The Ancient Period, Before 600 BCE: Handout 1.2: Causes and Effects of the Neolithic Revolution

It was prerequisite to the rise of civilization, and it transformed global demography.

It was prerequisite to the rise of civilization, and it transformed global demography.

Domestication ultimately yielded agents of conquest but arose in only a few areas of the world, and in certain of those areas earlier than in others.

Domestication means to adapt an animal or plant to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of humans.

Domestication ultimately yielded agents of conquest but arose in only a few areas of the world, and in certain of those areas earlier than in others.

This process is attested by archaeological evidence for substantial continuity of material culture, and by genetic, linguistic, and skeletal evidence of continuity of human populations.

This process is attested by archaeological evidence for substantial continuity of material culture, and by genetic, linguistic, and skeletal evidence of continuity of human populations.

The wild progenitors of crops including wheat, barley, and peas are traced to the Near East region.

Cereals were grown in Syria as long as 9,000 years ago, while figs were cultivated even earlier; prehistoric seedless fruits discovered in the Jordan Valley suggest fig trees were being planted some 11,300 years ago.

Though the transition from wild harvesting was gradual, the switch from a nomadic to a settled way of life is marked by the appearance of early Neolithic villages with homes equipped with grinding stones for processing grain.

In Mexico, squash cultivation began around 10,000 years ago, but corn (maize) had to wait for natural genetic mutations to be selected for in its wild ancestor, teosinte.

While maize-like plants derived from teosinte appear to have been cultivated at least 9,000 years ago, the first directly dated corn cob dates only to around 5,500 years ago.

The introduction of dairying was a critical step in early agriculture, with milk products being rapidly adopted as a major component of the diets of prehistoric farmers and pottery-using late hunter-gatherers.

The processing of milk, particularly the production of cheese, would have been a critical development because it not only allowed the preservation of milk products in a non-perishable and transportable form, but also it made milk a more digestible commodity for early prehistoric farmers.

The finding of abundant milk residues in pottery vessels from seventh millennium sites from northwestern Anatolia provided the earliest evidence of milk processing, although the exact practice could not be explicitly defined.

The finding of abundant milk residues in pottery vessels from seventh millennium sites from northwestern Anatolia provided the earliest evidence of milk processing, although the exact practice could not be explicitly defined.

The finding of abundant milk residues in pottery vessels from seventh millennium sites from northwestern Anatolia provided the earliest evidence of milk processing, although the exact practice could not be explicitly defined.

Notably, the discovery of potsherds pierced with small holes appear at early Neolithic sites in temperate Europe in the sixth millennium BC and have been interpreted typologically as “cheese strainers,” although a direct association with milk processing has not yet been demonstrated.

Notably, the discovery of potsherds pierced with small holes appear at early Neolithic sites in temperate Europe in the sixth millennium BC and have been interpreted typologically as “cheese strainers,” although a direct association with milk processing has not yet been demonstrated.

The emergence of dairying was a major innovation in prehistoric societies, enabling the supply of nutritious food without the slaughtering of precious livestock.