The agricultural revolution paved the way for the differentiation of labor as well as the decline of women in agricultural societies in the Middle East.
Firstly, as agricultural societies encompassed food surpluses and larger populations, distinct forms of labour were introduced, which in turn resulted in different social classes. Likewise, a food surplus meant that farmers could exchange part of their harvest for specialized services and products of new workers such as toolmakers and weavers, and that few people were needed for food production; this made it possible to support occupational specialization on the part of groups like full-time blacksmiths, traders, or pottery-makers, as well as nonfarming elite groups such as priests and warriors. …show more content…
Traditionally, each household was expected to craft the tools and weapons that it needed, just as people were expected to weave their own baskets and to produce their own clothing. Nonetheless, during the agricultural revolution, families or individuals who were particularly skilled in these tasks began to manufacture implements beyond their own needs in order to exchange them for goods such as grain, milk, and meat. In terms of social structures and classes, it is quite difficult to precisely determine how the agricultural revolution shaped social classes. Nonetheless, it is believed that social distinctions were most likely refined by occupational differences only to an extent in which social stratification was nonexistent. For instance, in the ancient town of Jericho (present day Palestine), one of the first agricultural civilizations, the adaptation of wheat/barley farming resulted in different forms of labor that ultimately contributed to Jericho’s long-lived success. Aside from ruling elites and craftspeople who contributed to critical inventions such as
Firstly, as agricultural societies encompassed food surpluses and larger populations, distinct forms of labour were introduced, which in turn resulted in different social classes. Likewise, a food surplus meant that farmers could exchange part of their harvest for specialized services and products of new workers such as toolmakers and weavers, and that few people were needed for food production; this made it possible to support occupational specialization on the part of groups like full-time blacksmiths, traders, or pottery-makers, as well as nonfarming elite groups such as priests and warriors. …show more content…
Traditionally, each household was expected to craft the tools and weapons that it needed, just as people were expected to weave their own baskets and to produce their own clothing. Nonetheless, during the agricultural revolution, families or individuals who were particularly skilled in these tasks began to manufacture implements beyond their own needs in order to exchange them for goods such as grain, milk, and meat. In terms of social structures and classes, it is quite difficult to precisely determine how the agricultural revolution shaped social classes. Nonetheless, it is believed that social distinctions were most likely refined by occupational differences only to an extent in which social stratification was nonexistent. For instance, in the ancient town of Jericho (present day Palestine), one of the first agricultural civilizations, the adaptation of wheat/barley farming resulted in different forms of labor that ultimately contributed to Jericho’s long-lived success. Aside from ruling elites and craftspeople who contributed to critical inventions such as