The Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution is one of the most significant events in human history. Remember hunter-gatherers? They were nomads. It was a difficult life moving around from place to place and people back then were certainly aware of that.
A major change in human lifestyle occurred with the Agricultural Revolution. People created advanced tools, farming methods, and domesticated animals.
There are several possible factors which contributed to the Agricultural Revolution. One key factor was probably climate change. That’s because rising temperatures across the globe gave people longer growing seasons. The land would also have been more dry, making it easier to cultivate wild grasses. Whatever the combination of reasons, human life would never be the same.
Tools became specialized and were crafted with great skill. Hunters created special spears which allowed them to kill animals from farther away.
For gathering root vegetables, people used special digging sticks to pry plants away from the soil at the roots. There were even different kinds of knives that were used for hunting and killing large game. For fishing, people used fishing hooks and even harpoons. Tools were also used for reasons other than getting food. People crafted needles made out of bone, which were used for sewing clothes.
Staying in one place meant that people had to cultivate their own food. Early farming methods included slash-and-burn farming. This is still used in some parts of the world today, such as Southeast Asia, Central Africa, and northern parts of South America.
Early farmers cut trees or grasses and then burned them to clear a field. What remained were ashes, which in turn fertilized the soil. Farmers would then plant crops for one or two years, then cultivate another area of land.
People’s relationship with animals also changed. Domestication of animals started with hunters. They had expert knowledge of wild animals in which their society could use for taming them.
Some of the animals we know they tamed include horses, dogs, goats, and pigs. Animal domestication certainly did not happen overnight. Like farming, this was a slow, gradual process. Can you imagine trying to tame a wild horse? This was hard work which required lots of skill.
The Agricultural Revolution set the foundation for what we know as modern human life. The ability to stay in one general area and cultivate our own food made life much more manageable, and contributed to the growth of human society in terms of culture, technology, and more.