Ill do one later Essays - Holocene, Nomads, Archaeological Theory

Ill do one later Early Humans in Transition People's progression toward farming and domestication had its beginnings prior to the Neolithic Age. The rise of agrarian societies is traced back to the end of the ice age in the Mesolithic Age. Archaeologists have identified the Mesolithic Age as the middle period in the development of technology between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age. The thawing of Northern Europe resulted in a warmer, rainier, ice-free condition. This changed the environment as forests, meadowlands, and small animal populations flourished. The increase in natural resources was so great that some of the Mesolithic people stayed in one place all or part of the year to hunt and forage. Some local societies became sedentary and established villages and hamlets instead of following their nomadic ways. The best example of this process occurred in the region of the Fertile Crescent, an area of Southwest Asia with plentiful water. Groups in this region began to form tiny settlements for collecting stands of wild grain and other edible animals and plants. This sedentary lifestyle proved to be a turning point in human development. So, why did humans want to change from their hunting lifestyle?There are two viewpoints that attempt to answer this question. First, some believe that farming was a slow, fragmented process. Farming was taking place at different times in different parts of the world. The process was not necessarily brought about because humans were inventing agriculture; rather, it was the gradual result of people's decisions regarding the production of food. Many continued to live for thousands of years entirely as hunter-gatherers or combined growing crops with gathering and hunting. The second view is that agriculture took the world by storm. Farming communities emerged on most major land masses within about eight thousand years. The farming communities began to replace hunter-gathering societies to the point that very few of the latter exist today. Did you know? Among the animals that were originally wild and were later domesticated are dogs, horses, cows, chickens, llamas, and camels. Either way, the development of food production took place on an unheard-of scale. People began to domesticate both plants and animals, thereby keeping their food sources close at hand. The important domesticated crops included the ancestors of wheat, barley, rye, and several other edible plants. Domestication of animals meant that animals once hunted were instead tamed and bred under human control. This took a long time, as some could be domesticated more easily than others and many not at all. Some animals were changed in ways that made it impossible for them to survive in the wild. Animals such as pigs, cows, and sheep were tamed and enclosed in pens. People now had a steady source of food and other materials. They no longer had to depend on hunting for animal products as in the past, although hunting and fishing continued. Human beings and domesticated plants and animals became dependent on one another. The effect on population growth cannot be underestimated. It is believed the world's population rose from about 6 million to 120 million in just 3,500 years. This development was helped along by a number of factors, including the introduction of new tools and methods learned over time. Another factor in population growth is attributed to the agrarian lifestyle. Once people stayed in one place with an abundance of food, families became larger. What Archaeology Tells Us about Early Agrarian Societies Evidence for the beginnings of agriculture comes primarily from archaeological investigation gathered from sites in South Asia, East Asia, and Eastern Europe. Evaluating evidence of early farming sites involves a wide range of scientific disciplines and methods. This ranges from sophisticated methods of dating organic materials to the analysis of tools, seeds, pollen grains, charred plant fragments, and animal or human remains. Early art and the invention of pottery provide information about ways in which ancient peoples used food and plants. Pictures of various types of plants and animals are depicted in their art. Pottery of stone or baked clay pots was used for the storing, cooking, and transportation of food. Inventions and new tools reveal the changes of humans and their environment. Archaeologists also analyze the soil for evidence of dwellings, fields, or water channels. Evidence