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Growing Population (Innovation)
Growing population forced the need for return to nomadic existence or intensifying food production. -
Powerful Agriculture (Power)
Communites that chose agriculture gained more power because of larger populations and more resources. -
Beyond the Villages (Environment)
Agriculture spread through budding, people moving beyond the villages where they were born. -
Tools and Technologies (Innovation)
Tools and technologies - irrigation, better crops, burning to clear fields and forrests, and terraced farming - were created to make agriculture more efficient. -
Stored Food (Power)
Stored food allowed support of both farmers and nonfarmers - priests, potters, builders and soldiers. -
Trade by Nomadic Societies (Innovation)
Non-settled societies helped spread goods and technologies by transporting them from one community to another. -
Community Growth (Environment)
Most areas were first organized into villages, but some of these eventually grew into larger communities. -
Women and Men (Power)
In societies that depended on large families and child-bearing, women had fewer opportunites to do different jobs outside the home, and their power and wealth were diminished as a result. Men had increasing power outside the home. -
Forming Cities and States (Environment)
Population growth and density created needs that led to cities (geographical areas) and states (political organizations) forming at the same time. -
Organization of People (Innovation)
Larger communities required organization of resources, relationsjhips, laws, war, trade and religion because family was no longer enough. -
Spread of Disease (Environment)
Epidemic disease was more likely in agrarian societies where people lived close together. Connections and travel among socieities caused the spread of disease within regions. -
Malthusian Cycles (Power)
Populations grow faster than resources which leads to political rise and fall, economic boom and bust, and cultural bloom and decay called "Malthusian Cycles."
