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11,000 BCE
Agriculture Is Born!
People began a gradual transition away from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle toward cultivating crops and raising animals for food. The shift to agriculture is believed to have occurred independently in several parts of the world, including northern China, Central America, and the Fertile Crescent, a region in the Middle East that cradled some of the earliest civilizations. -
Period: 10,000 BCE to 3000 BCE
Neolithic Era
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9000 BCE
Crops
Around 9000 BCE, humans in the Near East, particularly the Fertile Crescent, began cultivating plants and domesticating animals, marking the beginning of agriculture. This period saw the emergence of various crops like wheat, barley, and peas, as well as the domestication of animals such as sheep, goats, and cattle -
6000 BCE
Animal Domestication
Around 6000 BCE, animals that humans hunted included familiar species like deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and smaller mammals -
3975 BCE
Plows
The first farmers planter their seed using only a stick to dig holes. Approximately 500 years ago the scratch plow was invented. This simple device allowed a domesticated animal to pull a sharp stick through the ground creating a gap in which seed could be placed. -
300 BCE
Better use of animals
The usefulness of the improved plows was enhanced by the development of the horse collar which allowed horses to pull harder without choking itself. As well, harnesses were invented to allow more than one animal to be attached to a single plow. -
Period: to
Industrial Era
The Era of machinery and Advanced farming tools -
Industrial Machinery
During the Industrial Era, agriculture saw a dramatic shift toward mechanized farming. Key innovations included threshing machines, improved seed drills, and steam-powered tractors. These advancements allowed farmers to cover larger areas of land, leading to increased crop production and the rise of industrialized agriculture.