Approximately 10,000 years ago, human societies in several regions independently began transitioning from hunting and gathering to agriculture, a transformation known as the Neolithic Revolution or Agricultural Revolution. This shift involved the domestication of plants and animals, fundamentally altering how humans obtained food and organized their societies. While the change brought significant benefits, it also introduced new challenges and inequalities.

Agriculture enabled societies to produce food surpluses, which supported larger, more sedentary populations. Permanent settlements emerged, and population densities increased dramatically compared to hunter-gatherer societies. Food surpluses also allowed for occupational specialization—not everyone needed to farm, so individuals could become artisans, traders, priests, or rulers. This specialization fostered technological innovation and cultural development, leading to the rise of complex civilizations with writing, architecture, and centralized governance.

However, the agricultural lifestyle also brought disadvantages. Archaeological evidence suggests that early farmers experienced poorer health than hunter-gatherers, including nutritional deficiencies, infectious diseases, and skeletal problems from repetitive labor. Agriculture also created opportunities for wealth accumulation and social stratification, as landowners could control resources and exercise power over others. Additionally, dependence on specific crops made agricultural societies vulnerable to famine if harvests failed. Despite these drawbacks, agriculture's ability to support larger populations meant that agricultural societies eventually displaced or absorbed most hunter-gatherer groups, shaping the trajectory of human history.