The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution, a pivotal chapter in human history, marked the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural communities. This epoch, beginning around 10,000 BCE, saw the domestication of plants and animals, fundamentally transforming human lifestyles. With the advent of farming, people could produce surplus food, leading to population growth, the establishment of permanent settlements, and the birth of complex societies. Innovations such as irrigation, plowing, and crop rotation not only boosted food production but also spurred technological and cultural advancements. This agricultural revolution laid the groundwork for the rise of civilizations, altering the trajectory of human history forever.
In This Section
The First Agricultural Revolution
The agricultural revolution was a watershed moment in human history. The emergence of agriculture is arguably the first technological revolution in human history. This shift transformed not only how we produced food but also how we organized society and interacted with the natural world.
At the end of the paleolithic era, some 12,000 years ago, humanity evolved and undertook a remarkable change which led to the emergence of crop cultivation and animal domestication. Prior to this time, the majority of humanity lived in small bands of people.
While the historical record is incomplete, much archaeological evidence gives us clues which enable an understanding of how agriculture emerged. The emergence of new tools, foods and techniques enabled surpluses of food to come into existence and for society to for the earliest civilizations we now know today.
It made it easier for civilizations to flourish that relied on agricultural surpluses, including those in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. Moreover, the agricultural revolution paved the way for technological innovations such as metallurgy, writing, and mathematics, further propelling human advancement.
Ultimately, the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture represents a pivotal moment in the story of humanity, shaping the course of human history and laying the foundation for the modern world.
The Transition from Hunting & Gathering
In the vast expanse of prehistoric landscapes, our early ancestors embarked on a timeless journey as nomadic hunter-gatherers. Theirs was a life intimately intertwined with the rhythms of nature, where survival depended on keen instincts and adaptability.
The greatest challenge faced by early hunter-gatherer societies was the inherent unpredictability of their food sources. Nature was both provider and adversary, offering abundance in times of plenty but withholding sustenance during lean periods.
Contrary to popular belief, hunting and gathering societies were not undernourished, and it is reasonable to believe that at times, the surrounding environment provided abundance as well as a surprising amount of leisure time. However, the availability of food and resources could fluctuate greatly. Migration of animals and shifts in the local climate meant that both man, plant and animal had to adapt to the changes that came with time.
This unpredictability shaped every aspect of early societies, from social structures to cultural practices. Cooperation and resource-sharing were essential for survival, fostering strong bonds within communities. Yet, competition for scarce resources could also lead to conflict, driving the development of social hierarchies and strategies for resource management.
Hunting & Gathering Societies
Throughout the majority of human existence spanning the prior 200,000 years, the majority of humanity knew subsistence living. Under subsistence living, humans generally were limited by the ability of the local geography to provide for the caloric needs.
Most groups of humans lived in small communities of a few dozen to at most 200 individuals based on the region. Members of both sexes are assumed to have had generally equal status within these communities. Anthropologists suggest that both men and women provided equal economic benefit for the community with men primarily occupied on aspects of hunting, whereas women likely completed most of the foraging.
The availability of food and resources in the vicinity limited the size of the local human population. However, this is not to say that humans were malnourished. Studies suggest that early humans likely consumed between 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day on average during the hunting and gathering period. However, this estimate can vary significantly depending on factors such as the availability of food sources, hunting success, seasonal fluctuations, and individual activity levels.
Our knowledge of what humans are and did thousands of years ago comes from the remains of plants and animals recovered from archeological excavations. Unlike many tools, which were made of stone and are indestructible, foods are perishable and only preserved in ideal conditions. This typically includes dry regions and caves where evidence is less impacted and better preserved.
The best evidence we have into ancient diet comes from coprolites – which is the scientific term for fossilized feces. While the methods are grotesque, these remains can be resuscitated to provide suitable evidence for the diets of our early ancestors.
Hunter-gatherer societies typically relied on a diverse range of foods, including wild plants, fruits, nuts, seeds, roots, tubers, insects, fish, shellfish, and game animals. The exact composition of their diets would have varied based on factors such as location, climate, and cultural practices.
Hunting and gathering could pose risks and changes in weather patterns or even a poor single season could dramatically reduce the amount of available calories for consumption and lead to population declines.
