Impacts of Agriculture on Societies PDF

**How Agriculture Changed the World** ------------------------------------- By 5000 BCE, agriculture was practiced in every major continent. This shift from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle had a profound and transformative impact on the world. 1. **More Permanent Settlements** Farming tied people to...

**How Agriculture Changed the World** ------------------------------------- By 5000 BCE, agriculture was practiced in every major continent. This shift from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle had a profound and transformative impact on the world. 1. **More Permanent Settlements** Farming tied people to the land so rather than moving with the food sources, people built permanent settlements. Small settlements grew into towns, towns grew into cities, and cities grew into societies. People often settled near rivers that provided a regular supply of water for farming and human consumption. ancient village on a river The ancient city of Jericho, circa 7000 BCE. Image: [[Raheem/AdobeStock]](https://stock.adobe.com/) Jericho grew from a small camp to a large permanent city, in part because the nearby Jordan river made the area ideal for growing wheat, barley, grapes, and fruit trees. ### **Increased Food Production** ### Farming probably initially involved more work than hunting and gathering, but it is thought to have provided 10 to 100 times more calories per acre. Additionally, since the main agricultural crops of the time (grains and grasses like corn) were those that could be stored, societies were able to have food surpluses build-up over time.  Storage structures in present-day Tunisia, circa 1400 CE. Image: [[Isewell/Wikimedia]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ksar_Ouled_Soltane_01.jpg) These Ksour ("desert castles") were used to store surplus grains. ### **New Technology** ### Agriculture stimulated the development of new technologies and techniques to enhance food production. People made irrigation systems to water crops, hoes to turn the soil, sickles to cut crops, and hand mills to mill the wheat and barley into flour. They also created more diverse pottery to store and cook food and simple looms to make cloth. canals in desert area Hohokam irrigation system in present-day Arizona, circa 800 CE. Image: [[Michael Hampshire/S\'edav Va\'aki Museum]](https://pueblogrande.org/) The Hohokam built extensive canals to irrigate their crops, which helped them live in the desert for hundreds of years. ### **Increased Population Density** ### More abundant food supplies could support more people in smaller areas. In pre-agricultural, hunter gatherer societies, the average population density was no more than 10 people per square mile. In early agricultural societies, this grew to 100 people per square mile. The overall population was growing, though at a similar rate as prior to the transition to agriculture, doubling approximately every 1,700 years.  The Neolithic city of Çatalhöyük in present-day Turkey, circa 7500 BCE. Image: [[John Swogger/Çatalhöyük Research Project]](https://www.catalhoyuk.com/site/architecture) In Çatalhöyük, houses were packed so closely together that people had to enter through the roofs. Circa 7500 BCE. ### **Changes in Health** ### People from some early agricultural societies showed more signs of malnutrition and disease than their hunter-gather counterparts. Malnutrition and disease were common in early agricultural societies where people relied on only a few starchy crops for most of their food, lived in close contact with domesticated animals, and inhabited crowded settlements where disease spread easily. However, overall life expectancy might not have been drastically different (in part due to high infant mortality in paleolithic times). crowded village The ancient city of Linzi in present-day Eastern China, circa 700 BCE. Image: [[Rolfmueller/Wikimedia]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Linzi_model_2010_06_06.jpg) As was common with many early agricultural cities, the people of the ancient city of Linzi lived close to each other, their livestock, food production, and waste disposal. ### **Specialized Professions** ### As agriculture facilitated surplus food production, it freed up a portion of the population from directly engaging in food production. Those who didn't need to be farmers took on roles as soldiers, priests, administrators, artists, and scholars.  Zapotec artisans in present-day Oaxaca, Mexico, circa 200 CE. Image: [[ArbyBB/Wikimedia]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gold_smelting.jpg) The maize-rich Zapotec society produced intricate jewelry, figurines and pottery, baskets, textiles, written works, and engineering projects. ### **Social Hierarchies** ### As early societies began to take shape, political and religious institutions emerged to rule them, creating complex social groupings. Defenses -- both physical structures and human armies -- were built-up so people could defend themselves, their land, and their stored food from neighboring groups. Since they were tied to the land, it was no longer easy to move away from sources of conflict. Variation in land quality and labor availability contributed to greater inequities among social groups. serfs farming wheat An overseer directing serfs in a wheat harvest in Anglo-Saxon England, circa 1300 CE. Image: [[anonymous/Wikimedia]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reeve_and_Serfs.jpg) Many early European nations managed agriculture with a feudal system, which involved a complex social hierarchy with landowners at the top and peasant farmers (serfs) and slaves at the bottom. ### **Trade and Globalization** ### The surplus agricultural products allowed for the exchange of goods between regions, creating economic interdependence and the establishment of trade networks. Agricultural commodities became important items of commerce, driving cultural exchange, and shaping global economies.  The Silk Road, circa 1200 CE. Image: [[Watthana Tirahimonch/AdobeStock]](https://stock.adobe.com/images/illustration-of-history-and-trading-ancient-silk-road-silk-trade-with-china-the-silk-road-was-a-network-of-trade-routes-connecting-china-and-the-far-east-with-the-middle-east-and-europe/521275641?asset_id=521275641) Agriculture played a pivotal role in shaping the ancient Silk Road, a vast network of trade routes connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa. This trade artery facilitated the exchange of goods, ideas, and cultures, leading to unprecedented globalization. ### **Changes in Landscapes** ### The shift to agriculture transformed the Earth\'s landscape as forests were cleared for farming or grazing. Domesticated plants and animals impacted local ecosystems, leading to reduced biodiversity in certain regions. Additionally, the development of irrigation systems altered natural drainage patterns and sometimes resulted in the depletion of water sources. roman ruinsThe surviving structures of the Roman Forum after the fall of the Roman Empire, circa 500 CE. Image: [[Vladimir Sazonov/AdobeStock]](https://stock.adobe.com/images/the-roman-forum-in-rome-italy/112214660) By the beginning of the Common Era, Roman farmers had degraded their soil to the point where they could no longer grow enough food, which contributed to the eventual collapse of the Roman Empire.