GALLERY 1

The First Villages

It took millions of years for the human species to spread across the globe from its origins in East Africa but by around 10,000 BCE, in the Near East, China and Central America, communities began to settle in the first villages where they domesticated animal and plant species. Despite regional differences, these early village communities shared a common desire for cohesion, by means of beliefs and rituals, around their ancestors. Human representations developed in the form of female figurines that addressed ideas of fertility. The wealth generated by profits from agriculture and livestock fostered the emergence of the first forms of state power.