Chapter 1: First Peoples, First Farmers

Summary

This video script explores the first chapter of 'Roberts' The Ways of the World,' discussing the significant developments in human history before the emergence of cities and civilizations. It emphasizes the importance of including the Paleolithic era's hunter-gatherer societies and the Neolithic era's agricultural revolution in the narrative of world history. The script delves into human migrations, the spread of agriculture, and the social changes that led to the formation of various societies, setting the stage for the rise of civilizations.

Takeaways

• 🌏 The script emphasizes the importance of including the history of hunter-gatherers and Paleolithic people in world history narratives, which often begin with the first cities and civilizations.
• 📚 The textbook 'Roberts Traitors: Ways of the World' starts with the story of Paleolithic people, challenging traditional narratives that overlook pre-civilization history.
• 🧬 It discusses the theory that Homo sapiens originated in Africa around 250,000 years ago and spread across the globe due to biological advantages and collective learning, such as the use of stone tools.
• 🌡️ The script highlights the impact of the Ice Age on human migration, with colder temperatures forcing humans to move southwards and later facilitating the spread of humans into new territories.
• 🛶 The earliest human migrations out of Africa reached Australia around 60,000 years ago, showcasing early humans' ability to traverse significant distances and adapt to new environments.
• 🗺️ The script describes the spread of humans to the Americas, with evidence suggesting land bridges and small boats were used, and the Clovis culture's role in the extinction of large animals.
• 🏡 The transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural communities in the Neolithic era is marked by the domestication of plants and animals, leading to permanent dwellings and population growth.
• 🌾 The development of agriculture is presented as a significant milestone, with farming emerging independently in various regions around the world, influenced by climate change and the availability of suitable plants and animals for domestication.
• 🔨 Technological advancements in the Paleolithic era, such as micro blades and better spear points, allowed for more effective hunting and gathering, which contributed to the eventual shift to agriculture.
• 🏰 The script outlines the social changes brought about by agriculture, including the rise of patriarchy, social stratification, and the development of different social structures such as pastoral nomads and agrarian villagers.
• 🤔 The video ends with a reflection on the importance of including the developments of human migration and the Neolithic Revolution in the story of world history, inviting viewers to consider their significance and impact on future generations.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the first chapter of 'Roberts The Trails of the World'?

The main theme of the first chapter is the history of the first peoples and farmers, covering the period from the Paleolithic Age to 4000 BCE, and challenging the traditional narratives that begin with the first cities and civilizations.

Why does Strayer believe it's significant to include the story of hunters and gatherers in the narrative of world history?

Strayer believes it's significant because these people's life ways date back to the Paleolithic Age, and their experiences and developments are foundational to the story of human history, shaping the future of generations.

What are the two important developments that Strayer suggests occurred before the first cities and civilizations?

The two important developments are human migrations throughout the world during the Paleolithic era and the domestication of plants and animals in the Neolithic era, which laid the groundwork for civilization.

What is the 'Out of Africa' theory mentioned in the script, and what does it suggest about human origins?

The 'Out of Africa' theory suggests that Homo sapiens first developed in Africa around 250,000 years ago and then migrated to other parts of the world, spreading across the globe over time.

How did the use of stone tools impact early humans' ability to adapt to new environments?

The use of stone tools gave early humans a distinct ability to manipulate their environment, allowing them to adapt to new environments and emigrate from Africa to Eurasia.

What evidence suggests that early humans reached Australia around 60,000 years ago?

The script mentions that early humans launched boats from Indonesia into Australia around 60,000 years ago, indicating their ability to navigate and colonize new lands at an early stage in human history.

What is the Clovis culture, and how is it significant in the history of the Americas?

The Clovis culture is known for a common type of spearhead called a Clovis point. It is significant as it represents the first clearly defined and widespread culture of the Americas, used by people to hunt large animals.

What impact did the domestication of plants and animals have on human societies during the Neolithic era?

The domestication of plants and animals led to the development of agriculture, allowing humans to settle down and create permanent dwellings. It also led to population growth, changes in social structures, and the eventual rise of civilizations.

How did the Neolithic Revolution spread, and what factors influenced its adoption by different communities?

The Neolithic Revolution spread through both cultural diffusion, where nearby communities adopted new farming practices, and continued migration, where new life ways were introduced to new lands. Resistance to agriculture was influenced by environmental factors and the abundance of resources in certain areas.

