Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity Fifteenth Edition Conrad Phillip

Anthropology Appreciating Human Diversity Fifteenth Edition Conrad Phillip Kottak University of Michigan Mc. Graw-Hill © 2013 Mc. Graw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

C H A P T E R THE FIRST FARMERS 11 -2

THE FIRST FARMERS • The Mesolithic • The Neolithic • The First Farmers and Herders in the Middle East • Other Old World Food Producers • The First American Farmers • Explaining the Neolithic • Costs and Benefits 11 -3

THE FIRST FARMERS • When and where did the Neolithic originate, and what were its main features? • What similarities and differences marked the Neolithic economies of the Old World and the New World? • What costs and benefits are associated with food production? 11 -4

THE FIRST FARMERS Understanding Ourselves • Broad spectrum revolution: 15, 000 B. P. in Middle East and 12, 000 B. P. in Europe; Mesolithic period • Broader spectrum of plant and animal life hunted, gathered, collected, caught, and fished • Revolutionary b/c in Middle East, led to food production—human control over the reproduction of plants and animals 11 -5

THE MESOLITHIC • • Paleolithic: • Lower (early) – H. erectus, Acheulean • Middle – Archaic H. sapiens (Acheulean), including Neandertals of western Europe and Middle East (Mousterian) • Upper (late) - AMHs Mesolithic followed Upper Paleolithic (15, 000 B. P. in Middle East) (12, 000 B. P. in Europe) • AMHs • With glacial retreat, the prey changed (i. e. deer, ox, pig…not herd species) • New hunting techniques – BROAD SPECTRUM REVOLUTION • Wider range of plant and animals • Solitary stalking and trapping • Tools tell us about the economy and way of life • New Tools - Microliths: small stone tools typical of Mesolithic technology as hunting became solitary • Fishhooks • Harpoon tips • Dart tips • Dugout canoes 11 -6

Mesolithic Tools 11 -7

The Mesolithic • New kinds of axes, chisels, and gouges (wood-working, leather-working, & carpentry) • Preserved fish by smoking and salting • Bow and arrow used for hunting water fowl in swamps and marshes • Technology shows shift from focus on herd game hunting to more specialized activities • Dogs used as retrievers • Domesticated world-wide 11 -8

THE MESOLITHIC • • Broad Spectrum Revolution – caused gathering, rather than hunting, to become mainstay of human economies Around 15, 000 B. P. , as big-game supply dwindled, foragers had to look for new resources • Attention shifted from large-bodied , slow reproducers (i. e. mammoths) to species such as fish, mollusks, and rabbits (reproduce quickly) • Technology reflects shift from focus on herd game hunting to more varied and specialized activities • Middle Easterners started to cultivate plants and breed animals by 10, 000 B. P. • Western Europe enters food production and herding around 5000 B. P. • Generalized, broad-spectrum economies persisted about 5, 000 years longer in Europe 11 -9

THE NEOLITHIC • Neolithic: originally referred to new techniques of grinding and polishing stone tools; describes economies based on food production; farming and herding; Agricultural Revolution • First signs of domestication (plants and animals) • Intervention into reproductive cycles of plants and animals by modifying biological characteristics • The transition to Neolithic occurred as groups became dependent on domesticated foods • More than 50% of food comes from domesticates • New economy – from foraging to farming and herding • Revolutionary – after millions of years of foraging, in just a few thousand years, the new economy of farming and herding would transform small mobile groups into societies living in permanent settlements (i. e. villages, cities) 11 -10

THE NEOLITHIC • More reliable economy fueled population growth and expansion, as well as settlement of new environments • Shift under way in Middle East by 12, 000 B. P. • During the era of increased specialization in food production (7500 to 5500 B. P. ), new crops were added to the diet, along with more productive varieties of wheat and barley 11 -11

RECAP 11. 1: The Transition to Food Production in the Middle East 11 -12

The first farmers and herders in the Middle East • By 10, 000 B. P. , domesticated plants and animals were part of a broad spectrum of resources used by Middle Easterners • By 7500 B. P. Middle Easterners moved toward more specialized economies based on fewer species, which were domesticates • They were now committed herders and farmers 11 -13

