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1. What is "surplus" and how did it lead to the development of civilization?

2. What groups or institutions were formed to help develop and sustain an agriculture society?
3. What new challenges would sedentary societies face that they would not as a nomadic society?

1 Answer

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1. A surplus represents over production of a particular good, or rather producing more than what is needed for the society. The fact that the agricultural societies were able to produce surplus had enormous influence on their development. The surplus meant that apart from solving their basic problem with the food supply, they actually had food for trading with other societies that were not able to produce enough. Through the trade, these societies were exchanging food for other goods that they lacked and needed.

2. Once the agriculture societies started to from, in order for them to be sustainable, the people had to change their ways and create certain social institutions. The basic social institutions that were set were the political, economic, and religious ones. These institutions managed to keep the societies in order, develop them, and give them a sense of unity and togetherness.

3. The change of lifestyle from nomadic to sedentary brought in several challenges with which the humans have not faced before. The settlements were becoming larger and larger, so institutions had to be developed in order for everything to be kept in order. Classes started to form in the societies, which meant different lifestyle in accordance to the class a person belonged to. The architecture and organization of the settlements also were a challenge, as they needed to be properly built, the infrastructure to be well set, with the end goal the people to be able to perform their basic needs.

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