anthro 2 mid term 2

Hunter-gatherer populations

Only means of subsistence (food) until 10k - 5k BCE

300,000 years of hunter-gatherer history is primarily accessible through archaeology

Contemporary Subsistence

use of animals and agriculture affects how the land is used in present

Gordon Childe’s Oasis Theory

theory for the origin of agriculture that sees environmental change as the primary reason humans began domesticating animals and plants

Robert Braidwood’s Hilly Flanks Theory

Ideal location for the beginnings of agriculture would be an upland (hill) region with sufficient rainfall to make irrigation unnecessary, and suitable habitat for the first domesticated animals and plants

Lewis Binford’s Marginal Zone Hypothesis

Agriculture developed in environmentally marginal areas due to population pressure (larger population)

Also Kent Flannery

Ethnographically studied hunter-gatherer groups

mainly places that were bad for agriculture because they were too dry, cold, or high

Etc. dry parts of south america, west coast of america

“Man the Hunter” model

biased thought of the past that hunter-gathers lived in dry climates and were meant for hunting and gathering despite other climates that were ideal for agriculture and hunting and gathering

Organizationally complex areas

usually coastal areas, relied on local resources for subsistence, sedentary populations

Poverty Point

In Louisiana, around 1700-1200 BCE, pre agricultural dirt mounds that showed people can tell others what to do

Made by hunter-gatherers

Hunter-Gatherer archaeology

difficult to study because of

• most groups in areas bad for agriculture

• few groups have been studied

• they were nomads, spots were inhabited in very temporarily

• had portable and often perishable material culture, much of which is gone

  • ex. Apache wickiup, hut of straw

Hunter-gatherer Ethnoarchaeology

helpful for understanding h/g

• land use

• tech

• subsistence decisions

Then helps link it to archaeological

Landscape Burning

done to get animals to your vicinity and/or to encourage the growth of the kinds of foods that we want to eat

Pleistocene (Ice Age) to Holocene Transition

~9600 BCE

Sunda

in S.E. Asia, had modern & archaic humans ? - 60 kya and H. erectus 1.6 - 1 mya

Sahul

Australia and Melanesia, separated from Sunda by Wallacea, had to use a boat to cross

Madjebebe ~65 kya

Megafauna extinctions ~50-40kya

Wallacea

oceanic gap from Sunda

Madjebebe/Malakunaja

Challenging to date since the radiocarbon date was inaccurate to the dates that people thought migration to Australia happened, and lots of inorganic material didn’t help with dating the area

Had artifacts such as ochre, mica, and art

E Asia migration to North America

~15 - 25kya

“Ice-free” corridor

~13kya, people would migrate from this corridor that would warm up and allow a path to North America

Pacific coast migration

Because of Monte Verde, archaeologists thought people would come from the West Coast part of America

Clovis hunters

Thought to be the first hunters to go into Americas

Archaeologists found a distinct spear points that were associated with Pleistocene animals in Clovis

11,250-10,800 BCE

Monte Verde

In South America, Coastal Chile, ~14,600 kya

Discovered in 1970s, but was controversial until 1990s because of arguments of dating

Site has been eroded

Paisley Caves

Oregon, 12,300 BCE,

Buttermilk Creek

Texas, ~13.2 - 15.5 kya

White Sands

~21-23 kya, multiple human trackways and extinct megafauna

Siberian - Native American populations split

diverged 23 kya

North and South American split

diverged ~15.5 kya

Beringia split from North America

around ~21 kya

Megafauna overkill hypothesis

people killed them

Megafauna climate change hypothesis

climate killed them

Younger Dryas

Mini version of an asteroid that killed the dinosaurs

Or it was an ocean current change

Rancho La Brea

Latest dates for animals converge at 13 kya

Just pre-dates earliest emergence of humans in California (12.9 kya Arlington Springs)

Agriculture

commitment to tending crops and maintaining animals

Domestication

modification of genetic and/or physical characteristics - domesticates are dependent on human intervention for survival

Cultivation

intentional preparation of fields, sowing, harvesting, and storing seeds and other plant parts

Herding

intervention in reproduction and subsistence of animals

Anthropogenic environments

Environments & ecology significantly affected by human activities

Transition to Agriculture

Around 6 - 12kya

Modern diet shaped by the several areas that changed to agriculture

Middle East, South & East Asia, Sahel Africa, Melanesia, Americas

Cons vs Pros with Agriculture as Subsistence

Cons:

• Early farming populations had poorer health compared to h/g’s

• Subsistence farmers work way more compared to h/g’s

Pros:

• Can support bigger populations

• Allows for another division of labor

• Allows for emergence of organizationally complex societies

Neolithic

Period when people began

• to use ground stone tools and pottery

• live in permanent villages

• engage in agriculture

Neo = new

neolithic = new stone

3 bullet points may not always be with each other

ex. may not have agriculture

Sedentism

permanent, year-round settlement

David Rindos’s Co-evolution

Ecologist said:

Some species co-evolve together, we can affect how things evolve

ex. pick certain wheat seeds with selection

Feasting model

the idea that origins of agriculture were also driven by competition and power

Barbara Bender & Brian Hayden

Origin of Agriculture?

• looking for answers from wild ancestors of domesticators and their location

• long-term development w/ relationship of plants, animals, and humans

• why and what particular crops and animals are domesticated

Microbotanical remains

Pollen, Phytoliths, Charcoal, and Starch grains

Easy to archaeologically find

Macrobotanical remains

Plant parts (stem, seeds, fruits, etc.)