Cartoon 11 -14

The first farmers and herders in the Middle East • Kent Flannery – produced series of eras during which Middle Eastern transition to farming and herding took place • Era of seminomadic hunting and gathering (12, 000 – 10, 000 B. P. ) – last stages of broad spectrum foraging • Era of dry farming (wheat and barley) and caprine domestication (10, 000 – 7500 B. P. ) : • Dry farming – dependent upon rainfall; no irrigation • Caprine domestication – goats and sheep • Era of increased specialization in food production (7500 – 5500 B. P. ) – new crops added to diet; more productive varieties of wheat and barley; cattle and pigs were domesticated • By 5500 B. P. , agriculture was in communities along alluvial plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which would produce the first cities, metallurgy, and the wheel 11 -15

THE FIRST FARMERS AND HERDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST • Middle Eastern food production arose in context of four environmental zones • High plateau (5, 000 feet) (highest) • Hilly flanks: a subtropical woodland zone that flanks rivers to the north • Piedmont steppe: a treeless plain • Alluvial desert: watered by Tigris and Euphrates rivers (lowest) 11 -16

Figure 11. 1: The Vertical Economy of the Ancient Middle East 11 -17

THE FIRST FARMERS AND HERDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST • • • It was once thought that food production began in oases in the alluvial desert • Not started there because dry climate required irrigation (not invented yet) Braidwood: proposed that food production started in Hilly Flanks • Subtropical woodland zone was where wheat and barley would have been most abundant Deliberate cultivation most likely came in response to climatic changes • Caused habitual harvesting of wild grains • Abundance led to first sedentary villages • Binford: certain areas of Middle East were so rich in resources that foragers could adopt sedentism—sedentary (settled) life in villages 11 -18

The First Farmers and Herders in the Middle East • The Natufians • Collected wild game and hunted gazelles • Year round villages/sedentism – could harvest wild cereals for six months (plenty of food) • Climate • Just before Natufian period, it became warmer and more humid • Expanded altitude range of wild wheat and barley; more areas foraging • Spring – wheat and barley ripened at low altitudes • Summer – middle altitudes • Fall – high altitudes • Longer harvest season • Around 11, 000 B. P. – shift to drier conditions • Now they are restricted to areas with permanent water • Transferred wild cereals to well-watered areas • Deliberate cultivation began in response to documented climate changes 11 -19

THE FIRST FARMERS AND HERDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST • 11, 000 B. P. - Climate change toward drier conditions • Natufians tried to maintain productivity by transferring wild cereals to well-watered areas • Inhabitants in marginal areas (areas outside of abundant food zones), like piedmont steppe, began to copy dense strands of wheat and barley that grew in optimal zones (abundant food areas) such as hilly flanks • People most likely to adopt new subsistence strategy (i. e. cultivation) would be those having most trouble following traditional subsistence strategy (marginal areas) • Some areas were so rich in resources that forager could adopt sedentism (without cultivation) • People in optimal area would have no reason to invent cultivation when wild grain was ample 11 -20

THE FIRST FARMERS AND HERDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST • Sedentary village life developed before farming and herding in the Middle East • Natufian settlements (hilly flanks), occupied year round, show permanent architectural features and evidence for processing and storage of wild grains (needed a place to store grain; cannot be nomadic anymore) • Sheep and goats grazed on stubble after grain was harvested • Plants and animals available in same area – favored village life 11 -21

THE FIRST FARMERS AND HERDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST • The Middle East had a vertical economy • Exploited environmental zones that were close but contrasted with one another in altitude, rainfall, overall climate, and vegetation • Juxtaposition of varied environments allowed broad spectrum foragers to use different resources (hunting, foraging, harvesting) in different seasons • Early semi-nomadic foragers followed game from zone to zone • Different zones had different resources • Movement of people, animals, and products between zones was precondition for the emergence of food production • As grains moved outside their original zones, they were subjected to different selective pressures which resulted in different strains that were more suited for different environments 11 -22

GENETIC CHANGES AND DOMESTICATION • Cultivated beans have pods that hold together rather than shattering as they do in the wild • Grains of wheat, barley, and other cereals occur in bunches at the end of a stalk • Wild grains, the axis (stem connecting seed to the stalk) is brittle • Humans selected grains in which the axis was tougher, allowing less grain to fall to the ground, thus raising yields 11 -23

