Topic > Social and cultural consequences of the Neolithic revolution

The Neolithic is a period of prehistory that begins with the appearance of agriculture and the first settlements in the form of villages. It extends between the years 8,000 and 3,000 BC. This period is usually called the Neolithic Revolution or Agricultural Revolution because it shows the first manifestations of agricultural activity. This economic transformation developed under the influence of climate changes which forced the populations of shepherd bands to abandon the mountains and descend into the lands of the valleys in search of increasingly scarce hunting prey; in fact they had to abandon the rooms they had built on the banks of the waterways. The need to find a subsistence activity led Neolithic men to collect and store cereals, which were soon planted and harvested. At the same time, man has managed to tame some small animals such as dogs. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe first place where agriculture appeared was in the Near East, in what is now Asiatic Türkiye. Residues of agricultural activity have also been found in the Indus Valley, dated to 7800 BC. However, it is estimated that only in 3500 BC did some populations manage to develop agriculture. The rest remained with their hunting and gathering habits. The adoption of agriculture meant for its users the possibility of developing more advanced civilizations than those of their contemporaries, due to the cultural changes it produced. The most important thing is the transition from nomadic groups to sedentary populations, motivated by the need to develop agriculture and livestock, and to establish a fixed place of food and residence. As a result, sedentarization gave rise to urban development and cities. Although it is true that many human groups engaged in fishing in coastal regions lived in species of villages, they did not have a functional organization for economic activity and cities had not developed. On the other hand, the adoption of agriculture generated, for the first time in human history, the possibility of having food surpluses and a phenomenon of demographic growth occurred; that is, the population had a sustained increase over time. The Agricultural Revolution that occurred during the Neolithic brought a series of social and cultural consequences to the incipient human settlements. The settlements in which this revolution developed are mainly distributed in the Near East, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and in northern Africa. This geographical distribution is called the fertile Medialuna. The first great civilizations of the West were located in these regions. These were distributed around large rivers that provided enough water and nutrients to have large food production. These great rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates in Mesopotamia; and the Nile River in Egypt. The abundance of food ensured great population growth, which caused villages to grow and transform into cities. Along with the technical revolution, the agricultural revolution led to the division and specialization of labor. It was enough for a part of the population to dedicate themselves to agricultural activities to support the city. Thus, the rest began to devote themselves to other jobs, activities and products. Crafts, art, trade, construction and administration were developed. In the same way, the organization of the city became more complex, leading to the creation of institutions, such as the State and Religion, which exercised power, established the administration and directed the destinies of the social body. In other words, society reached a high degree of complexity, in terms of organization and way of life. Urban development e/