The invention of farming about 12,000 years ago gave humans access to new food and energy resources, which increased populations, collective learning, and complexity.

In what ways did going from foraging to farming revolutionize society? Let’s dig deeper into the details of exactly how agriculture changed human life—for better and for worse.

Growing food in fixed locations enabled people who once migrated with the seasons to settle down. Soon, complexity increased as villages turned into cities and states.

As civilizations grew in complexity, they also grew in physical size, and that meant they started meeting their neighbors. It’s time to talk conflict, conquest, and empire.

Agriculture gave societies the spark they needed to begin growing, but it’s trade that set us on the path to the modern world. Trade routes allowed goods, ideas, people, and diseases to spread like never before.

Museum exhibits tell stories about different cultures of the past. Now, it’s your turn to become a curator and create an exhibition. Will you be a mapmaker, an artifact creator, or a storyteller?