GENETIC CHANGES AND DOMESTICATION • Humans also selected plants that were more easily husked • Selected woolly sheep that were better suited to lowland heat, as well as to obtain wool • Plants got larger with domestication, while animals got smaller (probably bc they are easier to control) • Domestication was ongoing process as people refined and changed traits to more favorable ones 11 -24

Figure 11. 2: A Head of Wheat or Barley 11 -25

Food Production and the State • • • The early stages of food production in the Middle East formed part of a gradual transition from foraging to producing economies; domesticated plants and animals began as minor parts of a broad-spectrum economy. Foraging still continued (for fruits, nuts, grasses, grains, snails, and insects). 11 -26

Food Production and the State • • Through food production (crops and herds): • former marginal zones became centers of the new economy and of population increase and emigration. • People eventually intensified production by cultivating in the hilly flanks, as wild yields were no longer sufficient for the increasing population. So in the hilly flanks, farming replaced foraging as the economic mainstay. • Farming colonies spread down into drier areas. In the Tigris–Euphrates alluvial desert plain (Mesopotamia), cultivation required irrigation, which began around 7000 B. P. By 6000 B. P. , irrigation systems had become far larger and more complex and were associated with a new political system, the state, based on a central government, extreme contrasts of wealth, and social classes. 11 -27

OTHER OLD WORLD FOOD PRODUCERS • The path from foraging to food production happened independently in at least seven world areas: • Three in the Americas • Four in the Old World • Food production spread through trade, diffusion, and migration 11 -28

Figure 11. 3: Seven World Areas Where Food Production Was Independently Invented 11 -29

THE AFRICAN NEOLITHIC • Considerable complexity in southern Egypt’s Neolithic economy and social system • 12, 000 B. P. , Nabta Playa occupied • Early evidence of “African cattle complex” • 9000 B. P. , people at Nabta year-round. • 7500 B. P. , new settlers occupied Nabta after a major drought • Brought a more sophisticated social and ceremonial system 11 -30

THE NEOLITHIC IN EUROPE AND ASIA • 8000 B. P. , communities on Europe’s Mediterranean shores shifting from foraging to farming • 6000 B. P. , thousands of farming villages grew up, from Russia to northern France • Domestication and Neolithic economies spread rapidly across Eurasia 11 -31

THE NEOLITHIC IN EUROPE AND ASIA • 8000 B. P. , domesticated goats, sheep, cattle, wheat, and barley present in Pakistan • China became one of the first world areas to develop farming, based on millet and rice • Discoveries suggest that rice domesticated in the Yangtze River Valley as early as 8400 B. P. 11 -32

RECAP 11. 2: Seven World Areas Where Food Production Was Independently Invented 11 -33

THE FIRST AMERICAN FARMERS • The most significant contrast between Old and New World food production involved animal domestication • Foraging focused on big game was widely successful in N. America later than in Europe bc abundance of game • Allowed foragers to gradually occupy the Americas • Learned to cope with great diversity of environments • Domesticated animals not as important to the economy of New World • Large game animals were not domesticated in the New World (largest animal – llama) • No cattle, sheep, goats, ox, horse… • No wheel (or beasts of burden to pull carts or plows) 11 -34

The First American Farmers • Three caloric staples domesticated by Native American farmers: • Maize: corn • Potatoes • Manioc: cassava • Beans and squash were important but not the staple crops 11 -35

THE FIRST AMERICAN FARMERS • Food production independently invented in at least three areas of the Americas: • Mesoamerica • Eastern U. S. • South-central Andes • • • By 4500 B. P. , eastern U. S. had domesticated goosefoot, marsh elder, sunflower, and squash. These crops were supplemented by a diet based mainly on hunting and gathering. They did not have the caloric staples like other areas. Eventually maize diffused into the U. S. , reaching both Southwest and Eastern portions Maize provided a more reliable caloric staple for N. American farming 11 -36

