Agricultural Revolution Explained | Daily Bellringer

Welcome to the Daily Bellringer World History. Please don't forget to subscribe and take a look at the questions down in the description. Also, don't forget to check out DailyBellringer.com where you'll find more resources that go with many of the Bellringer videos. The Agricultural Revolution, or sometimes called the Neolithic Revolution, was a time period in which there is evidence early people stopped roaming or moving from place to place to hunt and gather food, but rather settled in one area and began to grow crops. Although there have been several other agricultural revolutions throughout history in which farming techniques radically changed, this is considered to be the first occurring somewhere around 11,000 to 10,000 BC. There is no clear evidence of how and why ancient people began to settle down in one location to grow crops, but many archaeologists and scientists argue that approximately 14,000 years ago, the earth experienced a warming trend that created a warmer climate worldwide that then might have encouraged the growth of wild crops such as wheat, barley, and other plants. Evidence to support this idea is the fact that there is documentation of early farming settlements in different parts of the world from the Middle East, China, to Mexico. Some of the earliest archaeological sites that show evidence of a sedentary lifestyle or establishment of villages and communities in one spot are found in the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent, or sometimes referred to as the Cradle of Civilization, is a crescent-shaped area of Asia that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the west, all the way to the Persian Gulf to the east. Two important rivers flow through this region, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which provided water and rich deposits of silt or fertile soil in which ancient people could grow crops. Today, we call this area of the world the Middle East, and some of the present-day countries covered by the Fertile Crescent would be countries such as Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. One of the earliest sites discovered and studied is Tell Abu Huraira. Established somewhere between 11,000 to 7,000 BC, Tell Abu Huraira is located on the Euphrates River in what is today Syria. At this site, archaeologists have found stone tools that date back to 9,000 BC that would have been used to grind wheat and grains, and there is additional evidence that the first deliberate planting and harvesting of wheat crops was taking place here as early as 13,000 years ago. At approximately the same time in history, there have been discoveries of ancient rice paddies in modern-day China that date back over 7,000 years, as well as ancient people of modern-day Mexico harvesting squash as early as 10,000 years ago. Interestingly, as major developments were occurring in agriculture, there were other major changes for ancient people as well. Domestication began to occur, in which people began to tame wild animals and began to herd livestock. Again, in the Fertile Crescent, there is archaeological evidence of cattle and sheep being among the first animals to be herded and kept as livestock. Having herds of domesticated livestock gave ancient people a of meat and milk, which was something that had not happened in the past. Interestingly, however, these newly domesticated animals carried with them germs and diseases, which they then passed to ancient people. Many ancient people died from these diseases, but through many years of living in close proximity to animals, people began to form immunities. Later in history, these immunities would give certain groups of people advantages over people who had not been exposed to living with domesticated animals. These major advancements in food production with planting crops and having domesticated herds led to major changes for ancient people. As farming techniques improved over time, the production of food began to exceed the demand for food. Farmers could produce more food than what was needed and build what is known as a surplus. Once a surplus of food was established, not everyone in these early farming communities needed to spend all of their time working on food production. Therefore, ancient people now had time to do other skills and pursue other interests. This would lead to the specialization of labor, in which many different kinds of jobs and crafts were developed, such as pottery or making clothing. These advancements would lead ancient people into the later Bronze Age and Iron Age, as tools would begin to be made from various metals. As these changes took place, societies grew more complex and blossomed into civilizations. But these civilizations would not have been possible without the foundation of agriculture. So with that, hopefully you learned something, and thanks for watching.