What were the social implications of the shift from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural societies during the Neolithic era?

The shift led to new social organizations, including pastoral nomads, agrarian villagers, and agricultural chiefdoms. It also affected gender roles, with the rise of patriarchy as the importance of hunting decreased and agriculture became more dominant.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Human Origins and Migrations

The video script begins by discussing the first chapter of 'Roberts' 'Ways of the World', which covers the period from the Paleolithic Age to 4000 BCE. It emphasizes the importance of including the history of hunter-gatherers, who are often overlooked in traditional world history narratives. The script introduces the concept of 'Out of Africa' migrations, detailing the spread of Homo sapiens from Africa to Eurasia and beyond. It also touches on the development of tools and the impact of early humans on the environment, including the colonization of Australia and the Americas. The script invites viewers to consider the significance of these early developments in shaping the course of human history.

05:02

🏺 The Paleolithic Era: Early Human Societies

This section delves into the social structures and lifestyles of Paleolithic humans, highlighting their egalitarian communities and the roles of men and women. It discusses the impact of these early humans on the environment through hunting, tool use, and the possible extinction of species. The script also introduces the concept of 'Dreamtime' among Australian Aborigines and the spiritual dimensions of early human life. It concludes with the onset of global warming and the transition to the Mesolithic era, which saw technological advancements and changes in human settlement patterns.

10:04

🌱 The Neolithic Revolution: Agriculture and Domestication

The script outlines the transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic era, marked by the domestication of plants and animals. It discusses the development of agriculture in various regions, including the Fertile Crescent, sub-Saharan Africa, China, and the Americas, and the independent emergence of farming practices. The section also covers the environmental and social changes brought about by agriculture, such as population growth, changes in gender roles, and the rise of patriarchy. It touches on the spread of agriculture through cultural diffusion and migration, and the resistance it encountered in some regions.

15:06

📈 Impact of Agriculture on Society and Environment

This part of the script examines the profound effects of agriculture on human society and the environment. It discusses the increase in population, the development of new technologies, and the emergence of social stratification. The script also covers the challenges faced by early agricultural societies, such as shorter life expectancies, vulnerability to famine, and the spread of diseases. It highlights the cultural and technological advancements, including pottery, jewelry, and metallurgy, that accompanied the Neolithic Revolution.

20:07

🏘️ Social Structures in the Neolithic Era

The script explores the different social structures that emerged during the Neolithic era, including pastoral nomads, agrarian villagers, and agricultural chiefdoms. It discusses the lifestyle and conflicts of pastoral nomads, the social importance of women in early agricultural societies, and the development of political power in chiefdoms. The section also touches on the earliest forms of taxation and the need for writing systems, which would become hallmarks of the first civilizations.

25:08

🤔 Reflecting on the Importance of Early Human Developments

In the concluding part of the script, the speaker reflects on the significance of the developments discussed in the chapter. They reiterate the importance of including the history of human migrations and the Neolithic Revolution in the broader narrative of world history. The script encourages viewers to consider the impact of these developments on future generations and to form their own opinions on whether they should be included in the story of world history. It also prompts viewers to consider the perspectives of other historians and educational bodies on this issue.

Keywords

💡Paleolithic Age

The Paleolithic Age, also known as the Old Stone Age, spans the period from the emergence of the first human ancestors to the advent of agriculture, roughly from 2.6 million years ago to about 10,000 BCE. It is defined by the use of stone tools and is characterized by hunter-gatherer societies. In the video script, the Paleolithic Age is highlighted as the backdrop of the first human migrations and the initial way of life before the development of agriculture and civilization.

💡Hodza people

The Hodza people are an ethnic group traditionally living as hunter-gatherers in what is now Tanzania. They represent the kind of societies that are often overlooked in traditional narratives of world history, which tend to focus on the emergence of cities and civilizations. The script mentions the Hodza to underscore the importance of including the history of such peoples in our understanding of human development.

💡Out of Africa

The 'Out of Africa' theory posits that Homo sapiens originated in Africa and then migrated to populate the rest of the world. The script discusses this theory in the context of human evolution and the spread of early humans from Africa to Eurasia and beyond, highlighting the significance of bipedalism and collective learning in this process.