THE TROPICAL ORIGINS OF NEW WORLD DOMESTICATION • New World farming began in the lowlands of South America and spread to Central America, Mexico, and Caribbean islands • Peruvian squash seeds date back 10, 000 years • 9000 and 8000 B. P. , farmers selected desirable characteristics in cultivated plants • 7, 000 years ago: farmers expanded their plots into the nearby forests 11 -37

THE TROPICAL ORIGINS OF NEW WORLD DOMESTICATION • Maize domestication took place in lowlands of southwest Mexico • Teosinte: the wild ancestor of maize • Maize cultivation spread to tropical Mexican Gulf Coast by 7300 B. P. 11 -38

THE MEXICAN HIGHLANDS • Before farming, highlanders hunted as part of broad spectrum foraging: • Small animals more important than big game • Oaxacans hunted and gathered in fall/winter • Came together in late spring to harvest seasonally available plants • By 4000 B. P. , a type of maize was available that provided more food than mesquite pod • By 3500 B. P. , permanent village set up, based on maize farming and simple irrigation 11 -39

EXPLAINING THE NEOLITHIC • Several factors converged for domestication: • Development of a full-fledged Neolithic economy required settling down • Sedentism became especially attractive when several species of plants and animals were available locally (self-pollinating) • Fertile Crescent had largest area with a Mediterranean climate, and had the highest diversity of species • Climate change, population growth, and the need to sustain life in marginal ecological zones led to cultivation 11 -40

Explaining the Neolithic • People did not AUTOMATICALLY domesticate plants and animals once they had acquired sufficient knowledge to do so. • Foragers have an excellent knowledge of plants, animals, and their reproductive characteristics. • Some other trigger is needed to start and sustain the process of domestication, like climate change • In North America, people domesticated some plant varieties, yet the local inventory of available plants and animals was too meager, necessitating continued hunting and gathering, 11 -41

Explaining the Neolithic • A full Neolithic economy and sedentism did not develop in the east, southeast, or southwest regions of the United States until maize diffused in from Mesoamerica, more than 3, 000 years after the first domestication in the eastern United States. • Most large animal species had not been domesticated. The species that had been domesticated originally lived in hierarchical herds, permitting humans to assume superior positions in the hierarchy • United States did not have sheep, goats, pigs, oxen, or horses; thus, the wheel was not a viable transport option. Once the big five Eurasian animal domesticates (cow, sheep, goat, pig, horse) were introduced, they spread rapidly. 11 -42

GEOGRAPHY AND THE SPREAD OF FOOD PRODUCTION • The geography of the Old World facilitated a diffusion of plants, animals, technology, and information • In Eurasia, plants and animals could spread more easily east-west than north-south • The spread of Middle Eastern crops southward into Africa was eventually halted by climatic contrasts 11 -43

GEOGRAPHY AND THE SPREAD OF FOOD PRODUCTION • In what is now the United States, the east-west spread of farming (southeast to southwest) was slowed by dry climates of Texas, southern great plains • Lack of large animals suitable to domestication also slowed Neolithic transition in the Americas 11 -44

Figure 11. 4: Major Axes of the Continents 11 -45

COSTS AND BENEFITS Food production brought the advantages of: • Sedentism – settling down • More reliable crops that can sustain large populations • Trade and commerce (by land sea) • New forms of political and social organization to manage expansion (chiefdoms, states, empires…) • Monumental architecture, arched masonry, and sculpture • Writing • Mathematics, weights, and measures • Discovery and invention • Spinning and weaving • Pottery and brick-making, arched masonry • Smelting and casting metals - metallurgy • By 5500 B. P. , Middle Easterners were living in vibrant cities • Markets, streets, temples, and palaces 11 -46

COSTS AND BENEFITS • The new economy also brought hardship: • Food producers typically work harder than foragers • Herds, fields, and irrigation systems need care • Producers have more children (more child care demands) 11 -47

COSTS AND BENEFITS • Public health declines • Diets become less varied / less nutritious • Disease begins to spread more easily due to sedentism and population density and close proximity to animals (and their waste) • Social inequality and poverty increase • Slavery and other forms of human bondage • Rise in crime, war, and human sacrifice • The rate at which human beings degrade their environments increases with food production 11 -48

RECAP 11. 3: The Benefits and Costs of Food Production (Compared with Foraging) 11 -49