Anth 112 : Agriculture - Chpt 8

The Holocene

geological epoch follows the Pleistocene epoch and begins 11,700yrs ago

the transition to an agricultural way of life took place during this time

• up to this point all groups are hunter-gatherer

• now transitioning - squash, corn, beans, barley, rice

• really significant climatic change - period of warming, glaciers melt, ice sheets retreat, animals that people have been depending on change, upward movement of herd animals, extinction - had to change food getting strategies, broader spectrum of resources

• more stationary way of life - fish, shellfish, plants, wild grains

Domestication

a relationship between humans and plant and animal species whereby humans exert control over the care and reproduction of organisms

in doing this, humans alter the characteristics of organisms

often so dramatically that domesticated species become dependent upon human intervention to survive 

Artificial Selection 

the selection for breeding by human beings of particular individuals within a plant or animal species which possess characteristics that are advantageous for humans 

• how humans change the characteristics of organisms, humans selecting desired characteristics, picking the best product for the best result 

The Neolithic Revolution 

describes the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture 

how did agriculture change human societies?

• stationary way of life - larger families, increase in population 

Archaeobotany

the analysis and interpretation of the remains of ancient plants recovered from the archaeological record

preserved plant material - waterlogged, dry, chard - excellent preservation

Microbotanicals

little tiny particles, look under a microscope

soil samples when excavate - presence of pollen and phytoliths will indicate what kinds of plants lived in this time

particles may be preserved on tools used as well

these would be ecofacts

• pollen - male gametes in plant sexual reproduction, size of a grain of flour

• phytoliths - microscopic, inorganic particles produced by plants, silica that builds up in the cells of plants, preserve well, abundant, taxonomically unique - can determine species

Evidence of Human control of Plant and Animal species - Geography 

plant and animal remains appear abruptly in the record at sites locates in territories where the plant and animal species represented are not known to have grown or lived naturally 

• geographic distribution 

• when they just show up in the record, they have been introduced, not native to area 

• Europe - wheat and barley were introduced, sheep and goats - brought in through southeast Asia - indicates domestication 

Evidence of Human control of Plant and Animal species - Mean Plant Size 

a change in the seed size may also be an indicator of domestication as people select for plants that produce larger seeds 

• changes in structure

• wild seeds, smaller - bigger seeds, increase harvest and size of product, get a higher yield 

Evidence of Human control of Plant and Animal species - Seed Morphology

record shows the development of a predominance of non-brittle attachments (rachis) of seeds in plants harvested by an ancient people, a kind of unconscious selection may be at work

domesticated seed coats are often thinner than the seed coats of wild plants

• thickness of seed coats - thinner - easy germinators - make food easier to process and digest

• actual attachment of seed to plant itself - firmly attached seeds, can gather and replant after harvest

Evidence of Human control of Plant and Animal species - Osteological Change

lightly constructed bones of otherwise wild animals found in archaeological contexts may be interpreted as resulting from the animals having been penned by human controllers and protectors throughout their lives

• study of bones - change in bones of animals

• animals have been controlled, contained in pens, less dense bones - less strength

• selecting animals that are easier to handle - smaller horns

Evidence of Human control of Plant and Animal species - Animal Population Characteristics 

when an abundance of the bones of subadult males is found at a site, this may indicate that people had a level of control over the population greater than what would be expected if they merely had been hunting free-roaming wild animals 

• sex and age profile of bones recovered - need a large population to study

• greater levels of control over what animals are being used for food - when hunting you can’t be that selective 

• only need a few good males for breeding, young males will be eaten more 

Origins of Domestication - Dogs

dogs were the first domesticated animal, they were domesticated before the transition to agriculture

clear evidence of domesticated dogs in Europe by 18,000yrs ago

DNA analysis places the date of dog domestication between 20,000 to 40,000yrs ago, somewhere in Eurasia

• artificial selection - desirable and beneficial characteristics

• all most closely related to the grey wolf

• domesticated during the Upper Paleolithic by premodern humans

• smaller teeth, smaller jaws, less aggressive - see earliest evidence

• some say dogs domesticated themselves - hang around when you throw away food, would have lived around human encampments - warn off predators, find prey - eventually would have bred them

