THE WAY NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION ALTERED ENVIRONMENT CONSEQUENTLY ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION

B. F. KIWALE

P.O BOX 774

IRINGA

© Kiwale, F. Brasto 2015

ISBN 9976 911 49 1

The first handout 2016, may. 28.

Printing and publishing consultancy by

Kiwale Associates/ TFC, P.O Box 326,

Iringa, Tanzania.

RUAHA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY- IRINGA, TANZANIA

Introduction

Neolithic revolution or New Stone Age, begin with the introduction of farming, dating various from C 9000 BCE in the Near East C 7000 BCE South East Europe, C 6000 BCE in East Asia and even later in other regions. This is the time when cereal cultivation and animal domestication was introduced (Violatti, 2014).

Neolithic revolution, the most important technological development ever to occur in human history was the domestication of plants (agriculture) and animals (pastoralism). Together these developments are called the Neolithic Revolution and they allowed the development of urban centers (towns and later cities), trade and most of the other things we consider to be components of “civilization” (Bottema, 1990:1).

Neolithic Revolution was the gradual change from food collection to food production, which takes several millennia. Methods of collecting food by hunting, fishing and gathering plants or fruits were gradually replaced by animal husbandry and agriculture. It goes hand in hand with a change from a nomadic way of life to a sedentary lifestyle, initially half-sedentary (Heise, 1996).

Generally, Neolithic Revolution was the transformation of human societies from being hunter- gatherer based to agriculture. The shifting from hunting and gathering to agriculture led to permanent settlements the establishment of social classes and the eventually rise of civilization. This process began around 10,000 BCE and lasted the thousands of years with each building block along the way shaping human lives today.

A short history of Neolithic Revolution

Prior to 10,000 BCE, most of the world's inhabitants were nomads, foraging for food with little or no structure to their communities. Early hunter-gatherers lived in small groups, accumulating few goods, and moving from place to place in search of food. Because of their constant movements family sizes remained small.  These people learned to hunt with stone axes, use fire for  cooking meat and plants, and they also began to share what they learned with others  creating separate cultures. Around 200,000 years ago, a new species emerged and they are called Homo sapiens. The Homo sapiens eventually developed greater intellectual and linguistic capabilities which allowed them to communicate more effectively, develop better tools, weapons, and migrate farther. These changes were introduced by agriculture which affected the way of living and how it used the earth including forest clearance, root crops and cereal cultivation that can be stored for long periods of time. Later the development of new technologies for farming and herding such as plows and irrigation system (agriculture in general) became intensive something implied food available for feeding population where social and political organization as the population density of the village increased, finally people left hunting and gathering to domestication of plants and animals (Violatti, 2014).

The characteristics of Neolithic Revolution (before and after)

Before	After
—  People were nomadic —  People lived in small bands ·         People were either hunters or gatherers —  Food shortages	—  People settled down in one place —  Large populations lived in villages —  People farmed and had many specialized jobs. —  Food surpluses (extra) —  People domesticated animals

 The following are the reasons of Neolithic Revolution altered the environment consequently environmental destruction. As it explained here under each;

Population growth has triggered at the very point in time when societies adopted agricultural mode of production (Petersen, 2010:14). It was when people increased and food became scarce and people started to find the way how will they get food to feed the population, where seems that food can be obtained from the nature (environment). Therefore, people decided to start clearing the trees around the environment in order to get land for agriculture where environment started to be destructed. Also they set fires to the land, these fires altered the soil and opened the land up to erosion by wind and water because no trees which prevent soil erosion and finally area become desert or semi- desert. For example, North India until this time is semi-desert and Middle East likewise.

Growth of towns and cities, Neolithic Revolution as a period of technological changes by man that is from hunters and gatherers societies to agricultural societies contributed much to the emergence of towns and cities like Jericho (in the Jordan valley) and Catal Höyük in Turkey, which show the great diversity of forms of inhabitation. Because of the long time span between the building of these cities and the bloom of the city-states around 3000 BCE, (Heise, 1996). Through it caused the increase in number of people as the result of cities and towns, where altered environment by clearing the trees in order to get area for settlement consequently led to the environment destruction. Also people cleared trees in order to prepare area for infrastructures like roads and other path ways something led to environmental destruction due to that.

Mining, smelting and casting, metals and metal ore were collected in Neolithic period where after the tools became improved people started to extract minerals from the land especially to area where trees has been cleared, something led the area left with various holes and no vegetation which keeps environment healthly. For example Simple copper artifacts (pins) have been found in a Neolithic village in Turkey and dated shortly before 7000 BCE.  Therefore digging these minerals on the earth’s surface destructed the soil by leaving it bare and easy to be eroded by agents like water and strong blowing wind. Later on many environmental problems like desertification, drought, floods occurred and changes the situation of the environment because it involved various issues like clearing trees, digging holes, channelization and others (Heise, 1996). All these keeps the environment necked where the stored CO₂ in that tree goes direct to atmosphere and the emitted CO₂ by human being goes direct also to the atmosphere which contribute to the Greenhouse gases finally temperature increase on the surface.