💡Collective learning

Collective learning refers to the accumulation of knowledge and skills over generations, which is a key factor in human evolution and adaptation. The script emphasizes the power of collective learning in enabling early humans to adapt to new environments and develop tools, such as stone tools, which in turn influenced their ability to manipulate the environment and migrate successfully.

💡Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution marks the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural ones, beginning around 10,000 BCE. It is characterized by the domestication of plants and animals, leading to a more sedentary lifestyle and the development of permanent settlements. The script discusses this revolution as a pivotal moment in human history, setting the stage for the rise of civilizations.

💡Domestication

Domestication is the process by which humans began to cultivate plants and raise animals for food and other resources, rather than relying solely on hunting and gathering. The script describes how this practice led to a more stable food supply, population growth, and the eventual establishment of complex societies.

💡Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent is a region in the Middle East known for its rich agricultural land, which spans parts of modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan. The script mentions it as one of the earliest areas where agriculture developed independently, contributing to the spread of farming practices and the domestication of animals.

💡Pastoral nomads

Pastoral nomads are communities that rely primarily on animal husbandry for their livelihood, moving seasonally to find suitable grazing lands for their herds. The script discusses how pastoral nomads developed distinct life ways and social structures, often in contrast to settled agricultural societies, leading to different forms of social organization and conflict.

💡Mesolithic era

The Mesolithic era, or Middle Stone Age, is a transitional period between the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras, marked by the end of the last ice age and the beginning of global warming. The script refers to this era as a time when humans developed better technologies for hunting and gathering, which eventually led to the settling down and the creation of permanent dwellings.

💡Chiefdoms

Chiefdoms are a type of social organization that emerged during the Neolithic era, characterized by a hierarchical structure with a chief at the top. The script explains that in chiefdoms, political power was not based on physical force but on the chief's ability to redistribute resources, perform rituals, and exhibit personal charisma, which in turn led to the development of early forms of taxation and writing.

💡Agricultural billi villagers

Agricultural billi villagers represent a social pattern that continued from the Paleolithic era into the Neolithic, where communities were organized around extended family ties and elders held authority. The script notes that these societies maintained some egalitarian aspects, with women playing a significant role in farming and textile work, reflecting the importance of female work in early agricultural societies.

Highlights

The textbook 'Roberts' 'Ways of the World' challenges traditional narratives by beginning with the story of Paleolithic people rather than the first cities and civilizations.

Strayer emphasizes the importance of including the history of hunters and gatherers, whose life ways date back to the Paleolithic Age, in the narrative of world history.

The text raises the question of the two significant developments that occurred before the first cities and civilizations, suggesting their importance in world history.

Homo sapiens are believed to have developed in Africa around 250,000 years ago, with bipedalism and collective learning as key advantages.

Early humans' ability to adapt to new environments through the use of stone tools allowed them to migrate out of Africa into Eurasia around 100,000 years ago.

Around 60,000 years ago, humans reached Australia, showcasing early maritime capabilities and the spread of human populations across the globe.

The concept of 'Dreamtime' among Australian Aborigines represents a spiritual connection between human activity and the natural environment.

The debate on the first Americans is highlighted, with evidence suggesting migrations around 30,000 to 15,000 years ago via land bridges and small boats.

The Clovis culture in the Americas, known for a common spearhead type, is linked to the disappearance of large animals like horses and mammoths.

Adaptation to various ecological niches led to the development of early agriculture and urbanization, marking significant shifts in human societies.

Exceptional seamanship and navigational skills are attributed to the migrations from Southeast Asia to the Pacific Islands and Madagascar.

The introduction of domesticated plants and animals to new lands led to significant environmental changes and extinctions in Oceania.

Paleolithic social structures were egalitarian with small bands organized by family ties, and both men and women had equally valued roles.

The Mesolithic era marked a transitional period with the development of better technologies and the beginning of the end of the last ice age.

The Neolithic era saw the domestication of plants and animals, leading to a more sedentary lifestyle and the development of agriculture.

Agricultural development in various regions was influenced by local environmental conditions and the availability of plants and animals for domestication.

The spread of agriculture was both a result of cultural diffusion and continued migration, leading to significant changes in human societies.

The Neolithic Revolution brought about population growth, new social stratifications, and technological advancements, shaping the foundation of civilizations.

Different social organizations emerged in the Neolithic era, including pastoral nomads, agrarian villagers, and agricultural chiefdoms, each with unique characteristics.

