How+agriculture+changed+the+way+we+live


 * __From putting down roots to water shortages - the impact of agriculture on our lives.__**

**A. Important changes to village life, made possible by early agricultural** **practices.**

The impact of agriculture on human lifestyles cannot be underestimated: Right up until the mid 19th century and the Industrial revolution, most of the human population were agricultural workers.1.

Agrarian living dates back many millennia, often arising concurrently in different parts of the world, in varying forms. Around 25,000 years ago, taro is thought to have been cultivated in the Solomon Islands and there is significant evidence of other crops such as adzuki, soy and mung beans in surrounding regions dating back over 10,000 years.2. However the major shift - a revolution in lifestyle from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture - is evidenced from approximately 12,000 years ago, beginning in independent locations worldwide, yet at remarkably similar times, given the breadth of human history.

This revolution occurred in the Americas, Asia, Africa and what we now refer to as the ‘cradle of civilisation’ an area identified as the Fertile Crescent - bridging Africa and Eurasia and including Iraq, Iran, the Persian Gulf, Kuwait, sections of the Mediterranean coast, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, West Bank, Egypt, Nile valley, Jordan River. The region’s diverse climate and highly varied seed sources allowed early experimentation in cultivation including original crops - emmer wheat, einkorn, barley, flax, chick pea, pea, lentil, bitter vetch - and four of the five most important domesticated animals - cows, goats, sheep, pigs (excluding horses).3.

The seeding, sowing, tending, harvesting and storing of foods from domesticated plants along with the capture, feeding and breeding of domesticated animals proved harder work than hunter-gathering and was not always reliable, given early experimentation and climatic variation. For several thousand years therefore, there continued a hybrid lifestyle of hunter-gathering and farming - one acting as insurance against the other. Over time, the sedentary lifestyle won out - a product of evolution as founder crops evolved into more reliable and useful food sources - and necessity; bountiful yields compelled farmers to create safe storage of foods. Through necessity too, laborers began to specialise in different facets of farm work.

Some of the most significant lifestyle changes:

- Early agriculture had a huge impact on the most basic facet of human life: population. From an estimated 6-8 million inhabitants (total population would have fluctuated) leading up to the development of agricultural practices, the planet’s population soared to between 60 and 70 million within 5,000 years.4. It is likely population increases would have spiked in good crop years and waned in sparse years - but the overall effect was phenomenal. Generally however, communities remained smaller and more contained - there was a long period between the onset of agrarian living and major advances in civilisation. It is likely that in these early communities, everyone pitched in, rather than establishing rulers and followers. - A more sedentary existence - leading to permanent dwellings and community buildings for storage of foods - which increasingly became targets of marauders so would have been strengthened against attack. - Although it might be assumed that farming lead to greater human health due to shelter from weather and predators and more stable food sources, life expectancy is thought to have decreased during this early period, possibly due to the spread of diseases through poor sanitation and transfer of illness from animals to humans. - The domestication of animals played a significant role in lifestyle change. Shifting from nomadic herding to raising animals in permanent enclosures, humans at first found domesticated animals such as cattle and sheep provided additional sources of protein-rich meat and in some cases milk. Later, skins and wool were used to clothe and shelter, build boats and carry water and animal bones were carved to make utensils. It was also discovered that animal manure improved soil and crop yields.5. - The development of farming and household implements - tools to dig and axes to chop, as well as household items. The pottery wheel, for example, was invented around 6000 BC and allowed faster, better quality production of food storage containers - which in turn improved reliability of food and lead to people who specialised in pottery and could exchange their goods for food and other services. - Techniques were developed for seed propagation, selection and storage, fertilisation and weeding - Storage and surplus of plants and animals afforded new luxury: trade - exchange of goods and services. Increased variety of goods available to community. - Art more easily created in fixed dwelling communities - this would have included representations of deity worship for purposes of crop success and fertility - all tied into survival. - By 6th millenium BC many of major food and plants cultivated today were established and lead to plants like cotton and flax being woven into textiles for clothing, shelter, baskets, floor coverings etc in addition to use of animal skins. - Introduction of the wheel in Afroasia around 6,000 yrs ago. - The Bronze Age introduced another major advance to civilisation with the introduction of metals - for use in tools and weapons. By about 3000bc copper was mixed with tin to make bronze. This started in the Middle East - moving from stone, wood and bone to stronger, lighter equipment heralded Bronze Age. Metal artisans then added to the specialisation of skilled workers and supplied their goods in exchange for food. This also increased need for travel and trade - as tin was hard to find - shipbuilding expanded and became more sophisticated as traders extended their reach and search for both materials and exotic goods with which they could make exchanges. - Agriculture ultimately led to new forms of social organisation - settled people established property. Though people were initially just self sufficient, as the scale of agricultural practice grew, rules would have been needed to establish boundaries of property, responsibility and rights. When people improved their lots, they would have perceived increased value in their chattels. There are also suggestions however, that the domination of men in areas like heavy labour, tool making, irrigation and animal husbandry meant that the agricultural revolution may have marked the beginning of a decline in independence social standing for women.4.

