The word “first civilization” is usually applied to the earliest communities which showed the simultaneous characteristic of urbanization, specialization of labor, pottery-making, and agriculture.The gains were in population, consistent food supplies, technology, defensibility and arts.Compared to hunter-gatherer communities, the early civilization may have seen increasing discrimination, both between rich and poor and between genders. Greater organization would also lead to greater mechanisms of social control, and consequently some shrinking of personal freedom. Finally, population growth combined with fixed locations of population dense urban areas led to degradation of the natural environment and possibly desertification.