Download History of Agricultural Development

History of Agricultural
Development
AGST 3000
Agriculture, Society and The
Natural World…Lecture 2
Hunter & Gatherers
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99% of mankind’s
existence on Earth has
been as a HUNTER &
GATHERER!
History of Agriculture
What is a hunter/gatherer?
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Hunting/gathering behaviors exist
back 2 million years to the dawn of
man’s cultural evolution.
No word for “work” exists in various
languages of hunters/gatherers.
Do hunting/gathering societies still
exist today?
Does modern mankind exhibit
characteristics of hunter/gatherers??
Hesoid’s Ages of Man
(Greek poet, 8th-7th century B.C.)
I. Golden age (prehistory)
A. Age of the hunter-gatherer
B. Eden-like pre-agricultural
II. Silver Age (8,000 B.C.)
A. Concept of work born
B. Symbolized by the “Yoke of Oxen”
III. Bronze Age (3,500 B.C.)
A. Trade developed
IV. Iron Age (1,500-600 B.C.)
Agriculture, Energy, and Civilization
Earth’s carrying capacity for hunter-gatherers
estimated at 20-30 million. How many
people exist on Earth today?
Agricultural and the first cultural revolutions
developed symbiotically.
What relevance does this statement have
on society today??
Solar energy (harvested through
photosynthesis) fueled the agricultural
revolution. Explain.
Fossil fuels drove the industrial revolution.
Agriculture, Energy, and Civilization…continued
Use of these basic energy sources
stimulated cultural, social, and civil
development.
Mechanization/fossil-fuels increased
capacity to produce food while
reducing labor, but also increased
environmental degradation and
social conflict.
Agrarian societies viewed children as
economic assets (large families
were necessary for survival).
Agriculture, Energy, and Civilization…continued
A Catch 22 developed:
A.
More people require more food
B.
Requiring more intensive agriculture
C.
Requiring more energy to produce food
D.
Leading to more environmental degradation
(particularly soil erosion)
E.
Leading to crop failure
F.
Leading to starvation
G.
Leading to migration to new lands
H.
Requiring more people to produce food
Agriculture, Energy, and Civilization…continued
Demographic transition –
rising population with shrinking
resources.
What about today…Are resources
shrinking? How will this affect
society??
Today? Tomorrow?
Transition from
Hunting-Gathering to Agriculture
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Human population growth rate increased slowly:
A. .0007-.0020 % /yr.
Pleistocene age
B. .1 % /yr.
Neolithic
C. 1-2 % /yr.
Present day
Low birth rate attributed to lifestyle of huntergatherer – not food scarcity. Were children an
asset??
Not ignorance of plant growth, but lack of need
to practice agriculture prevented earlier
development of agriculture.
Transition from
Hunting-Gathering to Agriculture
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Wild seeds were abundant, inexhaustible,
and could easily be harvested
• In Turkey, a person could harvest 2.2 lbs. of
wild wheat (einkorn, which contains 57% more
protein than current domestic wheat) in an
hour
• In Mexico, an 11-day supply of “wild corn”
(teosinte) could be gathered in 3.5 hours
• In Wisconsin, Ojibwa Indians could fill their
canoes with wild rice in a few hours.
Transition from Hunting-Gathering to Agriculture
continued…
Man simultaneously developed
agriculture worldwide 10,000
years ago, after the last Ice
Age…suggests that climate
changes contributed to the
cultivation of plants.
• Hunter
gatherers
settled in
small
communities
in the Fertile
Crescent, a
narrow band
of land
arcing
across the
Near East.
Also South
America,
the
tropical
coast of
Ecuador…
squash
and China
…rice
on the
Yangtze
Also North America and Mesoamerica (The Maya
homeland, called Mesoamerica, spans five
countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras,
and El Salvador.
Transition from Hunting-Gathering to Agriculture
continued…
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New evidence suggests that people
cultivated rye over 13,000 years ago, while
continuing to hunt animals and gather wild
plants in the Fertile Crescent.
