Neolithic Revolution: The Old Stone Age Era

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

Before the Neolithic Revolution, there was nomadic lifestyle of hunting and gathering food for survival. People stayed in one place as long as the sources they needed to survive was present. If sources weren’t available, people would move to another place for survival. Therefore, there was no permanent or final settlement.Due to the discovery of farming, the Neolithic Revolution began. Once the techniques of

All throughout history, humans have come up with innovations that have brought both positive and negative changes to the way people live. This all started around 10,000 BCE, when people developed agriculture. The first nomads started off by moving from place to place, hunting and gathering food… but as people developed agriculture, they saved a lot more time. After agriculture developed, the humans learned many things such as farming and taming wild animals for their own use. This time in history was called the Neolithic Revolution… which lasted about 6,000 years, until 4,000 BCE. The big change in the way people got their food and how they lived, resulted to positive and negative changes of human innovations of the Neolithic Revolution. So,

The Neolithic revolution was a period of time that occurred during 10,000 - 9,000 B.C.E. Humans made the transition from hunting and gathering and being nomadic to being sedentary. During the neolithic revolution humans also developed social classes where the people who watched others work were at the top and the people who worked at the bottom. People have different opinions on the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture during the neolithic revolution. Thinking about all of the things humans received from the neolithic revolution, it was not worth it. Human society would have been better off without the disease, the social classes, and starvation. Therefore, while the neolithic revolution brought many beneficial things to human society such as agriculture, and permanent housing, it brought more harm than good like modern day diseases and social classes.

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.

One of the most significant transitions in human history was from the Paleolithic Era to the Neolithic Era. In the Paleolithic Age humanity was a hunter-gathered species; man would migrate looking for food, but everything changed in the Neolithic Era. In this era humans learned how to cultivate edible plants, they began to settle down, and new technology began to surface. These changes had a notable impact.

Unlike Paleolithic time's, man could have more leisure time to spend. This led him to broaden the society he was living in and led to increased populations in the Neolithic Age. The more people there were the more discovery man made during this time. The invention of agriculture led to the settled life. Since man no longer needed to roam, all they had to do was put a seed in the ground and watch it grow. Tool and weaponry became more advanced, and pottery and the potters wheel was invented.

The Neolithic Revolution was the major change in human life caused by the beginnings of farming. This revolution changed people’s lives in several ways. It changed the way people lived because before the Neolithic Revolution they relied on hunting and gathering food. It also changed the way they settled, because of this revolution they were able to live in villages for a long time, unlike before; they had to relocate often because their food source would become scarce.  The way civilizations lived changed because of the Neolithic Revolution. A civilization is a form of culture that consists of cities, advanced technology, specialized workers, complex institutions, and record keeping. The early river valley civilizations; which developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, and China, had more similarities than differences. The river valley civilizations were similar when it came to their writing systems, inventions, and geography. However, they were also different when it came to writing systems and inventions.

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.

Prior to living in homes build to with stand the test of time, growing food their food source, and raising animals, humans were nomads who followed their food source around and were hunters and gathers. Although it took many years, from 8000B.C. to 3000B.C. for humans to go from hunters and gathers to a more common day life as we now know it, the result is referred to as the Neolithic Revolution the begins of human civilization. As the people of this time began to settle down and they began to both farm the land and domesticate animals for the better of the community. Along with the development of these communities as for the first time began to create social class among the many different roles they played in their community. Because

The Neolithic Revolution made food easily accessible. Document 3 states, “But it means, rather, a state of culture in which food is planted and bred, not hunted and gathered — in which food is domesticated, not wild.” This shows that the Neolithic Revolution was a time in which people moved from

Humans’ lives would be drastically different if it wasn’t for the Neolithic Revolution. All the lifestyle changes in this time period made a drastic change in how individuals lived. However, Paleolithic people were nomads in search of food. Also, no one had specific jobs because everyone’s jobs were focused on hunting and gathering food. During this time period, everything was made of stone because it was an easy to find and bountiful resource.

Over 10,000 years ago humans’ lives were spent hunting and gathering just to survive. That all changed when some humans figured out how to capture animals and plant wild seeds so that they could control their food supply. This change in how people lived is known as the Neolithic Revolution and it ultimately led to the beginnings of civilization. The Neolithic Revolution is considered a turning point in human history because it led to permanent settlements, improvements in technology and the development of social classes and job specialization.

In modern days, a division of labor has developed into doctors, architects, teachers, etc, to help our health, shelter, education and many other things, we need to live and survive. Therefore, the Neolithic Revolution had a positive impact on people by trade and a division of labor

Ultimately, the Neolithic Revolution advanced society past the basic Paleolithic era, forming a new type of living. The culture introduced in the Neolithic Revolution moved beyond nomadic styles of living and introduced agriculture, which allowed tribes to settle down and form communities. Through the different type of living, new concepts and culture formed: the concept of private property was introduced, which advanced society greatly.