The+Neolithic+Agricultural+Revolution

For millions of years our ancestors survived in a wide range of climates and environments as nomadic hunter-gatherers.

 * ====What is the life of a hunter-gatherer like? Today there are few if any truly nomadic hunter-gatherers. Research a tribe/clan/location to find out how they live.====

==Starting around 10,000 years ago, our ancestors gradually began to change their way of life. The result was a whole new way of life as settled farmers. The change is so radical, we call it the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution. Learn more about this amazing change:==


 * ==**Begin your research in the library. Many of our books about early farming and early civilizations have a great introduction to this revolution.**==
 * ===== BBC H2G: a scholarly summary of the Neolithic revolution and its effects =====
 * ===== Stories from the Stone Age Video based on archaeological evidence, this video shows how early farmers near the dead sea may have lived and farmed. =====
 * ===== [|Home:]This beautiful movie puts agriculture in perspective. See how the earth has evolved over billions of years into a balanced system which humans have begun altering beginning with agriculture and accelerating with our growing exploitation of oil. Many of our MP4U topics are introduced. =====
 * ==== **Guns Germs and Steel**: In this video series, Jared Diamond spends time with amazingly skillful, adaptive modern-day hunter-gatherers in Papua New Guinea. He asks why there are now huge inequalities around the world when 10,000 years ago there were not? The answers begin with the neolithic agricultural revolution. //(Remember they may not dress the same as us.)// ====
 * ** [|Tom Standage (Author of An Edible History of Humanity)] ** : In this interview, Standage discusses how the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution changed our lives. It's challenging to understand but packed full of striking information about how food has changed our lives.
 * ===== BBC new article: Ancient fig clue to first farming: =====

Why did people change their way of life?
Hunting-gathering worked for millions of years. Why did they innovate a whole new way of life? Was this new way of life better? Why didn't the change happen before? Imagine you are a hunter-gatherer facing a dilemma that makes your clan begin to change their way of life. Create a story of innovation and change.

What are experts saying?
 * Spencer Wells (Anthropologist & Geneticist & National Geographic Staff) says we were backed into a corner. Find out why!
 * Jared Diamond says it was the biggest mistake in humanity Find out why we he thinks we changed even though it wasn't all a bed of roses.
 * Mental Floss: Did Agriculture Doom Us

Glossaries & Background knowledge for Understanding Agriculture

 * ==A great agricultural Glossary==