• first people in the America already had dogs, related to the Asian dogs

• cats domesticated around 10,000yrs ago, growing and storing grains - led to rodents

beneficial relationship between humans led to the domestication

The Fertile Crescent

a crescent shaped region extending from the eastern Mediterranean coast of modern Israel, Lebanon and Syria north into the Zagros Mountains and then South toward the Persian Gulf in Iran and Iraq

• transition was gradual

• see people first making the transition in the area, huge arch of land

• some species were domesticated by 11,500yrs ago

• wheat, barley, chickpeas, lentils, sheep, goat, pig, cattle, dog

Natufians 

collector type hunter gatherers who established sedentary settlements in parts of the Near East about 15,000 to 12,000yrs 

• pre-agriculturalists and utilized wild cereals before the beginnings of an agricultural way of life, before agriculture and domestication 

• storing food, became stationary 

• utilize sheep, goats, nuts, fish - abundant resources in the region 

• were able to amass a surplus of food - storage pits, settlements growing 

• at one site - 14,000yrs - chard bread found, preserved - evidence of baking, grinding grains, predates agriculture 

Lunates - tiny crescent shaped stone tools 

• smaller than a penny, arrowheads - put into slots

Sickle - tools used to harvest cereals 

• inset tool blades

• sickle polish found on these tools, confirming use - different striations 

Neolithic periods

Neolithic - new stone age

• Pre-Pottery Neolithic A - 11,700 to 10,500yrs

  • circular dwellings

  • stone tools - very similar to Natufian

  • mud brick walls, instead of branch

• Pre-Pottery Neolithic B - lasted 2000yrs

  • plant and animal domestication present

  • increase in complexity

• Late Neolithic - Pottery Neolithic

  • larger communities developing

  • large, rectangular buildings - mud brick and plaster

  • 1000s of people living in these

  • new degree of social and political complexity - status and conflict, warfare and violence

Catalhoyuk - Pottery Neolithic Era 

• one of the oldest and largest complex settlements of the Neolithic 

• clearly agriculturists 

• up to 8000 people in rectangular houses built up against each other, each only 25m squared 

• no streets or alleyways, neighbors were through walls

• entrance through the roof, lots of live on the roof

• kept very clean, can see white plaster reapplied often on walls

• evidence of artwork, drawings on wall, red ochre 

• burials - buried beneath the sleeping platforms, beneath the floor of the home, family/ancestral homes, bones may be disturbed and some even displayed

• homes are all similar layout 

• oven beneath opening, let out smoke

• two main tells 

  • tells - accumulation of debris, rubble, massive mounds

• new degree of organization

increase in settlement size and complexity of architecture as reliance on agriculture increased

Origin of Agriculture in Europe

Europe was not an independent center of domestication

• agriculture was introduced to Europe from southwest Asia (the Near East), and brought into the area

• the earliest evidence for domestication in Europe comes from Greece; in this area of the Balkan Peninsula, archaeologists recognize the sudden appearance of farming

• Neolithic Revolution - change into agriculture way of life, growing own food

European Domesticates

lentils, beans, peas, barley

rye, wheat

dog, cattle, sheep, goats

Timing of transition to Agricultural way of life in Europe 

the Balkan Peninsula - agriculture begins here 9000yrs ago 

• low population density

• Mesolithic, before Neolithic, hunter gatherers in region before 

• population movement, migration of new groups of people brought this new way of life with them, not an Indigenous group of people adapting, was introduced by immigrant groups from the near east and southeast Asia 

• sudden rise in number and size of settlements 

• introduction of domesticated plants and animals - geographic distribution evidence 

• absence of local traditions and artifacts in the first farming settlements, tools, no similarities to the Mesolithic tools, brand new tool technologies - brought in these tools 

• genetic data - migration of farming populations from Anatolia (Asian portion of present day Turkey, southwest Asia)

Central and Northern Europe - agriculture begins here 7000yrs ago 

Linearbandkeramik (LBK)

the first farming culture in central Europe is called Linearbandkeramik - name sake

named after distinctive pottery that is decorated with incised linear bands

this pottery is frequently recovered from LBK settlements

Talheim, Germany is a significant LBK settlement

• large amounts of ceramic vessels - storage, carrying

• change in sophistication of architecture, large, long timber settlements'; internal support posts, areas for storage, some even housed livestock along with extended family

