The Agricultural Revolution   Until around 12,000 years ago, humans lived as hunter-gatherers. With the domestication of plants and animals, however, new dimensions for cultural evolution suddenly became possible. But why did our ancestors take up farming after thousands of years of successful hunting and gathering? This episode discusses the causes and effects of the agricultural revolution.   Related Reading:   Barker, G. (2009). The agricultural revolution in prehistory: Why did foragers become farmers? Oxford Univ. Press   Diamond, J. M. (2017). Guns, germs, and steel: The fates of human societies. New York: W.W. Norton & Company   Svizzero, S., Tisdell, C. A. (2014). The Neolithic Revolution and Human Societies: Diverse Origins and Development Paths. Working papers on economics, ecology and the environment, Issue 19.