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Early Humans

Driving Question: What caused some humans to shift from foraging to farming and what were the effects of this change?

For hundreds of thousands of years, our species lived as foragers. Then, about 12,000 years ago, some foragers started to experiment with farming, kicking off the Neolithic Revolution and setting the stage for huge transformations.

Learning Objective

  1. Evaluate the positive and negative effects of the transition to agriculture.
STEP 2

The Earliest Humans

Humans tend to stick with what works. That was most certainly true of our ancestors, who, for a long time, were foragers. But as some groups started farming, things started to change very quickly.

Early Humans (250,000 Years Before Present to 3000 BCE): Unit 2 Overview External link

For almost all human history, our ancestors were foragers. During the Paleolithic period, a gradual shift to farming sparked huge transformations. But was farming a good idea?

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 3

Causes of Farming

The shift to farming was an important change, and not without consequences. In this article and activity, you’ll examine the bumpy road from foraging to farming.

STEP 4

Agricultural Governments

Historians suggest that the advent of farming led to the creation of states. You’ll examine the seeds of this argument in this video on farming and the state.

Farming and the State External link

Did farming create states? Were all states made by farmers, and did all farmers come to live in states? Two world historians share what they know about farming and the rise of states.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 5

Sell It!

History is filled with choices: isolationism vs. internationalism, modernists vs. traditionalists, war vs. peace. You’ll face a choice of your own in this activity: foraging or farming?