Why Humans Settled Down Why Humans Became Food Producers Foraging Farming Knew much about local plant and animal species Good nutrition Less work Stable food supply Hard work Food source is unreliable food crisis ID: 284934
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Neolithic Culture
Why Humans Settled DownSlide2
Why Humans Became Food Producers
Foraging
Farming
Knew much about local plant and animal species
Good nutrition
Less workStable food supply
Hard work
Food source is unreliable – food crisis
Theory – farming began as a way to fatten animals at oasesSlide3
The Fertile Crescent
Humans evolved in Africa
Soon moved north – reasons?
Humans soon populated the area between the Tigris and Euphrates RiversSlide4
Theories
Oasis Theory (V. Gordon Childe)
Population Growth (Cohen)
Seasonal Stress (
McCorriston and Hole) Hilly Flanks theory of animal domestication (Hole)Slide5
Oasis Theory
A type of environmental determinism.
Southwest Asia became drier 12 to 15,000 years ago.
People congregated around oases.
People collected the seeds of wild grasses. This led to plant cultivation.
Cultivation of plants attracted wild cattle and sheep and goats. This led to animal domestication. Problem: Domestication did not occur first at oasesSlide6
Population Growth
Hunting, fishing and gathering were very productive.
So productive that population grew.
More people needed more food
People in marginal areas decided to domesticate animals and plants to provide new food
Problems: Domestication is gradual and would not provide people with more food in the short term.Assumes domestication was intentional. However, people cannot predict which plants or animals could be domesticated. Slide7
Seasonal Stress theory
The earliest plant domestication took place around the margins of evaporating lakes. For example, the Jordan River Valley.
Beginning in the Mesolithic, the climate became warmer with seasonal droughts (these are seasonal stresses.)
Annuals are best adapted to this
environment,wild
cereal and grains produce abundant seeds and survive for long periods of drought.People collected wild plants, for example, wheat, barley, and rye.They used sickles, which meant that plants with tough stems and seeds that did not readily scatter were the most likely to be carried back to settlements.
Some lost seeds germinated at disturbed sites such as latrines, garbage pits, and burned over areas.
People began to promote growth of these annuals.Slide8
Hilly Flanks Theory of Animal Domestication
Wild sheep and goats were domesticated in the hilly flanks or the foothills of the
Zargos
Mountains in present day Iraq and Iran
Wild sheep and goats migrated up and down mountains due to the seasonal availability of grasses.
Sheep and goats grazed in the lowlands during the winter and in the high pastures in the summer.People follow these animals, and became very familiar with their behavior and habitsBy 11,000 years ago, the percentage of male lamb remains increased. This indicates the presence of herd management
Females were spared for breeding and people were feasting on ram lambs.
By 8000 years ago, domesticated sheep and goats were being kept at villages like Jericho.Slide9
Other Centers of DomesticationSlide10
Did you notice that domestication moved east/west?
Did you also notice that the domestication occurred largely in the southern hemisphere? Interesting considering that the power today lies in the northern hemisphere.Slide11
Neolithic Material Culture
Tool Making
Neolithic Stone Tools
Tools were made of wood, bone and stone
Chipping, flaking, grinding and polishing were methods used to shape tools
Tools included: sickles, scythes, forks, hoes, plows, and mortars and pestlesSpecialized skills developed for making tools, including leatherworks, weaving and potterySlide12
Neolithic Material Culture
Pottery
Pottery
Fired clay (first)
Needed to store food and other perishables
Made trade more possible, trade routes could be longerFragile – less useful for nomads and hunters
Requires artful skillSlide13
Neolithic Material Culture
Housing
Many different types
Hunters and gatherers had no need for permanent housing
Made of wood, stone, sun-dried, or poles plastered together with mud or clay
Often associated with farming settlements, but not necessarily (eg
. West coast of Canada)Slide14
Neolithic Material Culture
Clothing
Loom and Spindle
Clothing now made of textiles (instead of hides or furs)
Flax, cotton, wool (sheep, llama, goat), silk
Invention of spindle and loomSlide15
Neolithic Social Structure
Little archaeological evidence of hierarchical structure – egalitarian
Little evidence of religion
Burial exhibit no differentiation – all were given the same treatment
Oddly, these communities could come together to produce very impressive structures and sites (
eg. Stonehenge)Most groupings probably all knew each otherSlide16
Spread of Neolithic Civilization