The impact of the two significant developments before the first cities and civilizations is revisited, encouraging students to consider their importance in world history.

Transcripts

hey guys cook pot Peter thanks for

joining me for this week's video cast

today we're looking at the first chapter

from our textbook Roberts traitors ways

of the world chapter one is called First

Peoples first farmers most of history in

a single chapter to 4000 BCE and you'll

note there is no beginning date there

and that's actually kind of a

significant issue there in the opening

section of the chapter Strayer gives a

brief depiction of the hodza people in

what is now Tanzania and he points out

that traditionally most narratives of

world history begin with the first

cities and civilizations and they leave

out the story of those people who were

hunters and gatherers whose life ways

goes back to the Paleolithic Age Strayer

definitely thinks this is wrong and in

fact the text book begins with the story

of Paleolithic people's and an important

question for you to think about as we go

through this what are the two important

developments at least according to

Strayer that occurred before the first

cities and civilizations in other words

what happened before the sort of

traditional accounting of world history

why are they important in this story and

what impact did they have on future

generations and finally should they be

included in the story and obviously

that's an opinion question and that's

something you're going to have to decide

for yourself by the end of the week in

the first section out of Africa to the

ends of the earth he points out that

there are several theories of where

humans first developed and how they

spread over the entire globe we're going

to look more closely at those in class

for now suffice it to say that it

appears Homo sapiens developed in Africa

around 250,000 years ago having certain

biological advantages such as bipedalism

help these early humans but above all

else it was the power of collective

learning that helped them adapt over

time the use of stone tools for example

gave early humans a distinct

ability to manipulate the environment

this ability to adapt to new

environments allowed some humans to

emigrate from Africa and immigrate into

Eurasia around a hundred thousand years

ago the first migrations Out of Africa

were into the Middle East and then into

South Asia starting around 45,000 years

ago another series of migration saw

humans moving into northern Europe and

East Asia around 20,000 years ago colder

ice age temperatures forced humans in

the southern Europe moving southwards

humans developed Spears bows arrows and

stone tools to hunt reindeer horses and

other game these tools also appear to

have been modified for use as weapons

against other humans but only rarely the

earliest existing records of

representative human communication

mostly represent animals in human forms

but also some abstract symbols some

female figures with exaggerated

proportions are found throughout Eurasia

raising the possibility of a widespread

network of human communication given the

enormous size of Eurasia it is perhaps

not so surprising that it took humans

many tens of thousands of years to fully

colonize it but what is surprising is

how early these first migrants reached

Australia indeed early humans who had

reached Southeast Asia pr2 have launched

boats from Indonesia into into Australia

around 60,000 years ago well before they

colonized Europe even as humans

colonized this new continent their

numbers were few only about 300,000

people by the time Europeans arrived in

1778 of the Common Era even so the

diversity of language is staggering as

there were approximately 250 different

native languages spoken at the time

Australian Aborigines the native peoples

of the continent have a concept called

Dreamtime that expresses a world outlook

in which human activity and knowledge in

the continents natural environments of

rocks rivers and water holes this is a

form of spirituality we will explore in

the next unit when we examine the

of religion human habitation of the

Americas maybe less surprising than that

of Australia but is much more

controversial conflicting evidences

created some very heated debates about

the first Americans while it's still

very hotly contested among

archaeologists the best available

evidence at this time suggests that

humans used land bridges created by

colder temperatures and lower sea levels

they may also have used small boats to

travel along what have been what would

have been the Pacific coast at the time

these migrations appear to have begun

around three

I'm sorry thirty thousand to fifteen

thousand years ago but we know that by

around twelve thousand five hundred

years ago they had reached the southern

point of the Americas in what is now

Chile however the first clearly defined

in widespread culture of the Americas is

known as the Clovis culture it is named

after a common type of spearhead called

a Clovis point that is found all over

North America it was used by Clovis

people to hunt large animals shortly

after the Clovis culture appeared large

animals that had been common in North

America like the horse and woolly

mammoth begin to disappear it is unclear

why these extinctions happened perhaps

it was over hunting or perhaps it was

climate change perhaps it was both or

neither regardless the Clovis culture

soon disappeared as well after the

American megafauna extinction in the

disappearance of the Clovis culture

humans adapted to various ecological

niches with some remaining mobile

hunters and gatherers while others

developed early forms of Agriculture and

