Agrarian Societies

1. controlled weeds which would compete with horticultural gardens and necessitated moving those garden every 2 to 4 years.
2. maintained the fertility of the soil by turning top soil.

Size and density - Agrarian societies were larger and more dense than previous societies. They could support over 100,000 people with densities of over 100 people per square mile. Modern agrarian societies often have rapidly expanding populations.

Permanent settlements. Agrarian societies were the first societies to develop cities. Farming allowed people, for the first time, to be able to be born, live to be an adult, and die in the same place. The surplus food also allowed a small portion of the people to live in cities where they were not directly involved with food production.

Social institutions. Agrarian societies developed more elaborate and complex institutions.

• The Family is still the major institution. The economy is primarily a family business. For the farmers, the farm is the family business. For urban craftsmen and shop keepers, their shop was family owned and operated.
• The Economy establishes monetary systems of exchange. Money systems increase markets because products can be sold to people who don't produce things you want. It subverts the control the family has over its members and increases individualism.
• Religion is very powerful. It provides a rational for giving surplus to leaders. The "Creator" and "Involved" gods that originated in horticultural and pastoral societies are still part of the ideology. Gods are seen as concerned with the moral conduct of humans. As societies are more expansive and include various subcultures, monotheism replaces multiple gods.
• Politics is primarily a feudal system based on heredity.
• Education expands as an institution. Only a small group are actually educated. This is not yet something for the masses.
• Art and leisure consist primarily of art, music and dancing. Games of physical skill still prominent (97%); games of chance (74%) and strategy games increase (71%). Much entertainment was raucous and crude. Cock fights, gladiators and public hangings common.
• Warfare is constant in agrarian societies. They fight each other and wipe out earlier types of societies. Standing armies become common.

Stratification is very extreme. Possibly highest of all societies for both class and sex.

Other - There is a decrease in head-hunting, cannibalism and human sacrifices. Life is very hard. Improvements in transportation increase trade and production.

Go to Hunting & gathering, Horticultural, Pastoral, Industrial, Post Industrial societies.

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For further reading I suggest: Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology by Gerhard Lenski, Jean Lenski and Patrick Nolan. McGraw-Hill, Inc.