**B. Important changes to lifestyle made possible through irrigation-based advances in agriculture.** Water is life. Therefore earliest human settlements were naturally founded along rivers and natural waterways. Water not only sustained people, but crops and animals, provided greater vegetation for shade, materials for building and hunting. By the end of the Neolithic, farmers could store and transport water and had devised ways to channel it for purposes of irrigation.

Early forms of irrigation included the flooding of the Nile basin - along with other regions using the wet seasons’ flooding to capture and harvest water. Ancient Nubians developed an early form of the waterwheel to irrigate, some time around 300-200BC. Relying on flood waters and powered by animals, its rotating scoops were able to pump water from a depth of several metres. This same method is still used in parts of India today.6.

Other irrigation techniques included canals which have been discovered in Peru, dating as far back as six thousand years ago. And around 1000BCE, Persians designed qanats - rows of vertical shafts dug into land in order to tap into the water table, leading to a gently sloping underground tunnel, which kept water free of contaminants and safe from evaporation. This technology is still in use in arid regions of Africa today.6.

Significant lifestyle changes:

- Irrigation afforded people a greater certainty of survival - and the ability to generate surplus. This demanded better organisation - extending beyond the boundaries of individual family units. It encouraged people to settle in larger and larger communities rather than small villages or farms. - It introduced need for farmers to collaborate in the building and maintenance of water channels and irrigation tools and access to water supplies. - Crop surpluses demanded regional co-ordination across more and more vast areas of farming land. The growing need for organisation was met by the development of economic and political structures to manage and regulate. - The ability to then protect assets came into play - teams of workers who built irrigation channels could transform into protective armies in the face of invasion and attack. Other facets of society evolved out of this growing pattern of habitation - and then exchange between settlements which evolved into trade - this opened up as different regions specialised in manufacture of goods to assist with livelihoods - eg flint for axes. - This reaching out, this extending of human boundaries lead to the expansion of cultures, the sharing of knowledge, of religious beliefs, artistic expression, the establishment of trade routes and settlements along those routes, and the need for organisational agreement and exchange - leading to the concept of rule and political structures.7.

**POSTSCRIPT:** It is fascinating to note that as recently as fifty years ago, water was commonly considered to be an infinite resource. Since then population has doubled to over 7 billion, we eat more high-water demanding foods like meat, and farmers now compete with industry and urbanisation for water supplies. We are quickly moving towards a global water crisis.6.

**REFERENCES:** 1. Wikipedia entry, //Agriculture,// accessed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture 2. Wikipedia entry, //Neolithic Revolution, section// Agriculture in Papua New Guinea, accessed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution 3. Wikipedia entry, //Fertile Crescent,// accessed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertile_Crescent 4. Agriculture, //Agriculture And The Origins Of Civilization: The Neolithic Revolution//, ed Robert Giusepi, accessed at Agriculture http://history-world.org/agriculture1.htm 5. The Neolithic Revolution, //Agriculture And The Origins Of Civilization: The Neolithic Revolution//, ed Robert Giusepi, accessed at http://history-world.org/neolithic.htm 6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigation 7. Agriculture and the rise of civilisation, //Agriculture And The Origins Of Civilization: The Neolithic Revolution//, ed Robert Giusepi, accessed at http://history-world.org/agriculture_and_the_rise_of_civi.htm