Chapter 1: Breakthroughs to Agriculture Impact the World

Chapter 1: Breakthroughs to Agriculture Impact the World

The second half of chapter one is entirely centered around the breakthrough to agriculture.  As I flipped through all twenty pages in the second part of chapter one, I thought to myself: “Why? Why are a whole twenty pages dedicated to agriculture?... Twenty pages! For agriculture?”  It simply made no sense to me!  

After completely reading the chapter, I then realized why so much of this chapter was centered around agriculture.  Something as simple as agriculture represents a major start to a new era.  Agricultures symbolizes the departure of the Paleolithic Era and the start to the Neolithic or New Stone Age Revelation.  This era marks the beginning of massive changes, that do not just effect a group of people or a culture, but the world as a whole.  Agriculture emerged simultaneously throughout the world, sometime after the ice age.  It is believed that after the ice age,  global warming occurred, creating environment more suitable for farming and raising animals.  Most importantly this environment encouraged people to settle down. 

I believe the act of “settling down”  really forced people to get their creative juices flowing, sparking the beginning of the new era. As people settled down, populations grew larger which increased the demand of food for the population as a whole.  This practically forced people to get innovative, for food is dire to human survival.  I applaud the people of the start to this new era because they found a solution to there problem; the answer was agriculture.  Humans began to grow their own crops and raise their own animals, giving them a supply of food at their disposal.  

The breakthrough to agriculture supplied much more than just food. I found it mind bottling that as the door to agriculture opened, so did numerous other doors to innovative tools and concepts.  Networking throughout the world sparked, as people began to share their farming techniques with their neighbors.  The exchange of technology also allowed the exchange of languages and cultures, promoting the evolution of new families and societies.  By this time the future of the Hunter and Gathers became dim, as agriculture became the latest and greatest. It is hard for me to fathom that “digging sticks” were the latest technology, but for these people it worked!

The idea of settling down created communities of thousands, and the development of other technologies were born.  Housing, storage, pottery wheels, metallurgy, and large central spaces for politics and religion were innovations that greatly influenced life for these people; ultimately making life a bit easier.  

What I find the most interesting throughout the majority of this era is the ability to maintain equality.  Men and women were still viewed as equal, for women played many vital roles throughout the community.  A women’s work was so essential, making clothes, milking, weaving, cleaning, cooking, and the most vital of them all, childbirth.  

Obviously these agricultural societies were doing something right, for they flourished into the Modern Era. It amazes me that the advancement to agriculture ultimately lead to the explosion of hundreds of other innovative technologies, making life sustainable throughout the ages.