Module 2 - Lecture 6: The Mesolithic Flashcards
when was the Mesolithic?
13 000 BCE to 6000 BCE
how did the environment change from the upper paleolithic?
-> warmer (more favourable to humans)
-> sea levels rose, creating islands
-> more forests = more opportunities
what tools are associated with the Mesolithic?
-> microliths: small standardized stone blades
what happened at the end of the Mesolithic?
-> people began producing food, hunter-gatherers faded out
define agriculture
cultivation of plants and animals by humans INTENTIONALLY
what was the result of agriculture on plants/animals?
-> genetic, behavioural, physical changes
what were the changes in the first domesticated plants? (wheats, cereals)
-> altered seed dispersal
-> increase in size
what was the first purpose of domesticated animals?
-> domesticated for meat (except dogs)
-> later used for tracking, protection, carrying loads)
what was the oasis hypothesis? who developed it?
-> Gordon Childe
-> dryness restricted vegetation to only near water, therefore humans had to adapt by domesticating animals
(no evidence of a climate crisis)
what was the natural habitat hypothesis? who developed it?
-> Robert Braidwood
-> domestic plants/animals lived close to where their ancestors lived
(doesn’t explain why)
what was the edge hypothesis? who developed it?
-> Ian Hodder
-> agriculture developed because there was no other choice
-> hunting was scarce because of increasing populations
(no evidence of a population increase at the time)
what was the social hypothesis? who developed it?
-> Barbara Bender
-> the rise in agriculture couldn’t be fully explained by environment or population alone, but a combination of factors
what are some of the consequences of agriculture?
-> more permanent settlements
-> social inequality
-> storage systems
-> population size
-> ceramic use
