Humans Try to Control Nature

Advances in Technology  For tens of thousands of years, those of the Old Stone Age were Nomads.  Highly mobile people who moved from place to place searching for new sources of food.  These individuals were considered Hunter- gatherers, whose food supply depended on hunting animals and collecting plant foods.  Cro-Magnons increased their food supply by inventing tools.  Tools like crafted special spears which helped them kill game at greater distances.  Digging sticks, knives, fish hooks and harpoons, bone needles to sew clothing made of animal hides.

Beginnings of Agriculture  Cycle of survival was the men hunted and women gathered fruits, berries, and grasses.  About 10,000 years ago, seeds were scattered near a regular campsite and when they returned the next season, they found new crops growing.  This discovery would lead to the Neolithic Revolution, or the beginnings of farming.  One of the great breakthroughs in history.  Provided a steady source of food.  Scientists not sure why the agricultural revolution occurred but attribute it to a rising temperature.

Early Farming Methods  Slash and burn farming – cut trees or grasses and burned them to clear a field and the ashes that remained served as fertilizer for the soil.  Domestication of Animals  Tamed horses, dogs, goats and pigs  Farmers could keep the animals as constant source of food.  As a result:  Population Increased  Settled Communities Developed

Villages Grow and Prosper  The changeover from hunting and gathering to farming and herding took place not once but many times.  Neolithic people in many parts of the world independently developed agriculture.  Africa, China, Mexico/Central America and Peru.  Eventually, farming then spread to surrounding regions.