Early Humans and The Pursuit Of Agriculture

[caption id="attachment_216452" align="aligncenter" width="536" caption="Neolitical Era (Doc: international socialist.org)"][/caption] Water is one of the most important things on earth for life to spread. In fact we couldn’t even last 3 days without water. It is that important. Second to water is food. Meat and grain is the source of our energy. It’s what keeps us up and running. Not only we think that way, birds and cows and fish all need food to survive.

Early humans thought food was important too. So they did everything they could to find it. Most of early civilizations lived close to water because not only could that water be drunk, but it opened opportunities for fishing. Fishing and water, two birds with one stone.

An example of a civilization that took the advantage of a river was the Egyptians. In the hot desert of Africa, the first thing you would want was water right? The river was called the Nile. A long river that every rain seasons it would flood the surroundings making the area fertile for crops.

The Egyptians had it real nice and steady. They had water which is a vital thing and in that water there was fish to catch. Not to mention when the land was fertile they could harvest crops. Imagine paradise in a desert. And because of all these advantages in food supply they began to use their spare time to do other things for example, building a pyramid. Why not?

[caption id="attachment_216454" align="aligncenter" width="536" caption="Pyramid (Doc: belovedegypt.com)"]

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[/caption] Not only did the Egyptians use the advantages of nearby water. So did many other early civilizations. Modern archeologists found many tools scattered next to rivers which used to be villages dating back 3000 years ago.

Before the agriculture revolution there was foraging and hunting. Hunting consisted in killing animals such as deer, bison, rabbit or anything else they could get their hands on. They made the meat into food and used the fur for clothing. That is why most early civilizations were nomadic. Everyone counted on nature and animals to survive. So when the animals migrated so did the villagers.

Fish was also a source of food because it was abundant in the sea and high protein. Soon farming and agriculture started to grow and people came to stay in one place as they grew their crops. Such crops include corn, wheat, yam, or potatoes depending on the place. This was kind of a revolution in growing food as it was easy and simple. You put the seeds in the ground, put some water and wait. No need for hunting which can risk lives.

[caption id="attachment_216455" align="aligncenter" width="536" caption="Agricultural system (Doc: sjventerprise.com)"]

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[/caption] But growing crops also has a downside. To feed a whole village requires an abundance of wheat, which means the need of more farming and less time for other things like telling stories or singing around the camp fire. Or making pyramids which takes up time and calories. Also, villagers who ate meat were more healthy and strong compared to those who ate crops.

Not every piece of land was fertile. Farming also needs a stable land that won’t fall over so terracing was needed. Our ancestors made choices that affected the future. As of today we still use farming. If you ever went to the countryside you could see rice and wheat fields everywhere. Agriculture is now fully needed to sustain a healthy and happy environment.