PPT about agriculture

1. The Rise of Agriculture and
the Domestication of Food
Bill Christian A. Escuro
CHAPTER 5

2. INTRODUCTION
What is Agriculture and
Food Domestication?

3. INTRODUCTION What is Agriculture and
Food Domestication?
AGRICULTURE
Food
domestication
the science or practice of
farming, including cultivation
of the soil for the growing of
crops and the rearing of
animals to provide food, wool,
and other products.
Domestication is the process of
adapting wild plants and
animals for human use.
Domestic species are raised for
food, work, clothing, medicine,
and many other uses.

4. INTRODUCTION What is Agriculture and
Food Domestication?
AGRICULTURE
Food
domestication

5. Cultural Evolution before
the rise of agriculture PALEOLITHIC
dominated by the transition from the Oldowan tradition of the late hominids and
early Homos to the acheulian tradition of the Homo erectus. In this period,
refinement of stone tools and its standardization were prominent.
The Homo erectus was also capable of creating fire. This made them more confident
and adaptable to live even in areas where predators lived.
The Homo erectus also stared to explore other geographical regions which made
them wide spread in many places around the world. They were also adaptable to
many environments because of their growing intelligence and knowledge of the
world.
The way of life of the Homo erectus was also characterized by a diversified culture .
lower or early paleolithic

6. Cultural Evolution before
the rise of agriculture PALEOLITHIC
the fossil remains of the Homo erectus which dominated the lower Paleolithic period
slowly vanished and were replaced by the fossil remains of Archaic Homo sapiens
and the Neanderthals.
Mousterian tool tradition that was utilized by both the neanderthals and archaic
homo sapiens. It could be seen from different fossil remains that the tools used
during the middle Paleolithic were more sophisticated and were localized. This
means that cultural diversity was increasing. It was also shown by many fossil finds
that people during this period considered a kind of religion or cult .
Aesthetic designs were also present in the implements used by the people of the
middle Paleolithic. At the center of all these cultural trends and traits was the
increasing sedentary lifestyle.
MIDDLE paleolithic

7. Cultural Evolution before
the rise of agriculture PALEOLITHIC
things began to stir in a fast phase cultural evolution. During this time which began to occur
around 35, 000 years ago, anatomically modern humans or Homo sapiens sapiens appeared.
Anatomically modern humans also perfected the art of hunting and were using different
hunting techniques in various geographical locations. Homo sapiens also explored more
undiscovered lands compared to their predecessors. There was also a considerable increase
in the use of seasonal base camps.
Ritualistic behaviors were also present in the life of the people of the upper Paleolithic. The
most prominent characteristic of the late Paleolithic period was the dramatic and fast
phasing of cultural progress which was not associated with physical evolution. This means
that physical evolution became less and less significant during this time.
It merely took 35,000 years for the upper Paleolithic culture to evolve into the kind of
culture modern men have today,
Upper or late paleolithic

8. Cultural Evolution before
the rise of agriculture MESOLITHIC
Some 10,000 years ago, the Mesolithic or middle stone age period began.
During this time big game animals such as the infamous mammoth were beginning
to disappear. was changing from a colder period of the Pleistocene epoch from a
more tropical and hotter climate.
the larger animals which were being hunted by humans were beginning to go to
extinction.
humans began to explore the possibility of domesticating food and doing agriculture.
The Holocene period started when the ice and tundra began to melt from 15,000 to
10,000 years ago. The earth's climate was beginning to become the climate that we
have today. The land bridges were being engulfed once again by water because the
sea level was rising because of the melting of the ice sheets. This melting of ice sheets
are still continuing even up to this point. The Antarctic continent which was covered
by ice was merely a remnant of the last ice age. With this, it signaled the dawn of a
new day, the rise of agriculture and domestication of food.

