FOH 4: The Birth of Agriculture

What is agriculture?

Agriculture = the knowledge/ability and the activity of producing one’s own food supply (and other materials needed for daily life) basic activities?

Agriculture = the knowledge/ability and the activity of producing one’s own food supply (and other materials needed for daily life) - cultivating plants - domesticating/raising animals

Around what time was it discovered and developed?

Circa 8000 BCE

Where was it first developed?

Eurasia the ancient “Near East” [the Middle East] (the cuneiform lands) Fertile Crescent Fertile Crescent today

And from there? Fertile Crescent  North Africa and Europe  Indus River Valley China – Yellow and Yangtze Rivers

Why in the Fertile Crescent? List as many factors as you can that explain this place of origin.

Climate: cool rainy winters + hot dry summers  cereal plants with many helpful characteristics: - rapid growth - self-pollinating - large seeds - easy to harvest b/c stems are NOT woody and seed pods do NOT shatter easily Spreading is easier across a zone with similar conditions (climate, sunlight, diseases, etc.).

What developments* made it possible or easier to domesticate plants? * Slow, gradual changes in the natural world and in the human world

1) End of the Ice Ages  warmer and wetter conditions in the Near East  spread of cereal grains with the characteristics just described

2)Better techniques in hunting and gathering

End of Ice Ages/spread of cereal grains + Better H & G tech = A more stable food supply (this is the EFFECT these changes had)

What major change were people then able to make in the way they lived?

They SETTLED DOWN in more permanent villages. So what? Why was this change so consequential?

-The population grew. -Not having to carry kids everywhere, they got lax about birth control and started having kids in more rapid succession (fewer years apart). -They needed more food than H & G alone could provide. -Being in one place, they could observe the growth cycle of a particular plant/field and became more aware of what they needed to do to intentionally cultivate plants. -Being settled made it easier to start to accumulate surplus.

Did people used to H & G switch quickly to a lifestyle based on agriculture?

NOOOO! Why not? -They were reluctant to abandon H & G because they had little/no surplus to fall back on if agriculture failed. -Agriculture demanded much more intensive labor on a daily basis than H & G.

Why, over time, did people take up farming and settled way of life?

-As population grew, they had to. Agriculture was the only known way to provide for a growing population. -Agriculture required more and more time from adults, leaving them less and less time to engage in H & G.

What are the main effects* that the spread of agriculture had on human societies and on the environment? * Note taking highly recommended!

Main effects on the environment?

Main effects on environment? -Varieties of crops that are easier to grow and harvest become more common (non-scattering wheat, quickly growing plants with non-woody stems, self-pollinating, etc.). -Over time, more and more land, especially along the river valleys, becomes cultivated and eventually marked by increasingly larger human settlements (villages/towns/cities). -Rivers become subject to human management (flood control, irrigation, fishing) and sites of potential conflict over access and water rights.

Main effects on human societies?

-Settled lifestyle + agriculture = population growth -Surplus of food and goods  specialization of labor (not everyone had to be a farmer), development of crafts and other functions -Collecting and organization of surplus  cities, civilizations and their new technologies (writing, metallurgy, walls, buildings, trades…)

Main effects on human societies? -Nature of agricultural labor  Gradual shift in people’s ideas about relevant social units and their responsibility for each other -Locus of work and food sharing shifts from community (band, tribe) to family

Main effects on human societies? Nature of agricultural labor  Gradual shift in people’s ideas about land and surplus -Work involved in cultivating crops changes the value of specific pieces of land -Natural qualities of particular pieces of land -Properties acquired through human labor on land -Different fields (or herds) cultivated by different groups of people produce crops/animals (surplus) of differing amounts/numbers and qualities

Main effects on human societies? Nature of ag. labor  shift in ideas about social units, responsibility to each other, value of land and surplus  … ?

Main effects on human societies? Nature of ag. labor  shift in ideas about social units, responsibility to each other, value of land and surplus  PRIVATE PROPERTY! “This land is MY land, it is not your land...” “This wheat is MY wheat, it is not your wheat…” “These sheep are MY sheep, they are not your sheep…”

Main effects on human societies? Surplus and land treated as PRIVATE property People have different amounts/qualities of them Social classes (based on private property) emerge SOCIAL STRATIFICATION = division of a population into hierarchically distinct groups or levels, based on some valued characteristic (in this case, material wealth)

With agriculture come first evidence of social stratification and on-going conflict within human societies. WHY?

Material wealth (surplus and land) was no longer equally divided and shared, not co- managed or perceived as being for the good of all, but treated as private property. These practices and ideas slowly replaced the reciprocal, egalitarian relationships that had prevailed in H & G societies. Instead, people came to see each other as potential rivals.

FOH 5 The Domestication of Livestock and its Effects

What does “domestication of animals” mean? What does it entail? -The taming and controlled reproduction of animals for human use (milk, meat, fur/hides, other by-products, labor and other services)  getting animals to breed in captivity is an essential part of it; otherwise, it’s not worth the effort

What makes an animal “good for domestication?” Herbivorous and fast-growing Live in herds or packs with a hierarchical structure which humans can easily take over Easy to tame and willing to breed in captivity

Which animals were widely domesticated in the Fertile Crescent c – 3000 BCE? What made each one a likely candidate for domestication and useful in the eyes of humans?