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Hum110 wake tech week11 food and farming a 3
- 1. Hum 110 Week 11 Food and Farming
- 2. Pigging Out at Durrington
- 3. Farming and the Rise & Fall of Civilizations
- 4. Some Civilizations Fall Because the Wind Changes
Editor's Notes
- Wealthy countries are "buying" up the farm land of poorer countries. China, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia lead the countries that now control 15-20m hectares of land (each hectare averages 2 tons of grain). China has 25% of the world’s population but only 7% of the world’s water and that percentage is decreasing. The Beijing water table is falling by 2 meters per year. The "selling" countries include The Philippines, Mozambique, Indonesia, and Madagascar. Grain is becoming the new oil. ("Outsourcing's Third Wave," The Economist. May 23, 2009, 61-3.) (Carlson, Rob “Innovation in 2010,” C-Span. 7 Dec 2009.)
- A Sheffield University researcher thinks the settlement at Durrington was probably not lived in all year round. Instead Stonehenge and Durrington formed a religious complex used for funerary rituals. “ I see Stonehenge more as a living monument, “ says Julian Richards, archaeologist and broadcaster. He believes Neolithic people assembled for massive feasts in the midwinter, where prodigious quantities of food were consumed. The bones were then tossed on the floors of the houses. "The rubbish isn’t your average domestic debris. There’s a lack of craft-working equipment for cleaning animal hides and no evidence for crop-processing," he said."The animal bones are being thrown away half-eaten. It’s what we call a feasting assemblage. This is where they went to party - you could say it was the first free festival.” Durrington has its own henge (like Stonehenge). It was made of wood, which is strikingly similar in layout to Stonehenge. It was discovered in 1967 - long before any houses. Both henges line up with events in the astronomical calendar - but not the same ones. Stonehenge is aligned with the midwinter solstice sunset, while Durrington’s timber circle is aligned with the midwinter solstice sunrise - they were complementary.This seems to fit with the idea of a midwinter festival, in turn supported by analysis of pig teeth found at the site. "One of the things we can tell from the pig teeth we’ve looked at is that most of them have been slaughtered at nine months, “ says Richards. Professor Parker Pearson believes Durrington’s purpose was to celebrate life and deposit the dead in the river for transport to the afterlife. Stonehenge, on the other hand, was a memorial and final resting place for some of the dead. After feasting, he speculated, people traveled down the timber circle’s "avenue" to deposit their dead in the River Avon flowing towards Stonehenge. They then moved along Stonehenge’s avenue to the circle, where they cremated and buried a select few of their dead. (From “Stonehenge builders’ houses found” National Geographic)
- Have you ever considered why civilizations fail?The classical signs of a dying civilization are… Inflation a declining population "outsourcing" or a lack of citizen participation (military and labor) Some civilizations disappear due to political or natural disaster? Athens Minoan Crete In 2007-08 thirty-seven countries experienced food riots. This may have been related to the increase of ethanol production beginning in 2006. Land is drawn away from the production of food and into the production of other products. The year 2009 begins with under-priced food. Milk sells for half its cost in the previous year. Dairy farmers file for bankruptcy in record numbers. By the third quarter of 2009, food costs begin to escalate despite a hurricane -free western hemisphere. Resurgent gas prices (inflation) Bankrupt farmers (a declining population) Reallocation of resources (outsourcing) Environmental factors (climate change)
- but also consider Egypt and the great Mesopotamian civilizations Egypt was the master of the Western world. Its greatness is based on the fertile Nile and natural irrigation. Climatic changes "drain" Egypt’s political power. Will climate change redistribute the economic power during the middle of this century? By 2050 some crop yield will be half of what they were in 2000. Shrub lands are becoming arid Rainy seasons are shorter and harsher Greater evaporation The International Food Policy Research Institute reported that compared to 2000 by 2050… Irrigated wheat-land will produce 34% less Irrigated rice-land will decline by 19% South Asian wheat production by 50% Middle Eastern maize production will drop by 47% and rice by 30% South African cereal production will fall by 50% by 2080 (“Seasonally Adjusted: Farmland and Climate Change.” The Economist. 3 October 2009, 73-4.)