S.S. Ch.2 Lesson 2

Farming Villages
Earliest farming settlements were small with only a few families
These communities lived from one harvest to the next because hunger was a constant threat
Droughts, storms, or extreme cold or heat killed crops and livestock
They prepared for hard times by growing a surplus of food

In some places, water was plentiful, soil was good, and climate was mild
Because of suitable conditions, farming communities were highly successful
Farms raised many kinds of crops including grains, root vegetables, and plants to use as medicine.

Successful farms led to other advancements
Plants used as a new source for making clothing and making shelters
New animals such as oxen, camels, dogs, and guinea pigs

Farming villages spread across southwestern Asia
-Abu Hureyra
-Jericho
-Jarmo
-Catal Huyuk

Catal Huyuk
-Advanced community
-Decorated their homes with paintings and carvings of women, bulls, and other images
-Rebuilt settlements many times because of baked clay bricks of houses crumbled over
-Built homes using wood, straw, and other materials

Farming Communities
-Herded cattle, water buffalo, and other animals
-Grains and other crops

By 5,500 B.C., Bandkeramik established farming communities
They get their name from their pottery that they carved with lines
By 5,000 B.C., villages such as Mehrgarh, west of the Indus River, people grew cotton to weave into cloth
They used cotton to fashion into clothing and sell for trade
In northern China, Yangshao farming culture developed by 4,800 B.C.
They built mostly on terraces overlooking river valleys and fields
Terraces located on the sides of hills and mountains provided flat land for farming and protection from floods

Changes in Technology
Early farming tools were simple but later developed better tools
Early farmers used sticks to dig up roots and to make holes to plants seeds
After some time, the hoe (a wooden or stone blade to break up and turn over soil) was developed

The Plow
The plow could cut, lift, and
turn over soil
The plow improved from a stick to a wooden or stone blade that cut through the ground faster
Plows allowed fewer people to plant large crops
It also helped to dig hard and rocky soil
Irrigation
Irrigation provided ways to water the crops
They dug ditches from rivers to their fields
They no longer had to rely on rain for watering crops
Southwestern Asia discovered irrigation at about 6,000 B.C

Economic and Social Change
Early farmers bartered to get goods they wanted. Leaders controlled surpluses and trade well as resolved conflicts between groups
-Surplus other than food: Valuable resources, such as stone tools for tool making, art objects or pottery

Bartering
The practice of bartering began 30,000 years ago
Community with extra food <-> community with extra pottery
Catal Huyuk began trading obsidian, a volcanic glass
Jarmo used obsidian, seashells, and other materials brought by traders
As trading developed, the need for leadership developed

Responsibilities of a leader
A leader was chosen by importance
-Control trade
-Resolve conflicts
As populations grew, the leader’s power grew

Pastoral Society
Raised goats, sheep, horses, and cattle that provided milk, hides, and bones for tools
Pastoral people continued to travel
Pastoral groups traded surplus with farming villages