Neolithic AgeThe Birth of Agriculture

10,000-5300 B.C.E.

Essential Standard

• 6.H.2- Understand the political, economic and/or social significance of historical events, issues, individuals and cultural groups.

• 6.G.1- Understand geographic factors that influenced the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations, societies and regions (i.e. Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas) over time.

Clarifying Objective• 6.H.2.3- Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed

civilizations, societies and regions over time (e.g., agricultural technology, weaponry, transportation and communication).

• 6.G.1.1- Explain how the physical features and human characteristics of a place influenced the development of civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., location near rivers and natural barriers, trading practices and spread of culture).

• 6.G.1.4- Explain how and why civilizations, societies and regions have used, modified and adapted to their environments (e.g., invention of tools, domestication of plants and animals, farming techniques and creation of dwellings).

Essential Question

Earth Begins to Warm Again

• The Earth begins to warm again

• The snow turned to rain

• A new age is born

• Neolithic Age

Neolithic Age

• In the Middle East the Neolithic Age begins

• Now in a warmer climate mankind begins once again hunting and gathering

Neolithic Age• But they will soon realize a way to

revolutionize their food supply once again which will lead to the birth of the first settlements, towns, cities, & civilizations of the world

• The end of the Stone Age (Paleolithic & Ice Age) marked a time when mankind would farm & live in permanent settlements for the first time

• It all starts with “Our Farming Mother”

Our Farming Mother• Nobody really knows

exactly who she was but her discovery is one of the most important of all time

• It could be said that without her discovery mankind would have died off thousands of years ago

The Double Edged Sword• What are Farming Mother

discovers gives changes the direction & speed of Mankind’s Story

• Her discovery leads to cities, new technology, new science techniques, civilizations, powerful empires being built

• It also leads to crime, poverty, disease, & war

Women Gather

• While men hunt women gather grains & seeds

• For every calorie a woman spends gathering seeds & grains she is able to provide 50 calories of energy to her people

Settling Patterns• People settle around rich sources

of grains & seeds

• People also settle around rivers & lakes so they have a water source for growing

• Çatal Hüyuk is one of the earliest agricultural farming villages found to this day

• And it is during this time that Our Farming Mother makes a breakthrough

Agriculture is Born

• Discarded seeds take root in the ground & begin to grow there

• This gives her an idea

• She plants her best seeds in a fertile patch of land hoping they too will take root and grow

Agriculture is Born• The plants begin to grow and she

has just discovered Agriculture

• There in the Middle East around 8000 B.C.E. Agriculture is born

• Agriculture is the planting of seeds to grow plants that can be eaten by humans

• Agriculture is the root of the beginning of all civilizations

Agriculture is Born• Now humans had more of a

guarantee of a food source

• For the first time humans were able to have extra food

• They didn’t have to worry about gathering seeds & plants because they could just grow their own seeds and plants

Mankind’s First Farm• Our Farming Mother tends to the

seeds

• She weeds & waters

• She puts them in her own sectioned off plot of land

• She invents the plow to till the soil and make it more fertile which gives more crops

• Mankind’s first garden

Farming Feeds the Masses• Now an acre of land can feed 100

times as many people as hunting & gathering

• She then invents the SICKLE to cut down the wheat that she has grown

• Farming & Agriculture was THE GAME CHANGER OF SOCIETY

• This was the difference of having millions of people on the planet & billions of people on the planet

Wheat• A new crop conquers the globe

(WHEAT)

• 1 sixty bushel of wheat can make 70 loaves of bread

• By 3000 B.C.E. farming reaches Europe which creates a blueprint of the future

• Farming & agriculture from that point on devolved independently by its self in all parts of the world

Irrigation • More villages begin to spring up

along rivers & lakes because rivers and lakes provide a natural water source

• They use this water source to water their crops

• They develop a system called IRRIGATION where they dig ditches from the rivers & lakes to their gardens so the water flows to their gardens and they don’t have to haul water to their gardens anymore

Village• Because of Agriculture the

Village comes into existence

• This was mankind’s first settled communities

• Villages were the first time that mankind got together to own a piece of land and farm that land

Village

• Shortly after the first village mankind domesticated the goat & sheep

• These were the first animals to be domesticated by the Agricultural communities

• These were the first farm animals

Domesticating Farm Animals

• This is a turning point

• Now the Goats, pigs, oxen, & sheep could be used for human use

• Now mankind not only has Agriculture but domesticated animals to eat & help farm with

Domesticating Farm Animals• This leads to a population

boom

• Eventually however domesticated farm animals moved out of the Middle East because of a drought that made farming the region very hard. Because of the drought there was also no grass for the animals to graze on

The New Challenge • Agriculture opens a new

battle against an enemy that we still face today

• That enemy is disease

• The domesticated farm animals carried diseases such as syphilis, Bubonic Plague/Black Death, & Smallpox

Smallpox for Domesticated Animals

Another New Enemy• Farming & owning land

gives way to what be the greatest enemy in the history of mankind

• Each other

• In a neighboring village the crops have failed and the villagers begin to starve

Mine vs. Yours• It comes down to Mine vs. Yours

• THIS IS MY LAND. I worked hard for this land

• I put in my time, effort & energy into that land

• My family lives on that land

• If you come & try to take my land I have to do something about it

Man Battles Man for the First Time

• They organize an attack plan to attack the neighboring village and steal their agricultural crops

• They use any tools that they have made as weapons and leave to attack

Man Battles Man for the First Time• They attack quickly killing

villagers & stealing agricultural crops

• The birth of warfare

• Because of Agriculture and having enough food to survive Mankind builds its first STANDING ARMIES and pays them with food to protect their villages

End of the Neolithic Age• By the end of the Neolithic Age

agriculture was in full force

• Standing armies existed for protection

• Metal working had been discovered and people were able to make such things as jewelry, weapons, & tools

• This gave way to the Dawning of a new age

Important Points• 6.H.2.3- (Agricultural Technology) “Our

Farming Mother” did more for human society that she will ever know. The discovery of Agriculture allowed for masses of people to be fed and marked the end of hunting & gathering for survival

• 6.H.2.3- (Agricultural Technology) Agriculture was the basis the starting point of all beginning civilization throughout history

• 6.G.1.4- (Domestication of Animals) The Neolithic people also domesticated goats & sheep to provide another food source & to help them with farming tasks

• 6.G.1.1- (Location near Water) Geographically villages, towns, cities, civilizations & Empires all got their start around some kind of natural water source. If you tried to build you village too far away from a river, lake, ocean your village would die off

• 6.G.1.4- (Invention of Farming Techniques) The Neolithic people not only invented “farming” but also invented sickles to cut their wheat & an irrigation system to water their crops