Neolithic Revolution Essay

When one thinks of History, one tends to consider Human History as the center of the subject, and to think of it as separated from the other species surrounding us. Not only is this commonly accepted, but we also think of Human History on the similar time frame. The focus is almost always given on relatively recent history, namely the last thousands years. In a previous paper, I argued that the beginning of agriculture and the Neolithic revolution were the most influential development in Human History. I might have been wrong, as my focus was on a small time frame of a thousand years. For the sake of good comprehension, we will first examine what was argued in favour of agriculture, than how was this argument flawed as we take in consideration
However, Homo sapiens developed differently. This can be explained through the domestication of fire and its use in the every day life . Used as a weapon, as a heat producer and as a way to cook food, fire was essential . We can analyze the use of fire as a foreshadowing of the future, as it is the beginning of mankind having control over the surrounding nature. This will later be seen in the Neolithic Revolution, as Homo sapiens will later change vegetational patterns . Once again this shows the importance of looking at history through the lens of a bigger picture, as the Cognitive Revolution was essential to Homo sapiens’ development and predicted the Neolithic Revolution. The use of fire as a cooking method permitted Homo sapiens to develop with larger brains , with more cognitive abilities, social skills and complex language . Between 70,000 and 30,000 years ago, the Cognitive Revolution took place as Homo sapiens developed new ways to communicate, share information and think about fictive realities, which will be an essential part of the creation of communities seen in the Neolithic Revolution . The symbolic, fictive thinking was brand new for Homo sapiens, and is one of the main differentiations from the other Homos