The Beginnings of Agriculture

What time period began 10,000 years ago in Southwest Asia and known as the New Stone Age?

Neolithic Era

What is the shift from food gathering to food production called?

Neolithic Revolution

What did the people plant?

Only the largest grains or the sweetest fruits

What started to spread throughout Southwest Asia?

Wild barley and wheat plants

Who did prehistoric people pray to?

ancestors

What did farming to to improve for humans?

chances of survival

What did people do with plants?

change them to make them more useful?

What did people begin to raise?

crops and animals

What is the process of changing plants or animals to make them more useful to humans called?

domestication

What were people able to control?

food production

What did farmers use animals for?

food, clothes, carry heavy loads, or pull large tools

What did the production of their own food change?

human society forever

Where did the Neolithic Revolution first occur?

in societies of Southwest Asia

When the New Stone Age ended, what did they then make tools out of?

metal

What was the big change that occurred during the Neolithic Era?

people producing food

What was planted to grow their own food?

seeds

What did the domestication of plants lead to?

the development of agriculture

What were gods and goddesses associated with?

the four elements - air, water, fire, earth

What did people come to depend on?

the wild plants for food

What did people learn during the New Stone Age?

to polish stones to make tools and how to make fire

What did farming communities develop into?

towns

What was used for clothes?

wool, animal skins and plant fibers