Until around 9,000 B.C. men roamed around in clans of limited size, living as HUNTERS AND GATHERERS, often facing the problem of food shortage.
DOMESTICATION had been applied, the DOG believed to be the first animal which was domesticated to follow and serve man.
Then, around 9,000 B.C. in the mountains of western Iran, people found out that when they put grain seeds into the ground, a couple of months later
they can harvest much more than they have sewn. At first small gardens were established - HORTICULTURE was begun, which at a later stage turned
into AGRICULTURE (lat. hortus = garden, lat. ager = field). The cultivated plants soon included grain, vegetables, beans, beets, onions, fruits, nuts.
The agricultural revolution occurred during a long period of time (we might say, it still goes on) and occurred in different regions at different times; in
MESOAMERICA, for instance, CORN, potatos, tomatos etc. were cultivated in a society which did not know the cultivated plants of Eurasia until the
arrival of columbus; in southern CHINA, RICE was cultivated; in India, the ELEPHANT was domesticated, in Peru the LLAMA, in the Asian deserts the
CAMEL etc.
In consequence of the agricultural revolution mankind split in three groups : those who remained Hunters and Gatherers (primary nomads), into those
who kept herds of animals (sheep, horses, goats, camels, cattle) moving with them from pasture to pasture (PASTORAL NOMADS or secondary
nomads) and into those who settled down to cultivate their fields (SEDENTARY SOCIETY).
B.) PASTORAL NOMADISM
Pastoral nomadism required MOBILITY. As a consequence, nomadic people owned only the essentials - tents, clothing, tools, utensils, nothing
fragile. Their family size was limited, as too many children would reduce their mobility. Control over vital fountains and rich pasture required them to
be ready to fight in order to defend it. Their stock in pack and riding animals predestined them to get involved in overland trade., as soon as that
emerged.
Pastoral nomads had a living food supply with them.
C.) SEDENTARY SOCIETY
Once man settled down, he could built a house, the number and size of rooms not being limited by the elements. He could accumulate property as
much as he liked. There was also no reason to keep the number of children within limits.
In order to be safe from famine, man had to store his harvest and protect it from rotting. He developed a number of techniques :
DEHYDRATION (drying fruits, vegetables), PICKLING (adding salt and/or spices to prevent meat or cabbage from rotting), FERMENTATION (having
grain juice turn into beer, grape juice into wine, milk into yoghurt/cheese etc.), dumping fruit, cheese etc. in olive oil or vinegar etc. and store it at a
dry, cool place. Grain could be stored as it was, if dry, in a place referred to as a GRANARY or SILO. In order to keep mice and rats away, the
domesticated CAT provided important service.
Sedentary men produced an oversupply of certain products, mostly grain, but had a lack of other items, often salt and metals/metal ores. Thus there
was a need for trade. Salt was of vital importance, for the preservation of food - the word SALARY is derived from Latin sal = salt.
Agricultural society soon developed the IRRIGATION technique. However, in order to plan sowing and harvest, knowledge of the periods when the
rivers had high water were essential; the chiefs learned to predicts these times when reading the stars and provided the first CALENDARs. As
irrgiation agriculture (digging of canals etc.) required coordinated labour, a hierarchically organized society emerged, with priest-kings at the top.
This page is part of World History at KMLA Last revised on September 10th 2001
