For hundreds of years hominids depended on nature for their survival. Food came from wild plants and animals. 

Around 8,000 years ago a new way of providing food emerged. This revolutionary advancement was farming. Instead of hunting and gathering food from the environments where they lived, humans learned to simply grow their own food.

Cereals such as wheat, barley, rice and corn were grown in different parts of the world. Wild animals were also domesticated. Goats were utilized for their meat and milk, cattle, pigs and chickens provided a steady source of food for the support of a group of humans.

Villages Develop

With farming and domestication of animals, life became much easier for humans. As a result, many more humans survived. The population quickly increased from around 2 million humans on the Earth to more than 90 million.

Farming allowed people to build villages along rivers, or wherever the ground was fertile . Archeologists have found some villages that are believed to have been built more than 8,000 years ago. Some of these ancient villages, such as Jericho, still survive to this day.

Technologies Advance Quickly

With an abundance of food and more permanent shelters, people had more time  to develope new technologies. Better farming equipment, such as the ox-driven plow, was developed. The loom allowed people to weave cloth and create finer and more comfortable clothing.

Tools were created for measuring the passage of time, such as calendars, star charts and sundials. This helped farmers track when the growing season would arrive, and when the best time to plant crops would be.

People learned improved farming techniques, such as how to use fertilizers in their fields, and how to better utilize water through irrigation. 

Social changes

As a consequence social organization became more complex. Concepts of authority, private property and division of labour were needed to organize communities. 

Food surplus led to new economic activities and jobs: craftmen, weavers, potters, etc. So everybody specialized in a type of job. This is called division of labour.

On the other hand, social hierarchy appear and old chieftans and priests gained influence in the community accumulating power.

Last but  not least, humans began to accumulate personal things, then private property appeared.

ALL OF THESE MADE NEOLITHIC TO BE CONSIDERED AS MAJOR HISTORY TURNING POINT

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION:

NEOLITHIC UPDATE (2021_02_03 09_18_04 UTC)

NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION

NOTES:

SUMMARY OF NEOLITHIC

WORKSHEETS TO PRACTICE:

02 – Neolithic Revolution

Neolithic_Lesson_2_-_

Benefits_and_drawbacksneolithic

Worst_Mistake_Neolithic_Diamond_

Excerpt_Assignment

vocabulary for 1st unit history

Comparison_of_Paleolithic_&_

NeolithicNeolithic_Revolution_Diagram_with_explanationsUnit

1 Human Origins and the Agricultural Revolutionneolithic_revolution

Neolithic_Revolution_Diagram_without_explanations

Prehistoric Times chapter and worksheets

World-Civilizations-Sweeney

Changes of Life During Neolithic Age

VIDEOS TO REVIEW: