Today, we finished the progressivist argument for the Neolithic Revolution. According to this approach, the domestication of cereal crops, the domestication of large animals, and the "goldilocks" climate/environment of Eurasia gave early humans the ability to accumulate a food surplus and develop labor specialization, such that it allowed some people to instead be kings, warriors, priests, designers/engineers, artists, scribes, etc. and in turn led to the development of more complex technologies.
You then discussed as a class the downsides of the Neolithic Revolution, according to Diamond's Worst Mistake article, which included malnurishment, epidemic diseases, socio-economic inequality, gender inequality, warfare, more work and less leisure, and ecological damage. You will continue that discussion tomorrow as well as discuss the article, The Birth of Religion.
Your test is Monday, September 28. Please discuss with me if you have 3 or more tests already scheduled that day. The first section will ask you to identify and explain the GET PAST of 5 "factoids," read a short passage regarding an archeological find, and distinguish between the facts and interpretations in a passage. The second section will ask you to respond in essay format to the question, To what extent did the Neolithic Revolution transform the life-ways of early humans? You should use ONLY the readings from class and organize your essay around three categories of the GET PAST.
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