test2f ANT3141 8 agneareast

Late Pleistocene/Holocene Transition: 

Late Pleistocene/Holocene Transition Climate changes: warmer, wetter conditions Settling-in to diverse environments Increased regional diversification of populations in most areas More diverse and broad spectrum subsistence (less focus on hunting?) Economic intensification, more permanent settlements and larger social groups

Food Production: 

Food Production Domestication began as by-product of exploiting natural resources in several areas once established likely diffused rapidly to other areas through trade

Domestication: 

Domestication Domestication = production of new species of plant and animals by human intervention interference in the life cycles of plants and animals so subsequent generations are of greater utility for and in more intimate contact with humans domestication demands increased dependence on humans Domesticate defined as new species, having undergone some morphological change from wild species, but domestication as process more complicated than this

Plant Domestication: 

Plant Domestication “deliberate care afforded the propagation of a species” (Ford 1985): Weeding, pruning, watering, protecting from predators, transplanting Cultivation helped to concentrate harvest and provide a more reliable seasonal supplement Final stage: intentional selection for useful traits leads to plant species dependent on humans for survival and reproduction Higher-yield, storable Early Centers in the Old World: Near-Middle East: wheat and barley Far East: rice and millet

Slide5: 

Fertile Crescent ORIGINS OF AGRICULTURE: NEAR EAST

Natufian Hunters-Gatherers: 

Natufian Hunters-Gatherers From 13,000-10,000 BP, hunters-gatherers known as Natufian culture collected wild wheat and barley for food Mobile settlement, using wild plant resources seasonally (not focused on any resource though) Shift from simple to complex foraging (diverse economy, but focused on certain foraged resources)

NatufianAin Mellaha, Israel13,000- 11,000 BP: 

Natufian Ain Mellaha, Israel 13,000- 11,000 BP Earliest “true village” in the world - Long-term settlement - Over 70 structures - Population estimated 300 Wild Barley and Almonds Found in Hearths Wild Cereals - Important Resource

Limiting Properties of Wild Wheat and Barley: 

Limiting Properties of Wild Wheat and Barley Brittle rachis – portion to which kernel was attached became brittle when ripe for seed dispersal, so had to be there at precise moment Thick husks – difficult to remove edible kernel (required roasting or soaking, then winnowing) Only two-row kernels, not a lot of food potential per plant Dispersed occurrence – scattered distribution of wild plants limited yield

Intensification: 

Intensification Despite shortcomings, wild plants formed a significant and important resource Populations sought the densest stands of wheat and barley and came up with innovations to improve returns Sickles and containers for harvesting, storage facilities, grinding basins, plant roasting pits Sickle blades on wooden haft And grinding stone Wild wheat (left): Mureybat, Syria compared to domesticated variety from Greece some 2-3,000 years later

The “Neolithic Revolution”: 

The “Neolithic Revolution” Early views portrayed the origins of agriculture as a revolution and assumed that: Humans became better able to control nature Increased productivity created more free time Greater time available for cultural innovations, that is to create “civilization” (writing, art, wheel, monumental architecture, etc.)

Domestication as Process: 

Domestication as Process Domestication was not an event or invention, but the end point of a gradual process Foraging and unintentional influence on diversity, frequency, and distribution of wild plants and animals Plant/animal management (Intentional influence): tending, cultivation, domestication, intensified food production

Foraging and Unintentional Consequences: 

Foraging and Unintentional Consequences Process began as byproduct of exploitation Selective harvesting of species; some individuals of great value to humans and humans select for these individuals and skew genetics) Or, transplanting selected individuals into habitat not conducive to natural reproduction Also, altering habitat to promote certain plants or certain traits of plants

Thomas Malthus: 

Thomas Malthus An essay on the principle of population as it affects the future improvement of society (1798) Relationship between demography and resource base Population naturally grows until something dramatic occurs Population growth kept in check through mortality (misery, war, famine, epidemics) Neo-Malthusian premise: population growth is dependent variable, determined by preceding changes in subsistence potential as population reaches critical threshold, or “carrying capacity,” population growth is checked (held in place) by some cultural or natural factor (contraception, infanticide, disease, famine)

Slide14: 

Neo-Mathusian View: People naturally seek to improve themselves (progress, evolutionary), and agriculture is a cultural improvement Demography held in check, through natural and cultural mechanisms, until a new invention appears that increases carrying capacity Problems: domestication, agriculture, sedentism and related changes appear to be more unintentional consequences of exploitation or result of responses to specific stresses than the result of populations striving to “better” themselves Populations do not exhibit uniform rates of growth

Childe’s Oasis Theory: 

