agricultural revolution (1).ppt

8/20/2019 Agricultural Revolution (1).ppt

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Agricultural Revolution-

A New Way of Life


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The FertileCrescent

Civilizationdeveloped slowly indifferent parts of theworld.People beganto settle in areaswith abundantnatural resources,like rich soil andfresh water (rivers).


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Agriculture-thegrowing of plants

and the raising of

animals to supply

food for humans

The Agricultural Revolutionmarked the beginning of theNeolithic Era c. 8000 BCE


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I. Domestication

A. Domestication in the Middle East:1. Plants: wheat & barley 2. Animals:dogs, goats, & sheep

B. Differences between wild and

domesticated plants and animals:1. Wild plants were more brittle (thinner stems) and hadsmallerseeds than domesticated plants.

2. Domesticated sheep were bredto have longer woolly hair, for cloth.

C. Both domesticated plants and

animals became more dependentonfarmers


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II. Specialization of Labor (New Jobs)

A. A larger variety of jobs toperform infarming communities than inhunting

and gathering groups.B. People began tospecialize, which means to perform a

specific job.1. Specialization led to the

beginning oftrade.


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III. New Inventions

A.Pottery

1. Pottery is created by firingclay.

2. Making pottery became a

specialized job.3. Properly storing food wasessential for survival.

B. The Plow

1. Made farming moreefficient because it took fewer farmers toprovide enough food for a village.


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IV. A Surplus

A. Improvedfarmingmethods enabled

some farmers to grow a surplus of crops.1. This meant that they produced morethan enough food.

2. This surplus became a form of wealth: an item that could be traded foranother item.

B.Ownership became important for the

first time.


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V. Writing

A. First used to proveownership. Peopleused stamps calledseals to markownership.

1. Later, writing was used to record business deals,events,laws and

literature.2. Development of writing marked theend of theprehistoric period.


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Once people began farming, itbecame impossible for them to

return to being only huntersand gatherers. Why do you

think this was so?•They became accustomed to farm-life.

•The population was too large tosurvive as nomads; they needed afood surplus.

agricultural revolution (1).ppt

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