9. Cultural Evolution before
the rise of agriculture NEOLITHIC
By the end of the Mesolithic period, people began exploring other
alternative food sources, this was called by Kent Flannery (1969) as the
broad-spectrum.
The broad spectrum theory
speculates that the people of the late Mesolithic up to the early
Neolithic began to experiment on new food sources that they never
tried before.
- During this time from 15,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago, people use
animal and plant life of animal and plant life were being used as food
source. People during this era also began exploring the water systems
for fishes, shellfish and other aquatic animals and plants for food.
10,000 to 5,000 years ago, the transition from the Mesolithic to the
Neolithic began to take place.

10. In the Neolithic period, food production began. Food production was
the control or manipulation for food sources; this was done through
domestication of food.
Domestication of food
involves the taming of wild plants and animals for man's food
consumption. When people started to domesticate food, they became
good at it and eventually it led to an agricultural way of life.
Agriculture is the cultivation of wild plants based on a continuous and
intensive labor and land resources(Howard and Hattis 2003).
Although stone implements were stool widely used in the Neolithic
period, it signaled a revolutionary step in the evolution of human
culture.
The significance of the Neolithic is mainly attributed to the rise of an
economic system that will sustain the growing needs of people.
Cultural Evolution before
the rise of agriculture NEOLITHIC

11. Agriculture attracted the attention of many anthropologists. It
was because of agriculture that man decided to choose a
home base and stay in it and leave his nomadic way of life for
good.
Earlier anthropologists suggested that agriculture started in a
certain region and was disseminated to other region
afterwards. However, modern anthropologists now believe
that agriculture started in a ubiquitous manner.
Agricultural communities developed approximately 10,000
years ago when humans began to domesticate plants and
animals. By establishing domesticity, families and larger
groups were able to build communities and transition from a
nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle dependent on foraging and
hunting for survival.
The origins of agriculture

12. Some anthropologist believed
that it is the ecological
background of the ancient
people that became thr
motivation for them to start an
agricultural way of life.
ECOLOGICAL theories

13. ECOLOGICAL theories
Here are some theories focusing on ecology as the
impetus for an agricultural way of life
Oases Theory
1.
Nuclear Zone Hypotheses
2.
Binford’s Criticism
3.
Sauer Model
4.

14. This theory was devised by V. Gordon Childe (1936.
1952). Childe believed that agriculture started from
sub-tropical climates in the Middle East.
The need for agriculture was probably stimulated
by the climatic crisis in the region. Since the
climate in this region was not conducive for
growing crops because of vast desserts, people and
animal moved to the oases or water sources in some
parts of the dessert. Around springs and streams,
people began to domesticate wild crops and
animals as food sources.
Oases Theory

15. Robert Braidwood (1958, 1971, 1975) devised this
theory because he was not convinced of Childe's
Oases theory. Braidwood claimed that there were no
climatic shifts at the end of the Pleistocene.
It was because of man's need to understand the
environment that the rise of agriculture was
attributed to. Human nature was the stimulus for
the development of agriculture.
Man understands that it is more efficient for them to
stop foraging and instead explore other alternatives
for survival such as agriculture. There was no need
for man to live nomadic lives if they can could grow
plants and livestock for food consumption.
Nuclear Zone Hypotheses

16. Binford’s Criticism
Binford criticized the idea of Braidwood. He
contended that human nature is not enough to force
ancient people to change their lifestyle and turn to
agriculture. Foraging was still convenient for them
during that time so there was no need for them to
start domesticating food.
Sauer Model
Carl Sauer (1952) claimed that agriculture started in
South East Asia and later on spread throughout the
other parts of the world. Sauer believed that
agriculture was a product of the interaction of many
emerging cultures in the Neolithic thus accumulation
of knowledge from such cultural interactions was the
key for the rise of agriculture.

17. Population
pressure

18. 1. Carrying Capacity Theory.
One of the proponents of this way of thinking was Ester Boserup
(1965, 1981). He contended that the rapid growth of the population
acted as a trigger that would fuel the technological adaptations
that would be more efficient for survival.
2. Systematic Interactions Model
Lewis Binford proposed another model in order to explain the
development of agriculture. He pointed out the close
relationship between the existing environmental factors and
the population growth of a certain community of individuals.
Environmental changes force people to adapt to it with the
additional burden of sustaining a growing population.

