1.2 The first farmers

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 1

1. Hunters and Farmers 

1.2 The first farmers 

1. You can describe what the agricultural revolution involved.
2. You can give some possible explanations for the switch from hunting and gathering to agriculture.
3. You can explain what economic, social and cultural changes resulted from the agricultural revolution.

Learning objectives 

Word Duty

§1.2 The first farmers Keywords 

arable farming

Growing crops such as grains and vegetables.

livestock farming

Keeping or breeding animals as a means of making a living.

agriculture

A way of living from arable farming and keeping animals.

agricultural revolution

The switch from hunting and gathering to agriculture as the main way of life.

economy

Everything to do with how people make a living and how the results of their work are divided among them.

KEY WORDS

Arable farming

Growing your own crops 

1. putting cereal grains in soil 
2. Watering the crops 
3. harvesting the crops 

Keeping animals

The agricultural revolution didn’t happen in a few years. It took thousands of years for people to learn how they could grow their own food. At first they combined farming with hunting animals, but it was difficult to follow the animals around now they lived in one place. So they only hunted animals that lived close to their villages.

Around 6000 BC, farmers in the Fertile Crescent learned how to tame animals for their own use. This is called domestication. The first farmers captured wild animals to keep them behind fences. They even began to look at useful characteristics some animals had, for example how calm they were or how much fat they could grow. Animals that had a lot of flesh were used to breed new animals that also had a lot of flesh. After doing this for several generations, new breeds were created. Eventually the farmers didn’t only grow plants, but now also had goats and sheep around their house. Pigs and cows followed around 4000 BC.

Source 1.3.3

The aurochs were bred to become smaller instead of bigger (present-day drawing).

Arable farming and livestock farming are known as agriculture 

The land between two rivers

• Uruk (modern-day Iraq) was once a big city with thousands of people, nowadays it is lost in the desert.
• the first inhabitants were farmers 
• To grow crops you need fertile soil and water
• They build their city between the rivers the Euphrates and the Tigris and it was later named: Mesopotamia > 'The land between two rivers'.

 

 

Source 1.5.1

Map of the Fertile Crescent

Source 1.5.2

This Standard was found in the Sumerian city of Ur. It showes farmers and shepherds with their cattle and harvest (c. 2600 - 2400 BC).

Causes of the agricultural revolution 

Argricultural revolution 

took thousands of years

1. Climate change: The weather got better 
2. Expermenting 
3. Staying alive  

Big consequences 

1. Permanent houses 
2. More food = economy 
3. Increased social differences 
4. Culture change ( rich people) 
5. Poor Health ( Animals , less varied diet, failling harvest)  

Put the events in the correct chronological order

Plant the seeds of grain.

Make small fields for the grain to grow.

Collect grain seeds in the wild.

Now you grow your own grain crops.

Save some grain seeds for the next year.

Explain the joke, and use the word "domestication"
in your answer.

Farmers

Hunter-Gatherers

moving from place to place

finding grain, fruit and vegetables

hunting animals and fishing

small groups

only few possessions that can be carried

Farming was a big change in the way prehistoric man lived. So what changed exactly?

Drag each change  to the correct place in the table.

large groups

pottery

domesticating animals

growing your own crops

living in one place

(= settling)

Write down one question about something from this lesson that you find difficult.