A neolithic revolution occurred when agriculture replaced hunting and gathering as ancient people settled. According to Hunt et al 14, the agricultural revolution describes the period around 10, 000 BC, when the rise of human settlements forced people to plant crops and rear animals as an alternative form of earning a living. Human settlements produced sedentary societies in small villages that grew to form large urban centers.
The neolithic revolution provided the means for an ancient civilization to take place through specialized cultivation of food crops that took advantage of irrigation and food preservation technologies. This led to surplus production of food which sustained the growing populations within the settlements and urban centers.
The neolithic revolution, therefore, resulted in a pronounced concentration of human settlements with specialization of labor and diversification of economic and social activities evolving. People settled within regions that favored their survival and subsequently interacted with neighboring communities for mutual benefit.
The previous hunting and gathering communities in ancient Europe later organized themselves within centralized administrations irrespective of their complex cultural differences. This transformed into a systematic civilization with unique art, architecture, culture, learning, and writing.
Causes of Neolithic Revolution
The revolution was initiated by the settlement of communities that resorted to agriculture as a means of earning a living instead of hunting and gathering. The neolithic revolution is believed to have developed from ideas that earlier generations of people developed towards a revolutionary modification in religious beliefs about the world. Domestication was also a product of crowding within an environment of strategic importance after animals being hunted for survival diminished in numbers. Stress that accompanied periodic errands in search of food in the wild led to the innovation of mechanisms for survival.
Hunting for wild animals in the dense forests, which were equally diminishing in numbers as food, led to the discovery of better methods of agriculture. Agriculture provided an alternative for increasing farm yields that could support their increasing population. This is said to have occurred during the late Paleolithic period when the human population increased beyond the capacity with which the ecosystem could support them resulting in a food crisis. As such, agriculture was the only option available for them to generate surplus production of food for the explosive population.
Consequences
The discovery of better techniques of farming led to an increased supply of food. However, this did not provide the ancient Europeans with a variety of nutritional requirements for a balanced diet resulting in decreased life expectancy as compared to hunter-gatherers.
Hunters and gatherers had a nomadic lifestyle which forced them to carry their children on their backs in addition to their weapons for hunting. This bestowed a huge burden on the hungry persons whose next meal depended on errands in the jungle. The outcome was also unpredictable. As such, settled people worked hard tilling land and growing crops including the domestication of animals within their reach.
The social groups in the upcoming societies thus increased their birth rates in order to offset the death rates occasioned by lack of nutritional supplements and congestion within restricted places. The developing societies were synchronized and shared resources and cultural practices that gave them a unique identity.
Children were also raised together in order to strengthen the social bonds that existed amongst them. As the population grew, the sedentary groups expanded into new territories in addition to the division of labor and specialization of social roles and responsibilities.
Systems of governance and administration developed around common values that existed between members of a particular group. It was also important that decision-making and policy structuring be consistent with a cherished value system. Agriculture which had evolved to become the mainstay of the society also resulted in enhanced food production that required responsible management.
The society was therefore governed by a social elite that monopolized the management of industries such as agriculture and commerce in addition to the decision-making process.