Book 5, Question 84
Home Sweet Home! Why Did People Start Staying in One Place?
For a very long time, many people moved around to find food. Later, some groups began to settle in one place, especially where there was good food and water. Staying put made it easier to store food and build lasting shelters.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 5
More fun facts
- About 12,000 years ago, perhaps 200 people lived in a small village by a stream near the Sea of Galilee, in what is now northern Israel.
- Those villagers were investing in one place, the place where they lived and where they buried their dead.
- The big change was from moving around to living in one place, harvesting plants and building a community bigger than one family.
- Farming let people settle in one place and grow crops.
- Later, as many as 8,000 people lived together in Catalhoyuk, in what is now Turkey, and stayed for more than a thousand years.
Sources: Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, BBC
Questions kids ask
How long ago did people start living in villages?
At least 12,000 years ago, people were living in small villages like one near the Sea of Galilee.