Download THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION

THE NEOLITHIC
REVOLUTION
Instructional Goal: Students will
know the implications of the term
"revolution" and understand the
precursors of civilization.
I. Introduction
Between 9,000 BCE and 6,000 BCE
a short transition period between
Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) and the
Neolithic (New Stone Age) occurred
which is known as the Mesolithic
(Middle Stone Age). It was
characterized by the following
descriptors:
A. Domestication of the dog (9,000
BC).
B. Domestication of grains,
specifically barley (9,000 BC)
C. Great sophistication in tool making
such as fish hooks, sickles, etc.
D. Clustering into small villages no
more than 100 people in size.
II. Definition of Revolutions
Neolithic Era began sometime around 6,000
BC and is still in existence today as
evidenced by neolithic tribes such as
Bushman of Kalahari and Aborigines of
Australia. It is the full transition from a
food gathering to a food producing society.
It is one of the three great revolutions in
history as cited by Alvin Toffler in his book
The Third Wave. A fourth revolution has
since happened. The four revolutions are:
• A. The Neolithic Revolution
– humans settled down and began to cultivate
food instead of following their food source.
• B. The Industrial Revolution of the 17th
through the 19th century
– humans harnessed the forces of nature to free
themselves from manual labor, thus allowing
more time to think.
• C. The Technological Revolution which
began in the middle 20th century and is
now affecting human society.
– Systems of machinery and communications
devises were combined
• D. The Information Revolution
– occurred with the advent of computers and the
World Wide Web.
III. Elements of Neolithic
Revolution
• The Neolithic Revolution brought about
changes in human society as marked by:
A. Attempts to control environment in order
to produce more food.
B. The domestication of new types of
animals, specifically the sheep, pig and cow.
C. Creation of larger and more complex
permanant settlements.
– 1st Agricultural site was probably in present day
Palestine and was known as Shandidar.
– The earliest continually occupied village was
Jericho in present day Palestine (8,000 BC to
Present).
IV. Effects of Neolithic
• Several developments around 4,000 BC led
to next step in societal development which
was civilization.
A. Division of Labor.
B. Invention of Writing.
C. Invention of pottery and sun-dried
bricks.
D. Invention of the Wheel.
E. Invention of systems to handle
communal necessities.