eventually urbanization while most of

the world had been populated well before

the Common Era many of the islands in

the South Pacific were completely

unknown to humans until the last

millennium the last great great wave of

human migrations into completely unknown

land came from Southeast Asia to all

corners of the Pacific and from

Indonesia to Madagascar in the Indian

Ocean and showed exceptional seamanship

and navigational skills

unlike earlier migrations these were

done by agricultural people who had

already domesticated plants with the

intention of finding new lands and

creating new communities along with food

crops they also brought with them the

Associated pattern of highly stratified

societies the introduction of

domesticated plants and animals along

with the overuse of native species such

as the MOA in New Zealand and many large

trees and Rapa Nui which we know as

Easter Island resulted in massive

man-made extinctions of flora and fauna

throughout the Pacific region known as

Oceania will study the last wave of

these great Austronesian migrations

called the polynesian migrations in a

later unit in this map you can see a

depiction of the routes that humans took

out of africa couple things to note

first of all the purple areas are areas

that were covered in ice at the time of

the last ice age the ice captured a

great deal of water and so a lowered

ocean levels that allowed for areas

where humans might be able to move in

places that would now be subsumed by

water so now that we have seen how

humans came to populate nearly the

entire land mass of the planet we're

left to ask how exactly did the earliest

humans live in this period known as the

Paleolithic era or early Stone Age the

social structures of Paleolithic

people's were very different from our

own for example Paleolithic humans lived

in small bands of 25 to 50 people

organized by family ties or kinship in

which a group of elders decided what was

best for the community as a whole small

numbers and relatively little

accumulated wealth made these

Paleolithic communities very egalitarian

or equal with little social

stratification and relative equality

between the sexes men and women had

different but equally important roles

typically men hunted and women gathered

but

both were equally valued however without

formal state systems interpersonal

violence was common in the Paleolithic

world and the community as a whole might

punish a wrongdoer with a very gruesome

death the ways in which Paleolithic

people's worked and played were also

quite different from ours hunting and

gathering required far fewer work hours

than now allowing people more leisure

time because they had limited needs to

be met consequently they had more time

for their families for songs and stories

and for simply looking up the stars at

night and imagining the heavens and yet

Paleolithic people's made a huge impact

on the environment as they needed to

feed their growing families

fire-starting and mass hunting

represented an early human alteration of

the landscape and species including in

some cases extinctions of whole species

of animals we will go into more detail

about the spiritual life of Paleolithic

people's in class later on but suffice

it to say now that Paleolithic people's

definitely included spirituality into

their life ways while it is very

difficult to research the spiritual

beliefs and practices of prehistoric

peoples there's clear evidence of

specific sites such as caves and burial

sites associated with various forms of

spiritual ceremonies and while there

were a rite wide range of spiritual

beliefs in these early cultures there

was a strong feminine dimension that

concerned the regeneration and renewal

of life thus the thus natural cycles of

life death and rebirth influenced early

forms of spirituality late in the

Paleolithic era around 16,000 years ago

global warming indicated the beginning

of the end of the last ice age

this led to a kind of transitional

period which we will call the Mesolithic

era or middle Stone Age in class note

that Strayer doesn't actually use the

term Mesolithic in the textbook but it

is a term we will use in our activities

in the classroom as humans develop

better technologies in the Paleolithic

world

they eventually learned to harvest wild

grains more effectively micro blades

allowed more precision and dexterity for

human work better spear points were

developed as were better knives scrapers

and arrowheads a warming trend in the

long term natural climate cycles altered

the habitats of plants and animals

allowing many who had had the technology

to gather grains and hunt certain

animals more effectively to flourish

this allowed some humans settle down and

create permanent dwellings such as the

home own cultures in Japan and the

inhabitants of the longhouses of

Labrador in southwestern Turkey Galecki

gabelli Teppei is built of massive

limestone stone pillars about 16 tons

worth placing a set of circles and

decorated with carvings of animals it is

the product of a hunting and gathering

people who spent the better part of the

year settled at a particular site

settlements allowed for population

growth but these larger communities

needed more food thus plating greater

demand on the environment and creating a

need to increase the food supply

consequently the environment and indeed

human life would be altered irrevocably

the second great human process after the

migration Out of Africa is the

transition to the domestication of

plants and animals in the Neolithic era

or new Stone Age in this era stone tools

were used to harvest plants and protect

livestock from predators instead of

gathering and hunting this led to

