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TheFirstCivilizations

首期文明

Evidencesuggeststhatanimportantstimulusbehindtheriseolycivilizationswas

thedevelopmentofsettledagriculture,whichunleashedaseriesofchangesinthe

organizationofhumancommunitiesthatculminatedintheriseoflargeancient

empires.

显示，早期文明兴起的一个重要刺激因素就是农业的发展。它导致了

人类群落的组织结构出现一系列变更，在古代大型的兴起时达到了顶峰。

Theexacttimeandplacethatcropswerefirstcultivatedsuccessfullyisuncertain.Many

prehistoriansbelievethatfarmingmayhavemergedtlyinseveraldifferent

areasoftheworldwhensmallcommunities,drivenbyincreasingpopulationanda

declineinavailablefoodresources,begantoplantseedsinthegroundinaneffortto

guaranteetheirsurvival.Thefirstfarmers,whomayhavelivedaslongas10,000years

ago,undoubtedlyusedsimpletechniquesandstillreliedprimarilyonotherformsof

foodproduction,suchashunting,foraging,orpastoralism.Therealbreakthroughtook

placewhenfarmersbegantocultivatecropsalongthefloodplainsofriversystems.The

advantagewasthatcropsgrowninsuchareaswerenotasdependentonrainfalland

thereforeproducedamorereliableharvest.Anadditionalbenefitwasthatthesediment

carriedbytheriverwatersdepositednutrientsinthesoil,thusenablingthefarmerto

cultivateasingleplotofgroundformanyyearswithoutmovingtoanewlocation.Thus,

thefirsttrulysedentary(thatis,nonmigratory)societieswereborn.Astimewenton,

suchcommunitiesgraduallylearnedhowtodirecttheflowofwatertoenhancethe

productivecapacityoftheland,whilet