Childe’s Oasis Theory As Pleistocene glaciers melted, world’s climate became hotter and drier In desert areas, the few well watered areas became oases People, animals, and plants became more densely concentrated near oases and desert streams Forced association led to greater intimacy, even symbiotic relationships, between humans and plants/animals

Jericho, Jordan Valley (Israel): 

Jericho, Jordan Valley (Israel) Kathleen Kenyon tested Childe’s model at Jericho, an early permanent settlement in Israel, in the 1950s Natufian camp located adjacent spring at c. 10,500 BP Farming village appears soon afterwards (so-called pre-pottery Neolithic) Walled settlement much larger than anything before

Animal Use at Jericho: 

Animal Use at Jericho Proto-neolithic (until 11,000 – 10,500 BP) - Natufian PPNA: domesticated wheat and barley dominate, sheep and goat use increased - 5 acres of closely spaced circular mud-brick houses (2,000 people) with huge enclosing wall PPNB- larger settlement, square houses, sheep and goats constituted vast majority of animal bones (80%) Pottery Neolithic: pottery appears ca. 6000 BP Sheep/ goats Gazelle Natufian PPNB

Natural Habitat Zone Model: 

Natural Habitat Zone Model late Pleistocene climatic change prompted agriculture in areas of natural distribution of wild plants suitable for domestication (in this case, wild wheat and barley; wild cattle and goats also available in these areas) Restricted geography forced people to change their local adaptation rather than move elsewhere with existing pattern People became more focused on wild grasses due to climatic change

Braidwood’s Hilly Flanks Theory: 

Braidwood’s Hilly Flanks Theory Hilly flanks of Zagros Mountains, Iraq: rich natural habitat for wild grasses No evidence of dramatic post-Pleistocene dessication Agriculture was logical outcome of cultural experimentation and elaboration as hunters-gatherers settled-in in those areas where wild grasses were present Like Childe’s model, assumes agriculture is logical outcome of humanity seeking to improve its condition

Jarmo, Zagros Mts.(Iraq): 

Jarmo, Zagros Mts.(Iraq) Braidwood set out (soon after WW II) to look for the earliest domestication and settled villages in the hilly flanks of Zagros Early work focused on site of Jarmo, a well established farming village; 80% of food from crops and herds (sheep, goats, cows) Battle raged between Jericho and Jarmo, pre-C14, ultimately Jericho is older

Ester Boserup: 

Ester Boserup Made population growth the independent variable Technology will respond when population growth approaches carrying capacity Agriculture emerges due to population pressure (demographic stress) and the need to technologically increase carrying capacity

Slide22: 

Mathusian = Black (population = dependent variable) Boserupian = Red (population = independent variable) Carrying capacity

Binford’s Marginal Zone Model: 

Binford’s Marginal Zone Model Early settled villages emerged in areas of rich maritime resources, populations “settled-in” to these areas Inevitable population growth forced some groups to move to more marginal areas We should expect to find the earliest evidence of agriculture not in prime areas but in marginal areas where people had to expand their “diet breadth” – in prime areas existing technology/diet were adequate

Flannery’s Test in Deh Luran: 

Flannery’s Test in Deh Luran Following Binford’s predictions, Flannery felt that, in the Near East, “optimal” maritime habitats should have been centers of population growth with out-migration to marginal areas Change in diet not due to climate but overuse of prime areas, creating demand for previously ignored foods, such as cereal grasses, would have increased in marginal areas Worked at Ali Kosh (c. 9000 BP) near mouth of Tigris River in Deh Luran plain in Iran

Netiv Hagdud, Israel: 

Netiv Hagdud, Israel Very early evidence of domesticated plants (c. 11,800-11,500 BP) Hunting gazelle, fish, waterfowl, 50 species of wild plants, especially wild cereal grasses harvested with sickles (included a semi-tough rachis, two-row domesticated barley) Mud-houses, cereals stored in bins Cereal seeds– supplementary food

Abu Hureyra: 

Abu Hureyra transition from H+G to food production, both in terms of plants and animals Clear evidence of domesticated plants (farming) by ca. 10,000 BP at 10,000 BP hunted gazelles, wild cattle, pigs, goats, and other species domesticated sheep and goats replaced gazelles at ca. 9,000 BP at ca. 8500 BP gazelles depleted and domesticated sheep/goats constitute some 60% of diet

Agriculture and Settled Village Life: 

Agriculture and Settled Village Life In the Near East, the use of domesticated plants and animals appears at roughly the same time: seemed to support neo-Mathusian interpretation that food production provided technological base for population growth now seems that settled villages appear slightly earlier than domesticated plants and animals: indicates a more complicated process of technological change

Farming Towns: 

Farming Towns Food production and more sedentary ways of life resulted in growth in settlement size and provided foundation for numerous cultural innovations outside of subsistence