 2 Q: How did the agricultural revolution influence the lives of Neolithic peoples to make them more “civilized”?

The societal levels of organization clearly identify the transitioning of institutions from: bands, small nomadic herds of people, to tribes, a stable village of hundreds, to chiefdoms, when centralized governments prevail, and states, large productive societies. Stages will find that as they move up the ladder, progress is indirectly related to food production. Food production goes hand-in-hand with our ever increasing population and is responsible for turning bands into states. The domestication of plants and animals lead to complex societies where sedentary living and dense populations encouraged germs, with the interaction of farm species, and technological innovations, in the form of guns and steel.

I would like to address topic A, regarding the placement of subsistence strategies into four discrete categories: hunting and gathering (foraging), horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture. While this quick categorization of human subsistence behavior has benefits to introduce these concepts, it falsely assumes that each behavior exists independently and ignores their location on a continuum, often blending from one strategy into the next. In this essay I will introduce each subsistence strategy, show examples of it and finally show ways that even among groups of people who would seem to fit the archetype of each behavior they often adopt strategies of others in a sort of mixing and matching process, especially in times of duress.

The Neolithic Revolution is an important part of history; it changed the Nomad’s lifestyles for good. For example, instead of Nomadic hunters and gatherers, the Nomads instead grew and harvested their own crops because of agriculture and they also domesticated wild animals. The revolution also led to the development of civilizations. A civilization is a complex culture with five traits: advanced cities, advanced technology, record keeping, specialized workers and complex institutions. The four major civilizations are a region of Mesopotamia named Sumer, Egypt, Indus Valley and China. Archaeologists and historians have identified the Traits of Civilization in the Ancient River Valleys of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus and China.