From hamlets to towns

As communities grew, life in them became more complex. Leaders, or chieftains, were responsible for the people's well-being, and everyone worked together for the community's welfare (health, comfort and well-being).

For example, nobody owned land personally: the fields were sown and harvested together. The village worked the land, and the village ate from it.

Over time, hamlets (small settlements) grew into sizeable villages that exchanged goods, mostly food, clothing and tools.

Slowly, networks of communication and exchange grew up between villages, and some villages grew into small towns. Notice the order: hamlet → village → network of exchange → town. The town is the last step, not the first.

New technologies appeared, such as pottery, for making pots and other clay objects, and the use of metal: copper first, iron later. Metal made strong tools, everyday objects and ornaments. Pots matter more than they sound: a pot lets you store grain, and stored grain helps a village survive a bad season.

In Chapter 6 we will see how this stage prepared the way for what is called 'civilisation'.

The chapter ends with a serious thought. This early progress of humanity faced many challenges, and at some critical times humanity could almost have disappeared, as some earlier species did. We will never know those early humans, but we owe our existence today to their courage and persistence.