Key Historical Periods and Transitions Flashcards
(13 cards)
When did the first cultivation of wild plants begin?
~ 12,500 years ago
When did the first full agricultural economies emerge?
~ 9,500 years ago
What major lifestyle shift marked the Agricultural Revolution?
The transition from foraging to farming
What health impacts are associated with early agriculture, according to Neolithic skeletal evidence?
Increased illness, disease and reduced fertility
What were the ecological consequences of the Agricultural revolution?
Habitat loss, decline in biodiversity, soil degradation due to continuous farming
How did climate during the Pleistocene differ from the Holocene?
The Pleistocene had greater climatic variation (glacial-interglacial cycles)
The Holocene was more stable
Why did agriculture likely emerge during the Holocene?
Because of environmental stability, higher productivity and population growth
Why didn’t people develop agriculture during the Pleistocene despite having the tools and intellect/
Low plant productivity and climatic instability made sedentary agriculture unsustainable
What were some consequences of colonialism and imperialism on natural resources?
Resources extraction, environmental degradation, displacement of traditional farming, dependence on global trade
How did colonial systems contribute to unsustainable land use?
Through monoculture plantations, exploitation of labour and disruption of indigenous land management practices
What were the environmental effects of the industrial revolution?
Increased use of fossil fuels
Urbanisation
Pollution
Mechanisation of agriculture leading to intensified resource extraction
What role did slavery play in colonial resource systems?
Enforced labour enables mass-scale production of export crops, often damaging local ecosystems and societies
How does the Agricultural revolution link to the anthropocene debate?
It marks the beginning of large-scale human alteration of ecosystems
