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It is a time when people move from the hunting and gathering stage and start settling down in one location.
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Animals, such as sheep and goats, are herded and raised as food sources. Eventually pigs and cattle are domesticated as well.
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In south central Asia Minor, the community of Çatal Höyük develops. Wheat, vegetables, and barley are grown.
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As farming areas expand, a need for irrigation grows. Early methods are used in Mesopotamia near the Tigris and Euphrates and in Egypt near the Nile River where the people can't always rely on the rivers to flood to bring water to the crops.
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The plow replaces the digging stick as a means to dig up the ground and make it ready for planting. The early plow is pulled by humans. Eventually animals are used.
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Starting in the Middle East, the Neolithic period starts to move into the Copper Age as copper tools replace stone tools. Eventually all groups will move towards tools made with either copper, bronze, and/or iron as people realize how useful the new tools are. The Neolithic Era will be remembered as the major transition from the hunting, gathering, and wandering groups to the agricultural communities and the domestication of animals.
