Summary
Highlights
Around 14,000 years ago, as the Ice Age ended, ocean levels rose, and coastlines changed. This led to dramatic increases in temperature and rainfall, creating rich environments for plants and animals. People began settling in permanent villages, supplementing their food with planted wild grains and moving away from a nomadic lifestyle.
Facing challenges like droughts and harsh winters, people worldwide began discovering agriculture. Although challenging, farming provided more food to consistently feed larger populations. Early agriculturalists selected crops with desirable traits, like larger seeds, and domesticated docile animals. This led to the growth of villages into cities, and a detachment from the natural world.
By 6,000 years ago, cities in Mesopotamia thrived with wealth, power, and a new social order. Control over grain supplies became a source of power, allowing some to exchange services for food. Agricultural societies quickly became the dominant way of life globally, leading to population explosions and the need for more land.
As agriculture expanded, communities relocated due to soil depletion, and livestock grazed further afield. This led to increased contact between previously separated groups, fostering trade and new means of transportation. Genetic distinctions blurred as new families emerged from these interactions, with farmers migrating and encountering hunter-gatherers, such as in sub-Saharan Africa.
While some hunter-gatherers adopted farming or moved to areas unsuitable for agriculture, by 1,500 years ago, agriculture dominated most of sub-Saharan Africa. Deserts like the Kalahari remained havens for hunter-gatherers, preserving unique lifestyles and languages. However, globally, agriculture triumphed, leading to the expansion of farming cultures, the absorption of hunter-gatherer groups, and the reduction of genetic differences within continents, setting the stage for future human history.