Draught animals: from 4000 BC
Four basic farm animals, out of which cattle represent the most significant development in village life. Not only does the cow provide much more milk than its own offspring require, but the brute strength of the ox was an unprecedented addition to man's muscle power.
From about 4000 BC, oxen are harnessed and put to work by mankind. They were made to drag sledges, somewhat later even ploughs and wheeled wagons (an almost simultaneous innovation in the Middle East and European Countries). The plough, it was found to immeasurably increase the crop of wheat or rice and that to very fast, compared to hands. The wagon enabled these wheat and rice to be brought home from more distant fields.
With these developments in place by mankind, the transition to settled communities became a reality and complete - from hunter-gatherer to farmer. The Neolithic Revolution only spread to areas which are suitable for farming. In the jungles of the world, hunting and gathering remained the standard way of life for human communities until the 20th century. An intermediate stage, that of nomadic pastoralism, moving of the the flocks to new pastures, prevails in semi-barren regions.
The use of a draught animal was considered a valuable but not an essential part of this farming revolution. No beast powerful enough for the purpose is available in America, but this did not prevent agriculture and civilization from evolving.
Neolithic burials: from 8000 BC
As aresult of the Neolithic Revolution, the communities remain settled in one place, the burial of their dead becomes a matter of intense concern. An early solution was to keep them within the family home, buried beneath the floor or even under the bed.
About 8000 BC, in Jericho, burials are found under the floors of houses as well as in nearby vacant lots. In Catal Huyuk, 1500 years later, later on the normal place for burial was within the house, under the brick and plaster platform which is used for sleeping and other everyday purposes.
A procedure in Catal Huyuk was for the body kept outside the town, where vultures and insects strips the bones dry. When the skeleton is ready for burial, the sleeping platform in the house is opened up and the space for the newcomer was arranged in such a way so that both the present occupants and newcomers have space designated, and the platform is bricked up again and plastered over.
A society with elaborate shrines most probably must certainly have accompanied such an event with considerable ritual that is even prevalent now. The majority of burials are without funeral gifts, but in a few cases the jewels of women and the weapons of men are buried with them.