intense ofin meeting more food could be

produced from less land and allowed

humans to rape remain more or less

sedentary the various Neolithic

societies that developed around the

world had several things in common while

global warming started 16 thousand years

ago by about 10,000 BCE the Ice Age was

over creating warmer wetter and more

stable conditions for human settlement

and allowing for the flourishing of

plants

plant-eating animals that would soon be

domesticated as traditional plant

gatherers women likely led the way

towards developing agriculture as

hunters men likely led the way towards

animal domestication but as the

importance of hunting decreased the

status of men was decreased as well

consequently new gender roles would be

assigned and the rise of patriarchy

would follow and this is a key concept

that we're going to come back to over

and over again in class the idea of

patriarchy the warmer climate at the end

of the Ice Age may have allowed a

dramatic population growth of hut of

hunter-gatherer communities thus

necessitating a more abundant and stable

food supply farming may have come after

developing a sedentary way of life

regardless sometime around 12,000 years

ago agriculture developed independently

in the Fertile Crescent of Southwest

Asia several places in sub-saharan

Africa China New Guinea Mesoamerica the

Andes in eastern North America it

appears to have happened separately

without any cultural diffusion within

the context of 250,000 years of human

history it was surprisingly simultaneous

while there were similarities among

early Neil at the communities including

the use of a new tool that we call a hoe

not a plow plow hasn't been developed

yet there were nonetheless significant

differences for example for example

geographical dispersion of various

plants and animals suitable for

domestication was quite varied and

determined the path to domestication in

a given region however due to climate

changes in human migrations as well

grains suitable for cultivation and

animals suitable suitable for

domestication in the Middle East saw a

rapid transit transition to settled

farming South and East Asia had a

similar growing season to the Middle

East but with the monsoons it was much

wetter consequently different plants and

animals were

available for domestication such as rice

and the water buffalo with a

dramatically different climate than

contemporary Africa the Sahara Desert

for example what's now a desert was

wetter and fit for human habitation at

the time multiple sites of agriculture

developed south of the Sahara each

exploiting plants and/or animals adapted

to the specific region lacking the

cereal grains of the Fertile Crescent

the America saw the development of maize

which we call corn in Mesoamerica and

potatoes in the Andes over a period of

several thousand years with the

exception but with the exception of the

llama the Americas lacked suitable

animals for domestication this was in

sharp contrast to Eurasia this map is a

depiction of the spread of the

Agriculture of plants and the

domestication of animals throughout the

world a couple things to note first of

all that they start in various areas

even though there's a time line for

example we know it started earliest in

what we now call the Fertile Crescent it

started independently in several areas

and then sort of radiated out from there

it was not a case that started in one

area and then spread out through the

rest of the globe also note - on these

that you've got both plants and animals

that were domesticated to create what we

will call the Neolithic Revolution in

the next section just as humans would

eventually cover the entire globe in the

Paleolithic era so - with the new

practices of cultivation of plants and

domestication of animals in the

Neolithic era the spread of Agriculture

would triumph in many places throughout

the world but it was resisted in others

the Neolithic Revolution spread by

diffusion a process in which a new way

of doing things would be adapted and

adopted by nearby community

but it also spread by continued

migration which involved new life ways

being forced on conquered peoples or the

discs complete displacement of existing

communities as a whole in either case

cultural diffusion would also spread

certain ideas along with practices of

farming but some people resisted

agriculture for environmental reasons

for some their land was not well suited

for it but for others the land was so

abundant they did not need farming they

would rather continue their

hunter-gatherer life ways even others

who had domesticated animals would

nonetheless resist agriculture or

farming plants pastoral nomads for

example would not accept a sedentary

life way preferring their nomadic

culture however settled agricultural

communities were often incompatible with

hunter-gatherer groups leading sometimes

too violent displacement some pre

agricultural societies were changed by

explosion technology and epidemic

diseases while others intermarried it

with members of the new settled

societies some were merely conquered

into submission

wherever agriculture took root

however dramatic changes took place in

the way people lived there were six

million people in the world ten thousand

years ago 50 million people five

thousand years ago and 250 million

people 2,000 years ago population growth

is an issue that plagues us even more so

today more humans meant a greater impact

on the planet specifically human

selection of favorable plants and

animals early examples of overuse of

land were soil erosion and deforestation

agricultural life initially led to

shorter life expectancy people at a

shorter physical stature and were

