Question

Recent studies of the early agricultural revolution in the Fertile Crescent often emphasize a "sedentary-first" hypothesis, which suggests that the adoption of farming was a direct result of increased population density forcing people to settle down and cultivate land. However, archaeological evidence from several key Neolithic sites shows that permanent settlements were established centuries before any specialized agricultural tools or charred domesticated seeds appear in the record. These sites also indicate that the initial inhabitants lived primarily as hunter-gatherers, with large, permanent dwellings preceding the intensification of farming.
Question:
Which choice most logically completes the text?
A) The adoption of farming was a slower, more deliberate process than earlier, more rapid models suggested.
B) Increased population density was likely the result of farming, rather than the cause of it.
C) The transition to agriculture was not the primary driver for early human sedentary behavior.
D) Early hunter-gatherer populations were not sufficiently numerous to have created permanent settlements.

Answer 1

C) The transition to agriculture was not the primary driver for early human sedentary behavior.

Reason: The archaeological evidence shows permanent settlements and large dwellings existed centuries before specialized farming tools or domesticated seeds, and those inhabitants lived mainly as hunter-gatherers. That implies sedentism began independently of, and before, the adoption of agriculture.