Class 14 - Origins of Agriculture in East Asia

What are the two main processes involved in domestication and explain them?

Genetic engineering: choosing specific seeds from preferred output of plants

Environmental engineering: purposefully modifying, managing, and shaping surrounding landscapes, water sources, and vegetation to survive (slash and burn)

How did health and workload change with the introduction of agriculture?

Increased workload: clearing fields, plowing, planting, weeding, and harvesting

Increased labor processing food: osteoarthritis

Increased infectious and parasitic disease (shorter life expectancy)

Decline in dental health

Less diverse diet

Increased female fertility

What is reproductive ecology?

The application of natural selection theory to the study of human reproductive strategies and decision making in an ecological context (diet, labor, environment)

How did reproductive ecology change with full time farming?

Led to more food = more children = more farm labor

What was the Neolithic Demographic Shift? Why did it happen?

Population increased once people adapted to agriculture

Happened due to change in diet (more carbs) and reduced mobility/change in the type of labor

Was agriculture a technological advancement that improved the lives of H&G?

Disadvantages: negative impacts on health, diet, labor, and life expectancy

Advantages: predictability, increase productivity per acre by increasing labor, and increase in wealth and possessions

What crops and animals were domesticated in East Asia?

Crops: wild rice, millet, soybeans, melons, peaches, and citrus trees

Animals: pigs, ducks, chickens (SE Asia), water buffalo

Where did agriculture first develop in East Asia?

East China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia → New guinea → Japan and Philippines

Where were taro and sugarcane domesticated?

New Guinea