Agriculture Revolution

1. First Farmers: The Revolution of AgricultureAssignment 3 By: Alexis Apgar

2. The Last Ice Age70,000 BCE – 10,000 BCE The Agricultural Revolution coincided with the end of the last Ice Age. At the end of the last Ice Age human migration across the earth began.

3. The Neolithic Age10,000 BCE – 4,000 BCE“Neolithic”“New Stone” Age Gradual shift from: Nomadic lifestyle settled, stationery lifestyle. Hunting/Gathering  agricultural production and domestication of animals. Transition to agriculture: 11,000 – 8,500 B.C.E. Extinction of some large animals due to hunting and climate change led to scarce food. Warmer, wetter weather allowed more plants to grow. Gathering and hunting peoples started to establish more permanent homes in resource-rich areas. Growing crops on a regular basis made possible the support of larger populations.

4. The Agricultural Revolution8,000 BCE – 5,000 BCE Agriculture developed independently In different parts of the world. Rise of settled Villages parallels Origin of agriculture.

5. The Fertile Crescent The Fertile Crescent was the first region to have a full Agricultural Revolution. Domestication: figs, wheat, barley, rye, peas, lentils, sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle.

6. Eastern Sahara In Africa animals were Domesticated first unlike Elsewhere where plants Were domesticated first. Africa had scattered Farming practices. In the East was the grain Sorghum. In the highlands Of Ethiopia was the highly Nutritious grain teff. In West Africa yams, oil palm Trees, okra, and the kola Nut. This scattered form of Farming was a less Productive way of farming Then in the region Of the Fertile Crescent.

7. In the Americas there was an absence of animals that could be domesticated So the peoples of America relied heavily on hunting and fishing. Furthermore, they lacked the rich cereal grains like in Afro-Eurasia instead they had maize.

8. Advantages & Costs of Agriculture Advantages Steady food supplies Greater populations Leads to organized societies Costs Heavily dependent on certain food crops (failure=starvation) Disease from close contact with animals, humans, and waste Population growth prevents return to the hunting and gathering life.