To reach a conclusion about which processes were the most important in leading to the development of agriculture it is necessary to compare and contrast examples from various regions of the world. I chose to focus on Southwest Asia (particularly the Levant area), North America, and East Asia. Processes discussed include the influence of climate change and the trend towards a sedentary lifestyle among hunter-gatherer groups. Settlement in small communities for longer periods in areas conducive to agriculture, the development of annual village settlements, and the construction of ritual or communal sites also indicate advanced organization of people. The beginnings of symbolism and cognitive behavior may also contribute to the development of agriculture. Climate change must have played a significant role in providing the environment in which agriculture could have developed. In southwestern Asia the end of the Ice Age brought warmer and wetter conditions in the Late Glacial Maximum and Early Epipaleolithic. The cooler, drier Younger Dryas period accentuated the need for groups to supplement wild plant gathering, and as the climate became warmer and wetter around 9500 BC it produced fertile land ready for cultivation, especially for wheat. In North America, the fertile river floodplains of areas such as Illinois were not suitable for settlement and crops until the mid-Holocene, around 7000 BC. During this period, a southward shift in plant species meant a change in diet for hunter-gatherer groups. A climate similar to the current one was established only after 2500 BC. In East Asia two different areas developed simultaneously, but climatic and environmental factors meant that only when the formation... in mid-paper... of food as a political weapon to impose control is a practice that continues to this day, which indicates the importance of these processes. Works Cited Browman, DL Fritz, GJ Watson. PJ (2009) 'Origins of food-producing economies in the Americas', in Scarre, C. (ed.) The Human Past, London, Thames and Hudson, pp. 306–330. Higham, C. (2009) 'East Asian agriculture and its impact' in Scarre, C. (ed.) The Human Past, London, Thames and Hudson, p. 234-244.The Open University (2007) 'Audio CD, Track 2' [CD], A251 World Archaeology, Milton Keynes, The Open University.Perkins, P. (2009) A251 World Archaeology, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Scarre, C. (ed.) (2009) The Human Past, London, Thames and HudsonWatkins, T. (2009) 'From foragers to complex societies in south-west Asia', in Scarre, C. (ed.) The Human Past, London, Thames and Hudson, p. 200–225.