Agricultural Origins and Diffusions
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| agricultural hearths | 农业源地 | nóng yè yuán dì |
| First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution | 新石器农业革命 | xīn shí qì nóng yè gé mìng |
| domestication | 驯化 | xùn huà |
| surplus | 剩余 | shèng yú |
The first farmers
- Farming began in a few agricultural hearths 农业源地 around the world.
- The First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution 新石器农业革命 was the first domestication of plants and animals.
- It let people settle in one place instead of hunting and gathering.
The first domestication of plants and animals is called the...
The First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution began farming.
Domestication
- Domestication 驯化 is taming wild plants and animals for human use.
- Wheat, rice, and maize were domesticated in different hearths.
- Farming then spread by diffusion — migration, trade, and conquest.
Hunter-gatherer or early farmer trait?
Sort each feature as belonging to hunter-gatherers or to the first farmers.
Agriculture arose independently in several different hearths around the world.
Wheat, rice, and maize were domesticated in separate hearths.
Taming wild plants and animals for human use is called ____.
Domestication was the core of the first agricultural revolution.
Select all crops matched to their hearths.
Wheat, rice, and maize came from real hearths; coffee did not come from the Moon.
Why it mattered
- Settling down allowed surplus food to be stored.
- Surplus freed some people from farming, enabling towns and specialists.
- So agriculture is the foundation of cities and civilisation.
Order these developments from earliest to latest.
First people gathered, then domesticated, then settled, then built towns on surplus.
There was not one single birthplace of farming. Agriculture arose independently in several hearths (Southwest Asia, East Asia, the Americas), each domesticating different crops. Do not describe it as spreading from one origin.
Wheat was domesticated in Southwest Asia, rice in East Asia, and maize in the Americas — three separate agricultural hearths. Each crop then diffused outward with migrating and trading peoples.
Farming began in several agricultural hearths during the First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution, through the domestication of plants and animals. It let people settle, store surplus, and build towns — the foundation of civilisation. It arose independently, not from one origin.