Use flotation to help find them

Flotation

sifting plant remains to get macrobotonical remains

Phytoliths

little crystals

“bones” that give plant its structure

Very small

Starch grains

Very similar to phytoliths

Mainly with maize

Domestication syndrome

plants and animals have adapted to our needs compared to their older ancestors

ex. corn don’t break husk unless we rip it compared to their older ancestors

Domestication animal effects

• more milk, meat, wool production

• smaller domesticated size, less aggressive (smaller teeth)

• regulation of reproduction

Major crops and animals in S.W. Asia

Crops early aceramic Neolithic:

• Wheat

• Barley

• Legumes - peas, beans, lentils

Animals late aceramic Neolithic:

• Sheep and goats

• Cattle

• Pigs

Major Animals in East Asia

• Pigs

• Dogs

• Water buffalo

north and mesoamerica major animals

• Dogs

• Turkey

South America major animals

• Dogs,

• camelids,

• guinea pigs,

• Muscovy ducks

Mesoamerican Trinity

• 8000 BCE squash/gourds

• 4500 BCE maize

• 1000 BCE beans

Cultigens

Recognized as plants that have been deliberately bred/altered

• larger seed size

• physical traits that would have limited the ability of plants to spread their own seeds (humans spread the growth instead)

Andean South America

Caral, Norte Chico, Peru, 2600 BCE

early domestication of:

• Gourds

• potatoes

• camelids

• quinoa

Proto-cities and social complexity by 3000 BCE

Language Dispersal Hypothesis

Dispersal of languages is connected to the growth of agriculture

• Societies are allowed to grow more because of agriculture sustainability

• Bigger land = more people diversity

• Replacing or assimilating hunter-gatherer populations

Multidisciplinary Test Implications of Lang. Dis. Hypothesis

• “genetic” similarities in language

• Similarities in past distribution (and modern) genetic traits

• Archaeologically distinctive material culture

• Found with domesticates linked to a specific agricultural homeland

Austronesian spread

East Asia, Origins in Taiwan,

Philippines

Melanesia

Indo-European Languages

Originally proposed as “strong” candidate of language in Europe

Settlement trends

• sedentism

• predictability of resources

• patchiness of land

• hoarding of material culture

Shifting Sedentism

Small settlements that move over short periods of time (few years to a generation)

Deep Sedentism

Villages located in the same place for a long time

Aggregation

concentration of social units on the landscape

people are all piled up on each other

Very Dense!

Household Organization

• Bigger houses/families

• specialization of labor roles

• More formalization and space in house rooms

• Strangers become more standard (Privacy)

Communal Projects

more people = more work input

cooperation and teamwork

• Infrastructure

• communal structures

• ritual spaces and tombs

Band

small groups of <100 integrated by kinship; usually mobile hunter-gatherers

Tribe

larger groups (100s-1000s) integrated by fictive kinship; usually subsistence farmers or herders

Chiefdom

even larger group (1000s) integrated by institutionalized, ranked kin relations; mostly agriculturalists, some herders and complex hunter-gatherers

State

societies with >1000s in population with centralized and institutionalized economic and political relationships; almost always agriculturalists

Political complexity

development and institutionalization of leadership, government, and power (force)

Social complexity

development of institutions that bind people together

(e.g., kinship, religion, etc.)

Economic complexity

diversification, differentiation, and specialization in economic activity and relationships

Rise of cities

• Physically and demogrpahically large and dense

• more specialized jobs since not everyone can be farmers

• Overseen by centralized institutions

City-hinterland interdependency

City relies on hinterland, which is where the agricultural food comes from

Catalhoyuk, Turkey

People argued it was “the first city” because of population estimates of 10,000, but archaeologists later found it was more around 2,000

Trypillia culture, Ukraine

Settlements with 100s-1000s of houses arranged in formal plans

Cannot tell if it was short-term or permanent

Cahokia, Illinois

A city, but not considered a state

• No evidence for bureaucracy and no competitor city around them

Mesopotamia

Land between the rivers (E.T) (Euphrates and Tigris)

Irrigation in Mesopotamia

can grow many crops in Mesopotamia, as long as it is irrigated because there is not much there except for dirt and rainfall

Halaf Period

6000 - 5400 BCE

• Small, short-lived villages

  • Small populations

• Agriculture dependent diet

• Construction of what is considered “temples”

• Limited evidence of political complexity

Ubaid Period

5900 - 4200 BCE

• Precedes beginning of city states

• Irrigation systems in S. Mesopotamia

• Interaction with trades, farming villages

Eridu

Important city during the Ubaid period

• Several big temple complexes

• Temple to Enki, the water god

• Had the first kings according to the Sumerian king list

Uruk

Considered the first largest city-state in the world 4200 - 3000 BCE

• Population is mainly here, smaller cities decreased as these increased

• Bronze weaponry and writing

• Rapid urbanization since farming villages are abandoned

Political system in Mesopotamia

Biggest guy = most power

Control over violence

The weakest get run over

Economic system in mesopotamia

control of the means of production and trade

• Taxation, ownership

• Basic resources vs. valuables

• Accounting

Ideological Mesopotamia

- control of means of producing, distributing, and

consuming cultural/political symbols and ideas

• Defining the “rules”