1. The Neolithic Revolution
(7,000-3,000 BCE)

2. The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race
Hunter gatherer
agriculturalist
Population
10-50
High pop. Density diseases
Social relations
No private property notion
Everybody worked
Wealth & hierarchy
Specialization of labor
Gender relations
Rough egalitarianism
Pregnancy  fertility labor
war
Minor skirmishes
Fight over land
Food/nutrition
Varied, balance diet
High carb and starchy food

3. Independent Inventions of Agriculture

4. The Neolithic Revolution happened at different times in different areas of the world.
The Middle East
8000 BCE
Barley and wheat
China
7000 BCE
Millet
Mexico
6000 BCE
Squash, corn and beans
Andes
1000 BCE
Potatoes and quinoa

5. cultural diffusion : the process of exchanging goods and ideas

6. Early Agricultural Society
Population explosion
Year
Human population
Before 10,000 BCE (before NR)
4 million
5,000 BCE (start of NR)
5 million
3,000 BCE
14 million
2,000 BCE
27 million
1,000 BCE
50 million
500 BCE
100 million

7. Early Agricultural Society
Emergence of towns and villages: Jericho in Israel
Came into existence about 8,000 BCE
Population around 2,000 in early days
Major crops: wheat and barley
About 7,000 BCE residents started to build wall and moat—What can you infer?
Specialization of labor
Food surplus
Three main industries: pottery, metallurgy , textile production
The earliest metal that humans worked with systematically was COPPER.
Example site: Çatal Hüyük in modern Turkey

8. Early Agricultural Society
Social distinctions
Concentration of people + permanent settlement  accumulation of wealth
trade food surplus
the ultimate source of wealth: ownership of land.
Example site: Çatal Hüyük
differences in wealth and social status from the quality of interior decorations in houses and the value of goods buried with individuals from different social classes

9. Early Agricultural Society
Emergence of cities
dense pop.+ specialized labor + complex social relations  the city.
What distinguished early cities from Neolithic village and towns?
cities were larger and more complex than Neolithic villages and towns
emergence of large classes of professionals (e.g. craftsman, tax collectors, governors)
cultural specialists—the priests: communities’ traditions, values, public rituals
Cities influenced the political, economic, and cultural life of large regions
politically and military center: organization and coordination
economic center: marketplace
cultural center: temples and schools
The earliest known cities were in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern-day Iraq.

10. Homework: review and organize your notes!
He who by reviewing the old can gain knowledge of the new and is fit to be a teacher. ----Confucius （Chinese educator）