1. “With the introduction of agriculture mankind entered upon a long period of meanness, misery, and madness, from which they are only now being freed from by the beneficent operation of the machine.”
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Bertrand Russell

2. The Neolithic Revolution
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3. Beginning around 12,000 years ago Domestication of plants and animals
Growing populations
Permanent settlements
New diseases from close proximity to animals
Cities, states, and sometimes empires
Increased impact on environment
More food and resources from much smaller areas of land
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4. Global warming that began 16,000 years ago
Around 11,000 years ago, Ice Age was over
Migration of Homo sapiens across planet
New conditions for agriculture
- Natural flourishing of wild plants, especially cereal grasses
- Extinction of some large mammals
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5. Locations: occurring separately and independently Fertile Crescent
Present-day Iraq, Syria, Israel, and southern Turkey
Variety of plants and animals for domestication
After 9,000 BCE, figs, wheat, barley, rye, peas, lentils, sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle domesticated
Use of sun-dried mud bricks and more sophisticated tools
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6. Eastern part of Sahara, present-day Sudan
Between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago, Sahara desert did not exist
Cattle domesticated
Donkey domesticated
Sub-Saharan Africa experienced widely scattered farming practices
- Sorghum, teff, yams, oil palm trees, okra, and kola nuts
Scattered locations of domestication generated less productive agriculture
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7. Coastal Andean regions, Mesoamerica, Mississippi Valley, Amazon basin
Americas
Coastal Andean regions, Mesoamerica, Mississippi Valley, Amazon basin
Absence of animals that could be domesticated
Only one (llama/alpaca) large mammal could be domesticated
Lacked sources of protein, manure, and power that domesticated animals provided
Lacked rich cereal grains
Had maize or corn, first domesticated in southern Mexico by 4000 to 3000 BCE
North/South Orientation of Americas impacted progress of Agricultural Revolution
Distinct climatic and vegetation zones
Agricultural practices had to adapt
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8. Globalization of Agriculture Extension of farming in two ways:
Gradual spread of agricultural techniques without extensive movement of agricultural people
Slow colonization or migration of agricultural peoples
- Conquest, absorption, or displacement of earlier gatherers and hunters
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9. Movement of culture associated with spread of agriculture
Agriculture spread from Southwest Asia into Europe, Central Asia, Egypt, and North Africa between 6500 and 4000 BCE
Indo-European languages, probably originated in Turkey and widely spoken from India to Europe
Movement of culture associated with spread of agriculture
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10. In what is now southern Nigeria or Cameroon around 3000 BCE, Bantu-speaking people moved east and south
- Spread agriculture, cattle-raising, later iron- working skills, and languages
Austronesian-speaking people, from Southern China, to Philippines and Indonesia
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11. The Culture of Agriculture An increase in human population
Greater productivity of agriculture supported more people
- Example: agricultural settlement uncovered near Jericho in present-day Israel had approximately 2,000 people
Living close to animals subjected humans to new diseases
Smallpox, flu, measles, chicken pox, malaria, tuberculosis, rabies
Permanent settlements
An explosion of technological innovation
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12. Secondary products revolution” - Beginning around 4000 BCE
- Involved new uses for domesticated animals
- Milk their animals, harvest their wool, enrich their soil with manure
Growing impact on the environment
Soil erosion and deforestation in some areas
New social hierarchies
Class divisions and patriarchal systems
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13. - Depend far more extensively on animals - Herders
Variations
Pastoral Societies
- Depend far more extensively on animals
- Herders
Agricultural Village Societies
- Retained equality and freedom
- Without kings or aristocracies
Example: Catalhoyuk, an early agricultural village in southern Turkey, was home to several thousand people but had few signs of inherited social inequality
- Organized around kinship groups
Chiefdoms
- Inherited positions of power and privilege introduced a more distinct element of inequality
- Chiefs could seldom use force to compel obedience
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14. What was revolutionary about the Agricultural Revolution?
Strayer Questions
What accounts for the emergence of agriculture after countless millennia of human life without it?
In what different ways did the Agricultural Revolution take shape in various parts of the world?
In what ways did agriculture spread? Where and why was it sometimes resisted?
What was revolutionary about the Agricultural Revolution?
What different kinds of societies emerged out of the Agricultural Revolution?
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15. World Historians recognize three distinct phases in the human journey:
The Paleolithic Era:
Literally means “Old Stone Age”
Gathering and hunting way of life
Represents over 95% of the human journey
The Neolithic Era:
About 12,000 years ago, agriculture was introduced
into some communities
Permanent settlements and specialization developed
The Industrial Era:
Beginning in England around 1750
The mechanization of agriculture and industry
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17. What are three critical phases of the human journey?
Questions:
Why is it important to consider Cosmic History when studying the human journey?
What are three critical phases of the human journey?
What were the beneficial aspects of gathering and hunting societies?
How did the introduction of agriculture transform societies?
Why did agriculture spread if it was associated with obvious disadvantages?
Assess the impact of industrialization. Why has industrialization spread despite its disadvantages?
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