What are the characteristics of agrarian society
Answers
The Main Characteristics of Agrarian Societies
One trademark that distinguishes agrarian societies from rummaging and hunting societies is sedentism. Sedentism refers to permanent settlement in a place. Early human civilizations were foragers, hunters, and pastoralists who wandered huge tracts of land looking for sustenance from forests and grazing lands. On the contrary, agrarian societies settled in a permanent place. They opted to settle down and cultivate land to grow their crops.
This type of farming allows for the development of more complex social structures since most members of the community have enough food and time, unlike hunter-gatherers who spend a great deal of their time seeking food alone. With enough time on their hands, individuals can specialize in different skills while a small population focuses on food production. The agrarian society led to the concept of land ownership where landowners viewed land as the basis of wealth and prestige in the community. As a result, social structures became more rigid and sophisticated at the same time. Social classes arose from land ownership. Those who owned land were a higher class than those who did not.
Agrarian societies led to the establishment of the very first political institutions with formalized political administrations that had elaborate legal framework systems and economic institutions. This inevitably led to the acquiring of wealth as trade between members of the society became elaborate. Money became the medium of exchange, and as a result, accounting, taxation, record keeping, and regulations were also introduced. The effect of surplus food production afforded members of the society time to explore more, beyond the basic need of sustenance. The emergence of art and recreational activities was fueled by this. Ultimately, there was a surge in population which made agrarian societies focus on urban settlement. Urbanization led to the expansion of trade and infusion of culture into the myriad of agricultural cities.
Characteristic of agrarian society
Explanation:
Most agrarian societies share some common characteristics. Its key characteristics are that the economic wealth and society, in general, it is centered primarily on agriculture. Human and animal labor are primarily used labor in agriculture.
- Sense of unity "WE" feeling.
- Social control through informal means.
- Simplicity, Homogeneity, and Closeness to nature.
- Minimal division of labor.
- Characteristics of rural communities.
- Rapid technological advances.
- Less leisure time
- Freedom to work different Jobs
- Depleted soil
These are the characteristics of agrarian society.