AP Global History 1
Prof. Ballerini
January 15, 2015
Throughout history, multiple changes have occurred in the evolution of food production and reliance of food supply. Some of the major changes occurred during the Neolithic Revolution and the Agrarian (Agricultural) Revolution. These upgrades in food production had political, social and economic effects on societies and regions. The Neolithic Revolution fundamentally changed the way people lived by shifting from food-gathering to agriculture to permanent settlements, the establishment of social classes, and the eventual rise of civilizations. The Agricultural Revolution was a period of agricultural development between the 18th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw a massive and rapid increase in agricultural productivity and vast improvements in farm technology.
The Neolithic Revolution was one of the first revolutions in food production of humankind. According to “Civilization: Past and Present”, by T. Walter Wallbank, Paleolithic humans could not control their food supply and they relied on foraging, hunting, fishing and trapping, basically dependent on the natural food supply their environment to prevent starvation. The Neolithic Revolution caused a change in human history because humans, who were traditionally hunter-gathers because farmers and herdsman, advancing from food-extraction to food-producing economy, cultivating edible plants, and breeding animals. Mankind no longer needed to depended on the natural resources on the wild but they could now grow crops from the earth. In the comic “Mysteries of Catalhoyukl,”by the Science Museum of Minnesota, Neolithic humans used new technology the plow and the wheel to plant and harvest crops were they resided in a community instead of migrating to hunt and gather. They domesticated plants by using seed selection and selective breeding--controlling the reproduction of animals to select desirable characteristics. Humans began enjoying