The first migration and agricultural revolution

1. The Ancient World Overview

2. There is still argument among
the experts about when early
humans first appeared and
then spread to different
parts of the world.
Early Human Migration
“Out of Africa”

3. Most historians currently favour an explanation known
as the ‘Out of Africa’ theory.
This theory states that early humans originally
appeared in Africa about 200 000 years ago.
Early Human Migration
“Out of Africa”

4. About 100 000 years ago, migrating groups left Africa
in waves, initially arriving in the Middle East.
These waves of migration continued until around 12
000 years ago.
Early Human Migration
“Out of Africa”

6. The Agricultural Revolution

7. The Agricultural Revolution
The shift from hunter gathering to
agriculture is one of the most important
developments in the history of humanity.
The agricultural revolution was a global event
because it happened in parallel developments
in many parts of the world, although at
slightly different times.
It is viewed as the beginning of
civilisation.

8. Core regions of the development of agriculture
were in:
- the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East (circa*
10,000 BCE)
- China (circa 9,000 BCE)
- New Guinea (circa 8,000 – 6,000 BCE)
- South and Central America (circa 4,000 BCE).

9. Agriculture revolutionised the way people interacted
with other species, which revolutionised the way
people interacted with each other as well.
It made civilisation possible as people started living in
larger communities which grew into towns and then
eventually into complex city states.

10. As agriculture became more and more widespread, people
began to accumulate surpluses of food, meaning that
people grew more than they consumed.
This resulted in the first commerce or
trade as people could then trade or swap their surplus
crops with their neighbours for the items they needed.
This eventually lead to the invention
of writing.

11. We cannot be certain why and how some groups of
Paleolithic hunter gatherer peoples began adopting new
ways of producing food and other necessities of life by
cultivating plants and domesticating animals because
there are no written records before this transition.
It is thought perhaps climatic changes
associated with the retreat of the glaciers at the end
of the last Ice Age (about 12,000 B.C.), may have
played an important role.

12. The emergence of agriculture also had a major
environmental impact on the earth. The most
important has been deforestation in order to
make space for crops and livestock.

13. There is also strong evidence that land clearing for
agriculture, the farming of animals and the
development of rice paddies released significant
amounts of greenhouse gasses (methane and CO2).