Neolithic Age: The Best of Times? Or the Worst? Quiz

Answer: Domestication of crops

The Neolithic Revolution set off a chain reaction that culminated in the creation of civilization. Learning how to farm made it possible for man to live in a permanent location. The sedentary lifestyle led to the formation of villages and towns, which grew into cities.

As man perfected the cultivation of crops, he began to experience the blessing of surplus food, despite having problems with food shortages caused by inevitable drought and famine from time to time. Having extra food led to specialization because not everyone was needed to farm.

This led to organized government, trade, art, architecture, writing, and, over time, the beginning of civilization as we know it.

Answer: The end of a nomadic lifestyle

There is no doubt that hunting and gathering, following the wild animals and plants, is the oldest occupation in the world. Even though they lived in small groups, collecting food would have to be man's most important activity each day; when the local food supply began to wane, it was necessary to move on.

It seems advantageous to be able to settle down permanently in cooperative groups to share the work, eventually reaching the point where it wasn't necessary for everyone to work on food collection any longer. And having a surplus of food for the first time could lead to - what? Trade? Writing? A legal system? Architecture? Organized government? Looking in from the outside, these advancements seem, well, utterly revolutionary.

Answer: 20-30 hours a week

Anthropologists who have studied modern hunters/gatherers have found that they spend 3-5 hours a day "working"; the time includes not only gathering the food, but preparing it as well. A foraging economy usually demands an extensive land area. It is estimated that it may have required anywhere from 500-700 square miles of land per person. Of course, that number would depend on local conditions, but still, just all that moving around was exhausting.

When all the time and effort necessary to make these first farms is considered, however, it becomes clear that farming did not initially make life easier, and perhaps never did! Certainly, the nomadic way of life was over, but considering how hard these farmers had to work with the tools they had, and the uncertainty of success, a food supply was not as secure as it seems it would have been. Obviously farming demanded much more than 20-30 hours a week.

Answer: It became less varied and less balanced.

As the hunter/gatherer cultures became more experienced, their food supply became more diverse. Depending on the region in which they lived, they could hunt and trap, fish, and gather shellfish, and collect all the wild foods that they learned were edible, such as fruits, vegetables, tubers, nuts, and seeds.

Their diets were really diverse and healthy. During the early stages of the Neolithic Revolution, agriculture was based on one crop that was usually some sort of grain. Although a guaranteed food supply may have been secured, the subsequent diet was definitely not as varied and balanced as a forager's diet.

The domestication of animals helped balance the diet; however, overall, the nutritional standards of Neolithic people were inferior to those of their predecessors.

It is interesting to note one of the new trends in dieting, "the Paleo Diet", which was reportedly formulated after studying the eating habits of our pre-Neolithic Revolution ancestors; proponents say the diet will better meet our nutritional needs and even give us a healthier brain!

Answer: Men became shorter.

In his "Stature of Early Europeans", Michael Hermanussen, a German pediatrician and professor at the University of Kiel, estimates that before the Neolithic Revolution the average height of men was 5'10" and women was 5'6". After the introduction of farming, the average height dropped to 5'5" for men and 5'1" for women. What is most surprising is that average height did not again reach its pre-Neolithic size until the twentieth century! It is also believed that with the coming of farming, life expectancy, due to diseases and hard work, may have become shorter as well.

Although it is difficult to investigate causes of death in the hunting/gathering societies, researchers studying existing societies of this kind have found indications that violence, such as warfare and accidents, along with a high infant mortality rate, were probably the main causes of death before the Neolithic Revolution - rather than disease.

Answer: Women could have children more frequently.

The food eaten by the hunter/gatherers may have been more nutritional for adults, but what would be the best food for younger children? Mother's milk, of course. With the introduction of cereal grains and domesticated animals, other sources of food became available for young children. Even when taking into consideration the uncertainty of life for these early farmers, population increased more rapidly.

Answer: Disease would spread from the animals to humans.

Of course, the other three choices show the great variety of benefits of domesticating animals. Some anthropologists refer to these benefits as the Secondary Products Revolution. It appears that animals were at first domesticated for their meat, and then the early farmers found they also could produce a number of other useful products.

The simple fact, however, is that the domestication of animals probably also increased the number of deaths from sickness. One thing that had to be learned with the coming of permanent settlement was how to provide adequate sanitation for both humans and animals.

In addition, many diseases such as measles, influenza, and smallpox, are transmitted from animals to humans. The first people to domesticate animals could build up immunities to these diseases, but it took a while to do so.

Answer: division of labor

Once there was a surplus of agricultural food, and consequently more free time (at least for some of the population), jobs became more specialized. It was no longer necessary in some areas for everyone to farm, so new occupations arose. There were some who made weapons or pottery. Others wove cloth, or people combined (say) two occupations, but did not try a vast variety of occupations. Once trading (over distance) began, it was necessary to keep records, so a new group of people who were scribes came into the picture. Was this good? Yes! When examined from an historical perspective for the development of civilization, it was good. It did, however, lead to hierarchical society and class struggle. Life would be changed forever.

The picture was chosen because it also shows a type of a division of labor. The men are obviously thinking about weapon making and hunting, while the women are processing the latest food acquisition. This type of division of labor is commonly called the sexual division of labor. Of course, it will never been known to what extent this already existed in some form among hominids and early humans. However, studying groups who still practice hunting and gathering today shows that it probably did exist.

Answer: True

It is evident that all of the benefits that were the outcomes of the Neolithic Revolution were in themselves revolutionary in the way they changed life. Living in one permanent location allowed for the accumulation of "things" and the attachment to areas of land. Of course, it was necessary to have some kind of governmental organization to control these permanent settlements that became more and more densely populated.

In addition, everyone needed their own plot of land to provide for themselves and their family, and land ownership became an important symbol of wealth, prosperity, and a key basis of power: those who did not own land had to pay some form of rent in kind or service or later in cash. Society became stratified and less equal.

Answer: Sumer, Iraq

So the Neolithic Revolution led to the beginning of civilization as we know it. This phenomenon was first manifested in the Sumerian city-states in ancient Mesopotamia. The development of organized government, architecture, and the world's first form of writing is seen in this location, all as the result of the free time a farming surplus afforded certain people.

A hierarchical society developed. Class struggles are evident in the writings. It is also in ancient Mesopotamia that we see the first recorded battles.

In ancient Mesopotamia the land was very rich and fertile; some historians believe farming actually began there. As the city-states developed, the people believed the best farmland belonged to the gods; they also believed it was necessary to go to war to prove whose god was best.

The rich farmland that could be gained was a key bonus in warfare. The first organized (temporary) armies and recorded battles and rivalries over the valuable resource began here.