plagued by tooth decay anemia and

malnutrition relying on small numbers of

crops and animals also meant these

communities were vulnerable to famine

brought on by crop failure or drought

there was an explosion of tectal

logical development such as pottery

jewelry weaponry and tool-making animals

were used for secondary purposes such as

hides wool making wool milking and

transport soon metallurgy would replace

stone tool making leading to even more

social stratification wine and beer

became common between five thousand four

hundred years BCE and 4000 BCE as did

rowdy behavior drunken behavior among

the aristocracy promoted an unsuccessful

effort are prompted an unsuccessful

effort by one Chinese ruler around 1046

BCE to outlaw wine the Mesopotamians and

Egyptians on the other hand regarded

beer as a symbol of civilization itself

all of these changes associated with

domestication of plants and animals led

to new types of social organization one

of these was the development of pastoral

nomads Arctic tundra deserts and

grasslands were generally not favourable

to sell agriculture but they were good

for animal husbandry consequently

pastoral nomads nomads focused on the

milk meat and blood of animals for

therefore the bulk of their diet instead

of domesticated plants pastoral nomads

communities moved about with their

animals looking for seasonally

appropriate and unexploited grazing

lands consequently they developed life

ways that were mobile and that were

opposed to the sedentary life ways of

agriculturalists who built villages

age-old conflict existed between the

wealthier settled communities and the

nomadic herders with their mobile yet

poorer communities desirous of the

wealth and diverse products of the

villages towns and later cities a second

social variation can be seen in agrarian

billi villagers this was the most

widespread in the Neolithic era ties the

social patterns of hunting and gathering

communities of the Paleolithic era

continued in those of Neolithic

communities that did without formal

state systems of Kings Chiefs and

bureaucrats the importance of female

work in farming and textile work gave

woman's social importance in these early

Neolithic societies indeed early

agriculturalists favored women is the

model of fertility as we will explore

more closely in class however without a

formal state system extended family ties

linked people together with elders

exercising authority and this sometime

create sometimes created the opportunity

for the abuse of power a third variation

involves the development of agricultural

chiefdoms not to be confused with

kingdoms in these Neolithic societies

political power came not from physical

force or violence but by giving gifts

performing religious and political

rituals and most frequently from

personal charisma or charm Chiefs

frequently combined the sacred in the

political and their dealings with the

public as no one wanted to be condemned

by the spirits Chiefs became more and

more powerful Chiefs collected food and

manufactured items from the commoners

and redistributed them to the Warriors

this would be the earliest form of

Taxation and also the need for the

earliest forms of writing that would be

a hallmark of the first civilizations

that we will explore in the next chapter

in the end of the book our I'm sorry the

end of the chapter Strayer sort of

reflects back on the issues raised at

the opening section he raises the issue

earlier what are the two important

developments that occurred before the

first cities and civilizations where

traditional world history narratives

begin the first of these as I'm sure

you've figured out human migrations

throughout the world in the Paleolithic

era how humans populated the whole world

is the first of these developments the

second is the domestication of plants

and animals in the Neolithic era the

development of the agricultural life way

that

become the basis for civilization itself

why are they important in the story of

world history what impact they have on

future generations well here's the thing

as you go through the rest of the

chapter for the rest of the week and you

read it keep these questions in mind as

you read they're sort of touch stones

that we're going to come back

periodically throughout the week in

class but then also that you're going to

want to answer as you are actually

reading the chapter finally should they

be included in the story we'll look

Strayer obviously think so I mean he

puts them in the first chapter the

chapter says beginnings as the starting

point for his periodization but here's a

question I want you to stop and think

about what about David Christian if you

look at the the infographic that you did

where he divides there what do you think

David Christian would say about does he

think that these should be part of you

of the story of world history or not and

what about the College Board if you look

at the key concepts on the outside of

your notebook do you think the College

Board agrees with that give that some

thought

before you come to class at the

beginning of the week but finally what

about you do you think that these two

great developments are important enough

to be considered part of the story of

world history keep those questions in

mind I'm not expecting you to create a

formal answer at this point but as we

learn more about these by the end of the

week I hope you will have sort of

accumulated enough information to

formulate a a personal response and

opinion on that particular topic I want

to thank you for your attention I hope

you were able to fill in everything on

the chapter outline and I'll look

forward to seeing you in class in the

meantime have a great day