Plant Domestication and Agriculture

PLANT DOMESTICATION AND AGRICULTURE domestication ? use of plant species without modification! agriculture ? deliberate modification of plants with purpose of increasing their usefulness! Consequence of hunting big game = depletion of big game! They were too successful at hunting ( Needed new source of food! Cradle of Agriculture ? in Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia (7,000 BC) Hypotheses for Origins of Agriculture 1. Depletion of game resources and climate change- climate change caused wild resources to become scarce ( people had to live around the few water sources; end of Ice Age ( more plants, etc.; large mammals mass extinction ( no big game meant they needed new food sources! 2. Overpopulation and ?Broad Spectrum Revolution? ? hunting and gathering was expanded to the maximum (overpopulation) ( forced to eat less popular foods/plants because that?s all there was in times of scarcity, some foods became more important than before as supply of preferred prey decreases, must broaden diet! Agriculture began with less nutritious foods( progressively became more so 3. Expansion of existing food and procurement strategy ? certain resources could be found in certain places at certain times Positive Consequences of Agriculture 1. Sedentism ? don?t have to migrate anymore! People lived together in large places ( population growth 2. Development of towns 3. Population growth 4. New technology Negative Consequences: may not get enough food! ***Plant domestication ( ownership of land begins ( economic stratification begins! Produce best foods for that environment ( environment changes ( need new agricultural product; had to change your product rather than moving around to find a new one! Enamel hypoplasia=deficiency of enamel; marks on teeth of malnutrition, more common on teeth of cultures relying on agriculture! Malocclusion of jaw: cooking(don?t need huge teeth because food is softer ( smaller teeth and mandible evolved; mandible reducing more quickly than teeth ( malocclusion! Dog = 1st animal to be domesticated; then cows, goats, sheep, pigs Functions of Herding 1. Stable food supply 2. Provide labor assistance 3. Provide natural fuel and fertilizer ** Taming is easier than hunting!! Types of Pastoralism 1. Horizontal migration / nomadism ? regular movement 2. Transhumance pastoralism ? seasonal movement 3. Agropastoralism ? settled 4. Pastoralism and trade