Life / Agriculture & Food

Farming (Neolithic Revolution)

Around 11,700 years ago people in the Fertile Crescent began sowing and harvesting cereals and pulses instead of only gathering wild plants.

Farming arose independently in several regions: wheat, barley, lentils and peas in West Asia, millet and rice in China, maize, squash and beans in the Americas, later New Guinea and Africa. Settled villages, food stores and surplus followed, which made cities, specialization, writing and states possible. The price was harder work, new diseases and a narrower diet for ordinary people.