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History of Agricultural Development

History of Agricultural Development. AGST 3000 Agriculture, Society and The Natural World…Lecture 2. Hunter & Gatherers. 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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History of Agricultural Development

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  1. History of Agricultural Development AGST 3000 Agriculture, Society and The Natural World…Lecture 2

  2. Hunter & Gatherers • 99% of mankind’s existence on Earth has been as a HUNTER & GATHERER!

  3. History of Agriculture

  4. What is a hunter/gatherer? • 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??

  5. 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

  6. 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?

  7. Transition from Hunting-Gathering to Agriculture • 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 hunter-gatherer – not food scarcity. Were children an asset?? • Not ignorance of plant growth, but lack of need to practice agriculture prevented earlier development of agriculture.

  8. Transition from Hunting-Gathering to Agriculture • 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.

  9. Transition from Hunting-Gathering to Agriculturecontinued… Man simultaneously developed agriculture worldwide 10,000 years ago, after the last Ice Age…suggests that climate changes contributed to the cultivation of plants.

  10. Hunter gatherers settled in small communities in the Fertile Crescent, a narrow band of land arcing across the Near East.

  11. Also South America, the tropical coast of Ecuador…squash

  12. and China …rice on the Yangtze

  13. Also North America and Mesoamerica (The Maya homeland, called Mesoamerica, spans five countries: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador.

  14. Transition from Hunting-Gathering to Agriculturecontinued… • 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?

  15. Seed Culture in the Old World I. Seed culture originated in drier subtropics of both hemispheres (8,000-10,000 years ago) A. Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (Fertile Crescent) B. Indus River – Northern India and Pakistan C. Huang Ho (Yellow River-Yangtze) – Northern China

  16. 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??

  17. 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.

  18. Ancestral Wheat and Barley

  19. 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.

  20. Seed Culture in the Old World continued… IX. As seed cultures moved from highlands to valleys A. Irrigation developed B. Tillage systems developed C. Selection of varieties improved Four species of beans - navy, kidney, lima, and peanuts.

  21. In conclusion…. • 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.

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