19. Flannery's
Multi-Casual
Approach
Flannery's
Multi-Casual
Approach

20. Flannery also proposed at least two types of primitive
agricultural techniques which can also be seen from some
indigenous people today.
The first of these two is the Seed-crop Cultivation. This
technique involved simple farming techniques that utilize the
domestication of a few plant species.
The second of these two was called Vegeculture. This farming
technique is more complicated than seed-crop cultivation. It
involves more species of domesticated plants that requires
more complex farming techniques to grow.
Flannery's Multi-Casual Approach
Flannery's Multi-Casual Approach

21. Seed Crop Cultivation
Vegeculture
Seed crops means any crop intentionally planted, managed,
and grown in accordance with accepted agricultural practices
on privately owned or leased land for the production of seed
for future propagation, and that is harvested annually by
manual or mechanical means.
connotes forms of plant exploitation, ordinarily
agriculture, that are heavily reliant upon the
vegetative propagation of plants.

22. Seed Crop
Cultivation
Vegeculture

23. The First Farmers and Herders
Some 12,000 to 10,000 years ago, the people of the Middle
East started to explore a different kind of lifestyle, a
sedentary lifestyle based on farming and herding. They
started to collect different seeds and planted them. The
early people of Middle East also tended flocks of goat and
sheep for food. The domestication of food in the Middle East
started in different environmental locations. These four
environmental locations were:
1. High Plateau
2. Hilly Flanks
3. Treeless plain (piedmont steep)
4. Alluvial dessert

24. Neolithic culture in Africa

25. The Nabta Playa is a water reservoir filled with water in the ancient
times. This attracted several communities of people to settle there and
have economic relations with each other. This water source did not only
cater humans but also served as the source of drinking water for animals.
It was first occupied during 12,000 years ago.
This was also the time when the "African Cattle Complex" began. In this
kind of economic endeavor, people raise cattle not simply for its meat but
for it blood and milk. This small lake served as seasonal camps for the
semi-sedentary people who travel from the Nile to look for a better
environment during the season of fall.
Neolithic culture in Africa

26. Neolithic Period in Europe and Asia

27. The People of Europe and Asia started to shift from a foraging
culture to agriculture. This occurred around 8,000 years ago and
continued to develop until 6,000 years ago. By the 7,000 years ago,
Greece and Italy were living a sedentary life which means that they
rely on farming and herding. During 6,000 years ago, domestication
of food was established in most of the European geographical
locations. Even in Eurasia, agriculture and herding were the norms
of survival since 8,000 years ago. The civilization of China since
75000 years ago was already an agricultural area.
Neolithic Period in Europe and Asia

28. The People of Europe and Asia started to shift from a foraging
culture to agriculture. This occurred around 8,000 years ago and
continued to develop until 6,000 years ago. By the 7,000 years ago,
Greece and Italy were living a sedentary life which means that they
rely on farming and herding. During 6,000 years ago, domestication
of food was established in most of the European geographical
locations. Even in Eurasia, agriculture and herding were the norms
of survival since 8,000 years ago. The civilization of China since
75000 years ago was already an agricultural area.
Farming in America

29. Before the dawn The American Indians who were the first inhabitants of America did not
actually originate in the Americas. These so-called Native Americans crossed the Bering
land bridge that used to connect America and Siberia. The first human settlers in America
were actually from Northeast Asia.
The ancestors of the American Indians were mammoth hunters that followed the big
game creature in its migration until they reached the American lands.
The early American Indians in the north hunted a variety of animals, some big and others
small. They hunted mammoths, bison, giant sloth, horses, camels, elephants and other
smaller game.
During 12,000 to 11,000 years ago, the Clovis tradition flourished. It is a kind of stone
technology that emphasizes a sharp stone at the tip of a spear.
The early history of plant domestication begins in lower Central America and
northwestern South America and is known in large part from microfossil evidence.
Agriculture led to landscape transformations in the Americas, the scale of which varied
across time and place.
Farming in America