ABSTRACT
This chapter explains why the Agricultural Revolution happened and how certain geographic regions supported this revolution better than others. It describes the bodily consequences or implications for biocultural diversity of the Agricultural Revolution, as seen in the archaeological record. The chapter aims to characterize the Agricultural Revolution’s effects on sociopolitical and economic organization. It explores central consequences of intensification for human biocultural diversity. Over-exploitation probably played a part in supporting the Agricultural Revolution. However, most scientists favor climate change as the crucial driving force. In addition to necessity and geography, curiosity was a very important part of the equation that supported the Agricultural Revolution. The agricultural lifestyle differs vastly from that of foragers. To practice agriculture, a people must settle. Agricultural populations demonstrate higher rates of degenerative joint disease, reflective of more demanding activity patterns. They also have thicker bones—again a reflection of a more physically demanding life.