Despite these risks, humankind lived in this pattern of existence for approximately 190,000 years until a major shift to agricultural practices took place.
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The Centers of Agriculture
Agriculture is believed to have originated in six distinct parts of the world:
- The Near East in present day Iraq, Iran and Turkey approximately 10,000 BC
- Central America in the vicinity of modern Mexico approximately 8,000 BC
- New Guinea approximately 8000 BC
- China approximately 6,500 BC
- North America in the present day United States approximately 4,000 BC
- South America in the vicinity of Peru approximately 2,000 BC
These areas are considered to the Centers of Origin of Agriculture. Within these regions, agriculture developed independent of one another at different times in history. While these may be considered independent areas of development, it is reasonable to assume that some exchange with other regions influenced certain practices and was facilitated through knowledge sharing.
The Near East Center of Agriculture
The earliest form of agriculture is generally considered to be in the near east region of present day Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria and Israel. The Near East Center is the oldest and best known of the major centers of agriculture.
The adoption of agriculture in this area occurred starting approximately 10,000 BC and spread throughout the region over a period of 2,000 years.
During this time, the typical village in The Near East region was typically less than 1 acre (0.4 hectares) in size with populations ranging from several dozen people to perhaps 1,000 on the larger end.
Quite literally thousands of these small towns dotted the region. Some of the better known examples include:
- Catal Huyuk
- Halicar
- Amoua
- Murebat
- Jericho
- Hassuna
- Tepe Asiah
- Natuf
Excavations of these sites has revealed a great deal of information on the early living, eating and farming habits of these early societies.
Cultivation and Domestication in the Neolithic World
The journey towards the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution began with proto-cultivation and proto-domestication, laying the groundwork for the eventual rise of full-fledged farming societies.
Proto-cultivation refers to the early efforts by prehistoric humans to manage wild plants, encouraging their growth near settlements through selective sowing and minimal tillage. Similarly, proto-domestication involved the initial steps towards taming animals, where early humans began to manage herds of wild species, favoring those with docile traits for breeding.
These nascent agricultural practices were critical, as they represented humanity’s first deliberate manipulations of nature to meet their needs. This era of experimentation and gradual refinement set the stage for the more systematic and widespread agricultural practices of the Neolithic, ultimately revolutionizing human society and its relationship with the environment.
Proto-cultivation
The earliest forms of plant cultivation are often referred to as protocultivation. This is the form of agriculture practiced by prehistoric societies before the development of fully established agricultural systems.
As agriculture began to take root in various parts of the world, humans began actively selecting and breeding specific types of plants for cultivation. These plants were usually chosen due to a variety of factors such as availability within the local geography, ability to grow and caloric value.
The first of these plants are commonly believed to be cereal grasses, the most common of which are emmer, einkorn and barley.
During this time in the Near East Center, six primary staple crops were cultivated.
- Emmer
- Einkorn
- Barley
- Lentils
- Peas
- Flax
Emmer
Emmer is believed to be among the first grains ever harvested and is a predecessors to modern wheat. Archaeological evidence suggests that emmer wheat was domesticated by early Neolithic farming communities in the Fertile Crescent around 10,000 years ago.
From its origins in the Fertile Crescent, emmer wheat spread to other regions of the world as agricultural practices expanded and trade networks developed. Emmer cultivation played a crucial role in the rise of ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, where it served as a staple food crop for thousands of years.
Einkorn
Einkorn is another of the cereal grasses first cultivated. Like emmer, einkorn was first cultivated approximately 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent area and spread to other parts of Eurasia over the course of several millennia. It was used to make bread, porridge, and other staple foods, and it contributed to the development of complex societies and urban centers.
Barley
Barley is the third cereal grain that was extensively cultivated around the same time as emmer and einkorn. Barley quickly became a major staple crop across the region due not only to its caloric value but also its high adaptability to saltier soils. It was used to make bread, porridge, beer, and other staple foods, and it contributed to the development of complex societies and urban centers.
Peas
Various pulses and legumes were also grown. This includes lentils, which were one of the first legumes to be domesticated and were an important source of protein in early agricultural societies. Peas were also domesticated in the Near East and later spread to other regions of the world.
