jan 1, 12000 BC - Agricultural Revolution

Description:

The *Agricultural Revolution* took place around 12K BP and was the most important turning point of human history taking place after the advent of fire and cooking.

Climate change was likely a major cause in triggering the Agricultural Revolution. Extinction of large mammals after the Ice Age ended (loss of food source) and warmer, wetter, and more stable conditions likely induced the Agricultural Revolution.

Furthermore, hunter gatherers settled into a sedentary lifestyle after finding out that they could deliberately cultivate crops through allowing seeds of wild grasses to proliferate. Establishment of settlements meant that population started increasing.

The need to procure more food led to the *domestication* of wild plants and animals, a more efficient way of producing food. They were domesticated in several major hearths and later diffused to other places around the world.

For the first time, people could settle down on the same land through *intensification* - getting more (food) for less (land). With less time spent procuring food or migrating, women could bear more children and so population exploded.

It is still important to note that the CDR, especially in infants, rose dramatically at first. Virtually every infectious disease caused by microorganisms that have adapted to humans (e.g., cholera, smallpox, measles, influenza, chickenpox and malaria) arose in the last 10K years as a result of close contact with livestock after the revolution. Furthermore, some people remained undernourished. Though the diversity of food decreased, the abundance started increasing. Nevertheless, population still boomed because of a dramatically higher CBR.

As the revolution progressed, people were able to produce calories ever more efficiently. Just about 15 crops provide half of all calories humans consume today.

The Agricultural Revolution originated in the Fertile Crescent as it was ideal for farming. Large numbers of crops and animals were domesticated in a compact space and over a short time: the Fertile Crescent went from hunting and gathering to agriculture over a period of just 500 years.

It took longer for the revolution to diffuse to Africa and even longer for the Americas. Unlike the Fertile Crescent, the revolution took place over a few thousand years and less species were domesticated over a larger area. This was because hunting and gathering was still favorable in these places and there were less species available to domesticate.

Supplements:
- Textbook, pp 28-29
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWu29PRCUvQ

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