How Did The Neolithic Revolution Occur
What is the Neolithic Revolution? When and where did it occur?
Towards the end of Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene, agricultural societies arose. Between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago in the Middle East, and later Asia and Africa, a radical shift occurred that changed human subsistence permanently (DeMello 131). This shift is called the Neolithic Revolution and it led to modern subsistence agriculture used to provide food to humans and many domesticated non-human animals today. The Neolithic Revolution was a step towards modern farming but did not, however, eradicate hunter gatherer communities, as some remain today (DeMello 132).
Describe some cultural, economic, environmental, and health related consequences of the societal transition. …show more content…
The introduction of agriculture meant domestication of plants and animals. Previously, hunters and gatherers collected and hunted wild organisms. During the Neolithic Revolution, the need to go out and exert oneself to that extant was negate, as most opted for the more leisurely and dependable way to obtain food. Dubbed “The Big Mistake”, Jared Diamond claims that domestication was “the worst mistake in human history” (“Animals in the Wild”). Domestication of animals allowed some weight on a farm to be distributed (i.e guard dogs, working mules, vermin catching cats). Since the weight of a majority of the difficult labor was burdened on working animals, many humans shifted to become less mobile. Previous to domesticity and agriculture, nomadic groups were more active and had a more diverse diet which was far healthier than the new, restricted food and mobility found in agriculture (“Animals in the Wild”). Due to the implementation of agriculture, people and animals became geographically fixed with rising populations. The rise in populations, the localized area, the reduction in movement, and low diversity in diets, people and animals became more susceptible to disease called Zoonotic diseases, or diseases transferred between humans and non-human animals. In addition to the rising population and increase in illness, the landscape of Appalachia was being cleared to make open fields for farming, negatively affecting the area and triggering mud and landslides (Abramson). Nevertheless, clearing of the trees arose an economic boost. Appalachia began to trade lumber and meat which not only provided money for the area, but jobs as well. Through a chain of events, the Neolithic revolution led to the Industrial Revolution and an influx money to the
Towards the end of Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene, agricultural societies arose. Between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago in the Middle East, and later Asia and Africa, a radical shift occurred that changed human subsistence permanently (DeMello 131). This shift is called the Neolithic Revolution and it led to modern subsistence agriculture used to provide food to humans and many domesticated non-human animals today. The Neolithic Revolution was a step towards modern farming but did not, however, eradicate hunter gatherer communities, as some remain today (DeMello 132).
Describe some cultural, economic, environmental, and health related consequences of the societal transition. …show more content…
The introduction of agriculture meant domestication of plants and animals. Previously, hunters and gatherers collected and hunted wild organisms. During the Neolithic Revolution, the need to go out and exert oneself to that extant was negate, as most opted for the more leisurely and dependable way to obtain food. Dubbed “The Big Mistake”, Jared Diamond claims that domestication was “the worst mistake in human history” (“Animals in the Wild”). Domestication of animals allowed some weight on a farm to be distributed (i.e guard dogs, working mules, vermin catching cats). Since the weight of a majority of the difficult labor was burdened on working animals, many humans shifted to become less mobile. Previous to domesticity and agriculture, nomadic groups were more active and had a more diverse diet which was far healthier than the new, restricted food and mobility found in agriculture (“Animals in the Wild”). Due to the implementation of agriculture, people and animals became geographically fixed with rising populations. The rise in populations, the localized area, the reduction in movement, and low diversity in diets, people and animals became more susceptible to disease called Zoonotic diseases, or diseases transferred between humans and non-human animals. In addition to the rising population and increase in illness, the landscape of Appalachia was being cleared to make open fields for farming, negatively affecting the area and triggering mud and landslides (Abramson). Nevertheless, clearing of the trees arose an economic boost. Appalachia began to trade lumber and meat which not only provided money for the area, but jobs as well. Through a chain of events, the Neolithic revolution led to the Industrial Revolution and an influx money to the