1. The Neolithic Revolution
The appearance of agriculture and pastoralism
(maybe the single most important change in history)

2. The origins of agriculture and domestic animals
The origins of agriculture and domestic animals. The development of agriculture and the domestication of animals took place independently in different parts of the world, but the Near East, Mesoamerica, southeast Asia, and China were among the first and most significant regions.

3. Key things to remember:
The Neolithic revolution didn’t happen abruptly, but emerged gradually as a result of trial and error
It first appeared in a few places, not everywhere
Most people didn’t go through it at first, and some
still haven’t
On the whole, agriculture was the big winner over
pastoralism and hunting and gathering

4. The key was domestication
Domestication is not taming
Taming is accustomizing an animal to the
presence of humans (many animals
have been tamed but not domesticated)
Domesticating is changing a plant or animal
on the biological level (most plants
and animals have never been domesticated)

5. The process of domestication
Notice a desirable trait in a species
Separate members of the species from nature
Selective breeding (artificial selection)
Exaggerate and stabilize desirable trait(s)
Change on the biological level

10. Domesticated Plants There are about 200,000 wild species
12 domesticated plants account for 80% of
the tonnage of all crops:
Cereals: wheat, corn, barley, rice, sorghum
Pulses: soybeans
Tubers: potato, manioc, sweet potato
Sugar: sugar cane, beet sugar
Fruit: banana

11. Large Terrestrial Domesticates
The Major Five:
1. Sheep
2. Cow
3. Goat
4. Pig
5. Horse
The Minor Nine:
6. Arabian Camel 11. Water Buffalo
7. Bactrian Camel 12. Yak
8. Llama and Alpaca 13. Bali Cattle
9. Donkey 14. Mithan
10. Reindeer

13. What was the impact of the Neolithic Revolution?

14. Consequences of the Neolithic Revolution
Agriculture led to a sedentary lifestyle
Pastoralism led to a nomadic lifestyle
Agriculturalists often used domesticated animals
New social institutions emerged:
Neolithic villages
Pastoralist clan-tribes
Agriculture led to enormous productivity increases
Agriculture led to significant population increase and density
Specialization of technology and skills developed

16. Dangers of the Neolithic Revolution
The vulnerability of monoculture
Soil destruction
Disease
The nomad-sedentary conflict
Social disruption