The establishment of permanent settlement, often led to rapid deterioration of the local natural environment, through Neolithic Revolution they cause man or people to settle permanently. Permanent settlement brought new ways of social organization as the subsistence strategies of Neolithic communities became more efficient, the population of the different settlements increased (Violatti, 2014). Therefore it was a starting point to clear the trees to the land for construction of houses, roads, dams and canals while these trees was much important to keep environment healthly but became opposed and threatened the biodiversities found in that trees (Swanson, 1994: 85). These were the major source of biodiversity loss and erosion to the land because area was open for anything to take place. In addition tree covers reduced by cutting of timber for fuel, for agriculture use and for domestication of animals which prevents the regeneration of trees and finally led to destruction of environment.

Animal domestication, animals which domesticated by man was sheep, cattle pigs and dogs around the environment where there was an availability of fresh grasses, this because, by then man started to engage in keeping and domesticating animals as a workforce, as the time goes these kind of animals increased and the rate of destructing the environment increased too due to large number of animals with a small area therefore land became eroded, also destructed the small trees without growing further. Through that man was in position on destructing the environment around him. In addition these kind of animals normally produces methane gas which is included as among the Greenhouse gas which is playing the role of destructing the atmosphere later on harmful sun rays starts to come direct to the earth’s surface to change the environmental climate finally area become desert, semi-desert, drought, flooded and also affects the growth of vegetations. Therefore through these environments become in position of being destructed either direct or indirect (Hermansen et all, 2011).

Crop cultivation, it involves growing of crops such as sorghum, beans, wheat and others, it occurred when an individuals improved their tools which facilitated them to plant crops, harvest and store crops more efficiently than during the period of hunting and gathering. They were using metal tools and plow which enabled them to grow crops on large areas of land, something makes them to clear vegetation in large quantity so as to wide up their farms where the environment started to change in climate because area is bare and erosion on soil taking place intensive. Also crop cultivation facilitated population increase in size because food is available, more over people cleared area for settlement. Therefore through these occasions environment become destructed (Lewis, 2005: 55-60).

Generally, population increase, development of cities and towns, extraction of minerals and permanent settlement of people during Neolithic revolution did not occur overnight, the transition from hunter-gather society to an agricultural society took thousands of years to complete. Therefore Neolithic revolution is still dominating our everyday lives and its impacts is still altering the environments consequently environmental destruction, this lead to continuous debate between environmentalist themselves toward the environmental conservation and protections. Therefore we advice to plant trees around the environment also implement all policies relating to environmental conservation in order to keep the environment healthly than destructing it.

REFERENCE AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCE

Bottema, R. (1990). Man’s Role in the shaping of Eastern Mediteraninean landscape. Nethaland: State University of Groningen.

Heise, J. (Feb 17, 1996). Prehistory of the ancient near, East including: Neolithic, Chalcolithic.

https://personal.sron.nl/~jheise/akkadian/prehistory.html

Hermansen, J.E & Kristensen, T. (July, 2011). Management options to reduce the carbon footprint of livestock products. Animal frontier, 1(1), 33-39.

http://animalsmart.org/animals-and-the-environment/environmental-impact-of-animal-production.

Lewis, P. D. (2005). The Neolithic mind: consciousness cosmos and the realm of the gods. New York: Thames and Hudson publishers.

Petersen, M. B. & Skaaning, S. E. ( ). Ultimate causes of state formation: the significance of biogeography, diffusion and Neolithic Revolution. Denimark: Aurhus University.

Swanson, T. (1994). The international regulation of extinction. New York: New York University press.

Violatti, C. (August 05, 2014). “Neolithic,” Ancient History Encyclopedia. http://www.ancient.eu/Neolithic/.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Heise, J. (Feb 17, 1996). Prehistory of the ancient near, East including: Neolithic, Chalcolithic.

https://personal.sron.nl/~jheise/akkadian/prehistory.html

During the Neolithic a ''revolution'' takes place, called the Neolithic revolution (the term was first used by V.G. Childe in 1936). Despite its name it is a very slow and gradual change from food collection to food production, which takes several millennia. Methods of collecting food by hunting, fishing and gathering plants/fruits were gradually replaced by animal husbandry and agriculture. It goes hand in hand with a change from a nomadic way of life to a sedentary lifestyle, initially half-sedentary”.