The Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic age was a period in the developments of human technology, starting in some parts of the Middle East around 10,000 BCE, and which later spread to other parts of the world. It is also considered as the last part of the Stone Age. The Neolithic Revolution, which is also called the Agricultural Revolution, is the transition of human cultures from the lifestyle of hunting and gathering, to agriculture and settlement, thus increasing the ability to sustain a larger population.

Domestication of Plants

Domestication is the process of adapting wild plants and animals for use by humans. These can be used to make different resources for human consumption and use, such as food, clothing, medicine, etc.

Plant domestication mainly started

Evidence also shows that women were largely responsible for the gathering, as well as observations and initial activities that began the Neolithic Revolution, starting with the selection and refinement of edible plant species.

Agriculture in the Fertile Crescent: Due to the Mediterranean climate, consisting of a dry season with short periods of rain, agriculture and domestication of small plants with large seeds such as wheat and barley was successful. Another factor that further encouraged successful domestication was the ease of harvesting and storage, as well as the varied geographical settings and altitudes. These domesticated plants had very high protein

This area was also the first region to domesticate theDromedary Camel. The presence of these animals gave the region a large advantage in cultural and economic development. As the climate in the Middle East changed, and became drier, many of the farmers were forced to leave, taking their domesticated animals with them. It was this massive emigration from the Middle East that would later help distribute these animals to the rest of Afroeurasia. This emigration was mainly on an east-west axis of similar climates, as crops usually have a narrow optimal climatic range outside of which they cannot grow for reasons of light or rain changes. For instance, wheat does not normally grow in tropical climates, just like tropical crops such as bananas do not grow in colder climates. Some authors like Jared Diamond postulated that this East-West axis is the main reason why plant and animal domestication spread so quickly from the Fertile Crescent to the rest of Eurasia and North Africa, while it did not reach through the North-South axis of Africa to reach the Mediterranean climates of South Africa, where temperate crops were successfully imported by ships in the last 500 years. The African Zebu is a separate breed of cattle that was better suited to the hotter climates of central Africa than the fertile-crescent domesticated bovines. North and South