Flax
Flax cultivation during the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution represents one of the earliest instances of humans harnessing a plant not just for food, but for its versatile utility. Flax, a hardy and adaptable crop, was cultivated for its seeds, which provided both nutrition and oil, and its fibrous stalks, which were processed into linen—a material revolutionizing clothing and textiles. This dual-purpose plant exemplified the ingenuity of Neolithic farmers, who began to understand and exploit the diverse potential of crops. The cultivation of flax not only supported the dietary needs of growing populations but also spurred technological advancements in weaving and crafting, enhancing both the quality of life and the complexity of early societies. Through flax cultivation, Neolithic communities laid the foundations for agricultural sustainability and economic diversification, echoing benefits that resonate even in modern times.
Why Did Agriculture Emerge?
While we know that humans made a dramatic shift to cultivating and animal domestication around ten years ago, what one of the most pressing questions is “why”?
After all, humans could live in general equilibrium with the local environment and needs were generally met over the millennia. What would have driven people from a life of hunting and gathering to a new way of living based around labor to grow food and raise animals in an enclosed evironement.
The work of archeologists have revealed a great deal of insight into why agriculture emerged, however, the ‘invention’ of agriculture is still relegated to theory. The emergence of agriculture is a complex phenomenon that has been studied by archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians for decades. Several theories exist as to why and when people adopted the most rudimentary forms of agriculture and made the leap to domestication of plants and animals.
The Population Pressure Theory
One theory explaining the emergence of early agriculture is the populating pressure theory. In short, population growth among early hunter-gatherer communities may have led to increased competition for resources, prompting the need for more efficient food production methods.
Agriculture allowed for the cultivation of crops and the domestication of animals, which could support larger populations and reduce pressure on dwindling wild resources. Hence, societies that improvised and fostered agriculture were more likely to survive and grow their populations.
Some of the earlier work conducted in this area postulates that agriculture provided a means for people to obtain a higher reliability when it came to their food sources, but not necessarily a richer diet. Thus, population pressure is somewhat alleviated due to the higher sustained level of calories obtained via agricultural methods.
One criticism of the population pressure theory postulates that in times of food scarcity, humans would not likely have sacrificed seeds needed today for food, in order to obtain a higher level of food several seasons in the future. This would likely have been challenging to implement if not for a greater knowledge that seeds provide the basis of cultivation in the future.
The Natural Evolution Theory
Some anthropologists and archeologists posit that over the course of humanity’s existence, there has been a natural urge to better and improve ourselves. These forces have driven us forward to adapt and find new ways of bettering and improving ourselves.
Due to humanity’s ability to observe and study the world around us, it is not far fetched to believe that people knew and understood the basics rules of nature that seeds germinate into plants. Similarly, early humans likely understood that fundamentally keeping animals for breeding in confined spaces or in close proximity would yield a more reliable source of protein.
At the time of the first agricultural revolution, humankind was likely of similar intelligence that of modern people. Furthermore, the innate requirement to survive and the parts of the brain that hone this skillset were finely attuned to conceptualizing the benefits of cultivation of plants and domestication of animals to survive.
The Cultural & Religious Theory
Several theories on the origins of agriculture postulate that religious and cultural influences formed the basis for the transition to agriculture. While the evidence of early religions is fragmented and incomplete at best, many archeologists believe heavy influences of naturism, or the belief in divine forces of nature, abounded in the earliest religions.
While it may sound primitive compared to today’s monotheistic religions, it is logical to assume that the religions of the neolithic era emphasized weather, fertility and natural elements.
Birth, death and food were of utmost importance to early cultures. The worship of animals, plants and trees was probably an early manifestation of religion as these were crucial to survival. The fostering of plants and animals likely took on a cultural significant, often related to the survival of a group of people.
It is postulated that religious ceremonies and burials involved the capture of animals and the sowing of plants. Over the course of millennia, it is assumed that religious practices gave way to more formal and practical forms of agriculture and paved the way for modern agriculture to provide a stable food source.
Many of these theories mentioned have weight, but it would be unwise to attribute the rise of agriculture to one force. In all likelihood, it is was a confluence of multiple factors that drove the rise of agriculture in the modern sense.
Frequently Asked Questions
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