Evidence suggests that the transition from
hunting/gathering to agricultural lifestyles
is a long, slow development process.
Hunter-gatherers turn to agriculture only as
a last resort when population pressure
forces them to acquire more food on
available space?
Origin of Vegeculture
I.
What is Vegeculture?
II. Agriculture in the form of vegeculture,
probably began in the tropics, most
commonly in lowland areas.
III. Early fisherman probably practiced first
agriculture.
A. Using plant substances to stun fish
(rotenoids?)
B. Fishing permitted a settled life.
C. Settled life favored agriculture
Origin of Vegeculture continued…
IV. Early vegetables could be cultivated using
“vegetative propagation”, not seeds.
What’s the difference?
V.
Early vegetables were rich in starch. Why
was this important?
A.
Sweet potato and yam
B.
Taro
VI. Growing areas were incompletely
cleared and burned forests: “Swiddens”
(temporary agricultural plots cut from
primary and secondary forests)
VII. Early crops may not have always been
grown for food: fiber and ceremonial
purposes.
Seed Culture in the New World
I.
II.
Earliest seed culture practiced in
Tehuacan Valley- Southern Mexico
A. Corn, maize, = teosinte
B.Semi-arid area surrounded by
foothills and mountains with
increasing level of precipitation,
increased crop diversity.
Cultural evolution in the New World was
retarded by about 4000 years compared
to the Old World? Why?
A. Corn required thousands of years to
domesticate and show its amazing potential.
III. Successful agriculture is the forerunner
of economic development. Why?
Seed Culture in the New World
continued…
IV. Maize-bean-squash complex
A. Corn-tall, first claim to moisture and
sun
B. Bean vines – climbed up corn stalks,
N-fixing, legume-protein containing.
C. Squash – on ground, minimized weed
growth
V.
What other crops did the New World
provide to modern society today??
Seed Culture in the Old World
I. Seed culture originated in drier
subtropics of both hemispheres (8,00010,000 years ago)
A. Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (Fertile
Crescent)
B. Indus River – Northern India and
Pakistan
C. Huang Ho (Yellow River-Yangtze) –
Northern China
Seed Culture in the Old World continued…
II.
Irrigation and long term food storage
were required – higher degree of social
organization required. Why?
*Division of labor
III. Major civilizations built in regions of
seed culture.
A. Food was potentially abundant
B. Great effort required to obtain food
C. What characterizes a “major”
civilization??
Seed Culture in the Old World continued…
IV. Cereal grains were early crops
A. Wet-dry season requirements
B. Large seed (endosperm) to resist
drought/support rapid growth
during brief wet periods.
V. Ancestral cereals were attractive weeds prior to
domestication.
VI. Domesticated seed crops have shown a disability
to compete with weeds.
Ancestral Wheat and Barley
Seed Culture in the Old World continued…
VII. Seed culture developed most rapidly in
ecologically diverse regions.
A. Earliest village farming community in
western Iran (wheat, barley, and
domestic animals)
B. Provided a rich diversity of plant
materials
VIII. Cultivation of grains pre-dated
cultivation of fruits by several thousand
years. Why?
A. More permanent settlement
required due to long term nature of fruit
crops.
Seed Culture in the Old World continued…
IX. As seed cultures moved from highlands
to valleys
A.
B.
C.
Irrigation developed
Tillage systems developed
Selection of varieties improved
Four species of beans - navy, kidney,
lima, and peanuts.
Legumes share what quality?
In conclusion….
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Mankind has a long history of
hunting and gathering.
Prehistoric societies evolved away
from nomadic lifestyles
approximately 10,000 years ago in
many locations around the world.
Agriculture contributes to the
development of civilization.
Preparation for Next Week:
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Read pages 12-20 “How it all
began.”
Journal 1 due next week. Please
properly cite your sources.
Determination of groups and topics
for Qualitative Interview.
Ag Commodity “Story Boards” due
March 10th. Papers due March 17th.