The Neolithic Revolution in the Middle East: A survey and speculation article for the Economic History Review

Abstract

This paper investigates the causes and the consequences of the emergence of agriculture in the Middle East. Agriculture has emerged in many parts of the world since the end of the last Ice Age about 15 000 years ago. The paper first surveys the Palaeolithic Period to understand why agriculture did not emerge earlier. Then the paper considers the processes that led to the emergence of agriculture in the Middle East. The question is approached as a problem in economic history, and the archaeological record is understood in terms of changes in labour productivity, as measured by calories produced per hour of work, and in the size of the associated agricultural surplus (the difference between the calories produced by a food procurement system and the calories required to sustain the people trying to support themselves with that system). The shift from foraging to the cultivation of wild seeds and the later impact of the emergence of domestic seed and improvements in tool design are assessed in this framework. It is also used to analyse the impact of agriculture on human wellbeing, the origin of manufacturing (e.g. pottery), and the emergence of inequality, states, and warfare.

Five Thousand Years of Inequality in the Carpathian Basin

“…Focused principally on Eurasia, one hypothesis has linked the onset of plough agriculture to growing disparities in intra-settlement house sizes, and so wealth (1-3). These foundational investigations have provided support for the long-entrenched notion (4) that, once advanced agriculture was established, surpluses were regularly generated, private property became institutionalized (5,6), and while regionally variable, there was an inevitable ratcheting up of economic inequality.…”

Can the Uk Achieve Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050?

“…UK fertiliser prices have tripled since 2020 so substitutes are urgently required both to lower food price inflation and reduce GHG emissions. Based on areas around volcanoes being fertile, ground-up basalt may be a useful fertilizer alternative and soil improver (see Allen, 2024 (who records that agriculture started around the extinct volcano Karacadag in southern Anatolia where a large area of basalt supported einkorn wheat); Beerling et al, 2020;Nunes et al, 2014). Basalt also absorbs atmospheric CO 2 so is doubly beneficial.…”