Neolithic Revolution Essay

The Neolithic Revolution was a great change from hunting and gathering to civilization because of discovery of agriculture. The Neolithic Revolution was an important turning point in history because it allowed people to create civilization. About 10,000 BCE, humans began to cultivate crops and domesticate certain animals; this was a change from the system of hunting and gathering. It brought changes to human society and culture. The people of this era were called nomads. The nomads would settle down in fertile areas and river valleys. Some of the first signs of technology began to appear around this time as well. During the Paleolithic Period, which lasts from the beginnings of human life until about 10,000 BCE, people were nomads. They lived in groups of 20 -30 and spent most of their time hunting and gathering. The nomads were people who were constantly moving. Nomads moved according to season and migrating animals. It`s true that in human societies the business of hunting and gath ering has involved specialization, with men doing the hunting and women much of the gathering. All humans, unlike most animals, carry the food home and share it, rather than consume it. Nomadic people didn’t have very many possessions for example; you could only bring what you could carry. It was a slow population growth in this time, since no one really settled down. Since people were constantly moving and struggling to survive, advancements in technology were extremely slow. The nomadic people really only had tools for digging, spears, knives, and clubs. When people switched from hunters and gathers to farming and agriculture it was a big turning point in history. Stone tools were a root to this vast change in lifestyle. Humans moved from bone and fur tools to stone tools. The first farmers relied on slash-and-burn agriculture, that involves the cutting and burning of plants in forest to create fields. Then after a while people started to use normal farming techniques. In order to use these techniques warm climate, water, and fertile soil was necessary. That was the reason people settled down by river valleys. The discovery of farming led a surplus of food this would be the first time ever seeing one. In a farming lifestyle, men spent most of their time outside the home in the fields or working with animals. The women worked in the home processing food, making clothes, and caring for children. Women’s status declined as men took the lead in in most areas of these early societies. The crops they raised depended on their location, and developed  agriculture independently at different times The technology and social organization of the Neolithic Revolution remained the basis of all civilization. The people’s tools and skills had advanced sufficiently for cultivating people to support towns with over one thousand people. Humans now had to stay in one place, aside from moving to more fertile land, to raise crops and domesticate animals. Small sedentary farming villages created the conditions necessary for development of c ities. Nomadic people settled down in villages and made families which eventually led to a market rise in population and town life. Scholars created a system of knowledge and writing, division of labor, trading economics and development of art started to occur. Farming now allowed members to abandon subsistence activities and become artisans, merchants and priests. Neolithic Revolution people could work in specialized trades such as metalworking or act as religious leaders. Cities arose with trade, markets, government, laws and armies. For the first time, people could spend their working lives focused on something other than survival. The Neolithic revolution was the most important development in human history. The way we live today, settled in homes, close to other people in towns and cities, protected by laws, eating food grown on farms, and with leisure time to learn, explore and invent is all a result of the Neolithic revolution, which occurred approximately 11,500-5,000 years ago.