Cause & Effects of the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution Or Why bread is cheaper than beef jerky.

Paleolithic Modern humans appear about 250,000 B.C. Lived in small bands of nomadic hunters & gatherers Developments: Simple stone tools & weapons Spoken Language Use of fire Belief in afterlife Burial of dead Creation of cave paintings

Neolithic Agriculture Revolution 9000 B.C. Farming replaces hunting & gathering as a means of producing food. Neolithic peoples domesticate plants & animals Food gathering women notice that seeds grow into new plants.

with plentiful rainfall & fertile soil to establish farms. People look for areas with plentiful rainfall & fertile soil to establish farms. Farming peoples begin settling in river valleys like the Nile, Indus, & Huang He. People abandon nomadic ways of life & establish permanent villages -Acquire more possessions -Develop new technologies Calendar, plow, loom, pottery -Growth in population Farmers grow more food than they need to feed their families

some to abandon farming in order to specialize in a specific craft Farmers barter surplus food for goods made by artisans Food surpluses allow some to abandon farming in order to specialize in a specific craft Beginnings of trade networks Societies compete for valuable land & water resources Increased interaction between communities Women lose status to male warriors who can protect them & their children Leaders with armies emerge who force those with no power to do the hard jobs Increased warfare

Civilization