The Neolithic Revolution: A Revolution

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

Some theories suggest that the Neolithic revolution brought about the formation of the state and civilization (Childe, 1950). A highly discussed theory, called the Urban Revolution theory, examines the transition from village to state following the implementation of agriculture (Childe, 1950). This theory suggests that agriculture allowed the production of excess food, also referred to as surplus, and because of this surplus farming communities were able to allow a few individuals to part time specialize in skills and crafts unrelated to food production (Childe, 1950). As agricultural technology progressed, farming communities were able to produce greater crop yields which allowed some individuals to be completely rid of any food procurement responsibilities (Childe, 1950). This allowed certain people to fully specialize in a profession and take on roles such as merchants, public figures, or as religious figures (Childe, 1950).

Political, economic, and social conditions have often led to turning points that have changed the course of history for nations and peoples. For instance, neolithic revolution and the fall of Rome has greatly contributed to changes that has occurred in history. The Neolithic Revolution was a great shift from a nomadic style of living such as hunting into a settled down society. The idea of farming was created making the society’s life more structured. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the renaissance came to full power. This introduced a newer and broader outlook on life. The society’s view became more secular. This became the turning point in history, causing people to look more into logic and reasoning, causing the enlightenment.

According to the context of Document 3, “One innovation or change that occurred because of the Neolithic Revolution was that people settled in villages.” This shows that because of the change of the Neolithic Revolution, people began to live in well-maintained places where people would settle (ex: villages). Another detail from the third document is that “In ancient Banpo, forty- five houses covered with thatch provided homes for perhaps 500 people.” This means that because of the change in Neolithic times, there were a lot of people who were provided with homes to live in. This also shows that there were homes provided for large amounts of people, and they made many items such as pots, vases, and dishes to help them for the house. Moreover, in Document 6, the innovations of the Neolithic Revolution were good for society because they taught many people, especially children, on how to be prepared for anything, and teaching them the basics such as growing and planting crops, and feeding others. According to the sixth document, “Children probably lost their carefree life as agriculture developed.” This shows that children did and learned new things instead of wasting their time doing other, unimportant things. As later stated in Document 6, “Instead of being just responsible for finding food themselves, they had to work on the land and learn to grow food and feed others.”

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.

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.

These revolutions were the Neolithic Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. The Neolithic Revolution (New Stone Age) occurred 12,000 years ago, at this time humans in large numbers began to give up hunting and gathering to settle down in 1 area as farmers. Next, was the Industrial Revolution this revolution happened in the mid 18th century in northern Europe. This revolution was the transition to the new manufacturing process .

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 is often called the “New Stone Age”. This is because; people were making tools with metals instead of stone. Some changes were the domestications of animals and crops, permanent settlement, and technology and job specialization. The changes in the Neolithic Revolution were so important that it is considered a turning point in human history.

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 the 1930's, V. Gordon Childe proposed that the shift to food production was one of the two major events in human history that improved the condition of human societies. Childe described the origins of agriculture as a 哲eolithic Revolution.But the shift from hunting and gathering to food production was not as advantageous to humanity as Childe believed. Although there were benefits, there were also serious drawbacks, and humans paid a price for the advantages of agriculture.

People are generally inclined to associate the Neolithic period with better stone tools. However, this period also brought a series of advancements assisting individuals go from being hunter-gatherers to being herders and farmers. "With this change came settled villages, the wheel, pottery, and more" (Mindsparks 8).

Forming villages and communities thousands of years ago, probably was one of the best decisions that people back then ever made. Before societies, humans were hunters and gatherers, they would run around and try to get to hunt animal and sleep and just repeat that cycle until they die, an aspect of that was shown in the cartoon “Join the Neolithic Revolution comic” a hunter and a gatherer sad and feel bad that they did not have enough food. They felt it was amazing that you do not have to worry about hunting everyday and killing every single day for food when the guy from the village came to them and explained how villages work, also you can see him walking with a goat, which mean you do not have to kill them all, you can live with animals

On the negative side, the Neolithic Revolution was a big change. When people changed from hunting and gathering to farming, they did not realize what could go wrong. Important to realize, they had to rely on the crops to grow. If the crops did not grow, people had no food. Another key point, the crops would not grow in the cold weather.

The Neolithic revolution had a big impact on the society. However, instead of focusing on the good, as follow are some social disadvantages of this big transition. To start with, agriculture is considered much harder work than hunter gathering is, and individuals had to work much longer hours farming. This reduced the land availability for living on by handing it to farmers. It reduced space for wild animals and plants, which were used for food, meaning that, the fauna was becoming less diverse and animals were becoming weaker since