• 20-60 people in communities

• patterns and post holes - how archeologists were able to reconstruct these houses - actual material is gone, organic material

• increased warfare and conflict - close quarters, need access to land - in Talheim there is evidence of significant warfare

• mass grave, 34 individuals, 20 killed by blows to head, arrows - men, women and children - members of the community killed by another group

• increase use of fortifications - pits and posts as protection

Three Areas of Independent Centers of Domestication in the Americas

1. Mesoamerica

2. South America

3. Eastern North America

• much less reliance on animal domesticates

• not many animals well suited for domestication, herd animals that you can control

• lots of plant domestication

Mesoamerica 

is the cultural area that includes Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica 

domesticates include - maize, beans, squash, chili peppers, sunflower, turkey, dog

• maize, beans and squash formed the subsistence base for Indigenous civilization in the Americas - Three Sisters

• squash is the earliest domesticate in Mesoamerica and was domesticated by 10,000yrs ago 

• maize was domesticated in Mesoamerica about 9000yrs, and was later introduced to other regions of the Americas, rapidly spread 

• maize is the most economically significant crop in the Americas

• a wild grass called teosinte is the wild ancestor of maize 

• teosinte spike, small - to huge cobs, more kernels - genetically modified, desirable mutations were grown, had a rapid change 

• constant trade and travel, sharing of ideas; groups did not live in isolation 

• plant crops and leave, continue to hunt and gather - not completely permanent - Techuacan area 

• knew how to grow well, what to grow together to get the highest yield 

South America, Andes Region

evidence for plant domestication in South America as early as 10,000yrs ago

maize became an important staple that was introduced to South America by about 6000yrs ago

domesticates include - maize, potatoes, manoic, arrowroot, yams, quinoa, cotton (nets, textiles, weaving - wool), guinea pig, llama, alpaca

• llamas and alpacas were the only large, domesticated animals in the Americas

• guanacos are the ancestors of llamas

• llamas were used as beasts of burden and for food. Alpaca served as a source of food and wool

• domesticated around 6000yrs ago

• guinea pigs - 7500yrs - based on abundant feces, and pits for control

Eastern North America

evidence for plant domestication in eastern North America by 5000yrs ago

maize was introduced to this region by about 2200yrs ago

domesticates include - squash, sunflower, sumpweed, little barley, goosefoot, smartweed, knotweed, maize, turkey, dog

• corn become a huge domesticate here, spread from Mesoamerica - trade and contact

• once again - few animals - only economically significant is the turkey

Emergence of Social Complexity 

• large cities emerged from agriculture adoption 

• before agriculture - less social difference in these communities, wealth and resources - all get the same, everyone is doing the same jobs - no powerful leaders, or hoarding goods 

• this changed with agriculture - now see architecture dedicated to people, need leaders to accomplish 

Cahokia, Illinois

A Mississippian settlement that flourished between AD 1000 to 1350

• agriculturist, maize and squash - had food surplus

• number of settlements - Cahokia is the largest found, largest pre-contact site

• Chiefdom - level of socio-political civilization - state-like government

• evidence of powerful ruling classes, social status

• large scale monumental architecture

• covers 15 square km; 10-40 thousand people

• rectangular platform mounds - platforms for dwellings and temples - ceremonial, elite, dwellings

Monks Mound

• largest mound at Cahokia

• covers 16 acres and is more than 30m high

• may have served as a temple platform

• enormous wide-open area around, central plaza - other ceremonials structures near

• fortification around it - 20,000 logs, has been rebuilt multiple times

• powerful leadership overlooking and controlling the development of this city

Mound 72

this burial mound represents the presence of powerful elite at Cahokia 

• striking social status 

• ridge-top mound

• 850m south of Monks Mound

• 207 burials have been identified 

• one laid on thousands of hand-cut shells, 20,000 of them - other individuals around this one for probable sacrificial reasons - obviously very important figure in the community 

• exotic grave goods - mica, copper, marine shell beads, arrow points - all the way from the Great Lake region and from Mexico - wide trade route 

• some artifacts found - chunkey stones, shell beads, incredibly made projectile points

Cahokia settlement was abandoned, why?

overuse of resources - wood usage 

significant environmental changes, probably led to failure of crops - can’t support the large population 

people become independent on a small number of resources, when they can’t support them anymore, have to leave