Final answer:
Human groups began to shift from hunting and gathering to domesticating plants and animals around 12,000 years ago, signalizing the Neolithic Age. This transition played a crucial role in shaping human societies, leading to the rise of agriculture, permanent settlements, and specialization of labor.
Step-by-step explanation:
Above how long ago did a few human groups begin to abandon the exclusive use of foraging and take up the practice of domesticating plants and animals for food? In answering this question, we can consider that the transition from a lifestyle based on hunting and gathering to one that included the domestication of plants and animals began approximately 12,000 years ago. This shift marked the onset of the Neolithic Age, a period characterized by the advent of agriculture and the establishment of more settled ways of life. The agricultural revolution not only led to the growth of permanent settlements but also to an increase in population size due to the more reliable and abundant food supplies it brought about. Regions such as the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East witnessed some of the earliest agricultural practices around 11,000-10,000 years ago. This was quickly followed by the rise of agriculture in the valleys of the Indus, Yangtze, and Yellow rivers in India and China, and much later in the Americas. These changes significantly impacted human societies, leading to the development of specialized occupations, trade, and even the emergence of different social classes due to the accumulation of wealth by successful farmers.