1. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. Windows on Humanity Conrad Phillip Kottak Second Edition Chapter 7 The First Farmers

2. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. Overview Broad-spectrum revolution The Neolithic Emergence of food production –Plant and animal domestication in the Old and New Worlds Explaining the Neolithic

3. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Broad-spectrum revolution –Began around 15,000 B.P. in the Middle East and 12,000 B.P. in Europe –Exploitation of a wider range of plant and animal resources –Led to food production by 10,000 B.P. in the Middle East Food production – human control over the reproduction of plants and animals

4. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Stages in the transition to food production (farming and herding): –12,000-10,000 B.P. – seminomadic hunting and gathering Last stages of broad-spectrum foraging –10,000-7500 B.P. – advent of dry farming (wheat and barley) and caprine domestication (goats and sheep) –7500-5500 B.P. – increasingly specialized food production Domestication of cattle and pigs, new crops More productive varieties of wheat and barley –By 5500 B.P. – cities, metallurgy, the wheel

5. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Neolithic – name given to the first cultural period in a given region in which the first signs of domestication are present

6. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Food production in the Middle East –Environmental zones: high plateau, Hilly Flanks, piedmont steppe, alluvial desert Hilly Flanks –Abundance of wild grains, allowing foragers (e.g., the Natufians) to adopt sedentism—sedentary life in villages –Sedentary village life developed before farming and herding in the Middle East Around 11,000 B.P. – drier climate, zone of abundant wild grains shrank Food production probably emerged when people living in marginal areas (e.g., piedmont steppe) attempted to duplicate the dense stands of wheat and barley that grew in the Hilly Flanks

7. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Food production in the Middle East –Vertical economy In the Middle East (also Peru and Mesoamerica), juxtaposition of varied environmental zones allowed broad-spectrum foragers to use different resources in different seasons –Seasonal migrations and trade linked environmental zones –Movement of people, animals, and products between zones was a precondition for the emergence of food production –Mutations, genetic recombinations, and human selection led to new kinds of wheat and barley

8. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Genetic changes and domestication –Domesticated (as opposed to wild) crops: Larger seeds Higher yield per unit of area Loss of natural seed dispersal mechanisms Tougher connective tissue (axes) holding seedpods to the stem More brittle husks –Domesticated (as opposed to wild) animals: Smaller Other traits selected by humans (e.g., woolly coats in sheep)

9. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Food production and the state in the Middle East –Gradual transition from foraging to producing economies –Effects of food production Population increase Resulting migrations – forced people in other areas to respond (e.g., people in the Hilly Flanks had to begin cultivating in order to intensify production) –By 6000 B.P. – complex irrigation systems Agriculture became possible in southern Mesopotamia –Around 5500 B.P. – development of a state society in the Tigris-Euphrates alluvial plain Economy based on irrigation and trade

10. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Invention of food production –Food production was independently invented in at least seven regions of the world: Middle East Northern China Southern China Sub-Saharan Africa Central Mexico South central Andes Eastern United States –Food production spread to other areas via trade, diffusion (of plants, animals, products, and information), and migration of farmers

11. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Other Old World farmers –Crops and animals originally domesticated in the Middle East spread to northern Africa (including Egypt) and Europe –Trade extended eastward to India and Pakistan (Indus River Valley) –China Northern China (Yellow River): –Two varieties of millet cultivated by 7500 B.P. –Dogs, pigs, and possibly cattle, goats, and sheep domesticated by 7000 B.P. Southern China (Yangtze River): –Rice cultivated perhaps as early as 8400 B.P. –Water buffalo, dogs, and pigs domesticated by 7000 B.P.

12. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Food production in the Americas –Food production was independently invented in the eastern United States, Mesoamerica, and the south central Andes 3,000 to 4,000 years later than in the Middle East –Animal domestication was much less important than in the Old World Large game animals had gone extinct or were not domesticable Domesticated New World animals included llamas, alpacas, guinea pigs, ducks, turkeys, and dogs –Three main staples: maize, potatoes, and manioc –Other crops included beans, squash, quinoa, goosefoot, marsh elder, and sunflower

13. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Early farming in the Mexican highlands –Between 10,000 and 4000 B.P – foragers in the Valley of Oaxaca had a broad-spectrum economy Gathered wild grass known as teocentli (teosinte) – wild ancestor of maize –Between 7000 and 4000 B.P. – harvesting and eventually cultivation brought about genetic changes in teocentli-maize: More kernels per cob Increased cob size More cobs per stalk Tougher axes Softer husks

14. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Food production and the state in Mesoamerica –Food production eventually led to early village farming communities around 3500 B.P. Humid lowlands – Gulf Coast of Mexico, Pacific Coast of Mexico and Guatemala Mexican highlands – Valley of Oaxaca –Earliest year-round farming in Mesoamerica depended on reliable rainfall, pot irrigation, or access to humid river bottomlands –Development of intensive cultivation laid the foundation for the emergence of the state in Mesoamerica, about 3,000 years later than in the Middle East

15. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Explaining the Neolithic –Factors favoring the development of food production in the Middle East: Mediterranean climate Closely packed environmental zones Diversity of domesticable plants and animals Early sedentism –In Mesoamerica, the emergence of food production, sedentism, and a full-fledged Neolithic economy took longer Shift from teocentli to maize involved considerable genetic change Lack of large domesticable animals

16. © 2007 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 7 The First Farmers Explaining the Neolithic –Eastern United States: Some plants were domesticated independently (e.g., squash, sunflower, sumpweed, goosefoot) However, the set of plants and animals found there was insufficient to maintain a full-fledged Neolithic economy –Full Neolithic economy and sedentism developed in the eastern, southeastern, and southwestern United States only after maize diffused up from Mesoamerica