Hunting and Gathering
stone age people- were foragers. did not depend primarily on meat. -modern foragers in Kalahan desert o/ south africa derive nourishment from wild vegetables. meat is food o/feasts. used skin mats for collecting berries and seeds. -dug roots with sticks. stones used to press down "digging sticks" -discovered meat and veggie tastier and easier to digest when cooked. 1st cooked foods between 1 mllion and 1.5 mililion years ago.
Domestication of Plants and Animals
Domestication of plants and animals: takes place in Neolithic period- 10,000bce started, to 3500 bce, agriculture revolution, in different part of world, people start to intentionally grow plants and animals to live off of. How? Domestication of plants was one of indpenedent experiments from Hunterers and gatherers. This is origin of agri revolution. NOT an initial discovery, but a series of independent discoveries. Middle east: emmer wheat and barley. AFRICA: Sorghum, Teff, Manioc. Central America: maize/corn. South America: potatoes and quinoa. India/east asia: rice.
Effects of Settled Agriculture
-People settling down in permanent settlements for first time. Because permanent socities tend to be of higher population you get quicker spread of infections disease, people become overly depended on grain crops. Cause poor diet and less healthy, life span shortened because of agri revolution, average height declines, evidence of tooth decay that is related to agri diet. -Promotion of private property- land becomes possession of families and clans and communities and socities with significant social stratification, elites control large amount of wealth and land, and control many people. Severe social and economical inequality. -Effect of agri revolution- settled agri socities.
Role of Women in Agricultural Societies
-women's role declined, With agriculture, need for agri labor, performed primarily by men, now women mostly valued for repro capacity. -Families want as many males as possible so most usefull in fields. Men come to dominate agricultural revol. Women labor not valued as much because had to take care of kids. Beginning of idea that men superior to women. -in hunter + gather socities- women provide most food, highly valed work. -women have no political role, but ucan own property and control of dowry and engage in trade -some women worked outside household in factories, bakers, etc. -women standing decline in 2nd millenium BCE because rise of urban mddle class + private wealth. -women used to preserve and increase wealth in arranged marriage, created alliance between wealthy famlies
Emmer Wheat & Barley
-Primary grains of Middle east- in 8000BCE human selection from wild grasses became to be known as emmer, wheat, and barley. believed that alternating plants with edible seeds contributed to better soil fertility. -sheep, goats, cattle are main domesticated animals
Swidden Agriculture
-new agri techinique discovered during Neolithic era- most often used in Europe (aka shifiting agri) recognition you cannot plant same crop over and over again in same land, so will leave land fallow every couple of years. - Some farmers realized that if they left 1/3 of their land fallow every year and rotated the fallow every couple of years. This will ensure they can continuilously utilize it without land losing nutrients
Rice Cultivation
-rice domesticated in South china/ north india as early as 10,000BCE. thrived in warm+ wet climate of southern china. india also grew beans and green and black grains
Maize
-maize grew in central america. spread through eurasia and africa. -central americans created other crop domestication when game animals died out in 8000BCE, people had to eat more veggies and agri based on corn. corn developed 3000BCE and spread in other parts of americas.
Pastoralists
-a way of life in and parts of africa and central asia dependent on large herds of small and large stock. people lived together in groups and lived primarily off of domestication of animals. pastoralist communities not as large, found primary in Eurasia and Africa. Environment is hard to domesticate animals and cultivate plants, but high grassy plains suited for tending of large numbers of domesticated animals. pasturalists replaced farmers in sahara as it became dry around 2500 BCE. Desert conditions then forced them to migrate south. the need to move herds to new pastures and water places meant pastoralists needed to be mobile, so little bulky possetions and susbtantial dwellings. like modern pastoralists, early cattle keeping. pastoralists not great meat eaters, relied on milk of animals for diet. in seasons where grass for grazing and water was plentiful, they crop cultivation or barter meat and skin for plant foods
Holocene
era of climate change. Starting 9000bce, almost as same time of begin of agricultural revolution. World starts to warm, ends ice age. Global wearming lasted for several thousand years, different effects in different regions. Some regious become hotter and drier, other become wetter and tropical. In general, to diminish natural sources of food in region. Contributed and encouraged hunting and gathering socities to domesticate agriculture
Jericho
one of the two largest agri settlesments of Neolithic age, only settlements with permanent structures with 100+ people living in them. Made buildings out of mud brick. Jericho- 8000bce, surrounded by huge stone wall, tells us it was under threat from other people or form pastoralists. nomadic communities and agri settled communities in conflict, probably reason of the stone wall.
Catal Huyuk
located in Anatolia/modern turkey, a neolithic town. 7000bce-5000bce thriving settlement. Permanent structures, didn't make wall for protection, but rather each building is surrounded and no enterance from outside, every residence is connected, outer walls formed continous border and had no windows and doors (only enterance is stairs from the roof) Also under threat. Sat on very important trade routes, a lot of religious artifacts that survive. Worship of female goddesses and fertility was very important in agri society because female fertility=agricultural fertility(worship one, you get the other too). larger than jericho. agriculture, pigs, goat, sheep, and wild foods part of catal huyuk existence.