Class 12 - Origins of Agriculture

What crops and animals were domesticated in the Middle East?

Goats, cattle, and sheep
Wheat, barley nuts

How did the environment and climate of the Middle East change during the Pleistocene and Holocene?

Change in vegetation; from desert to pine and oak forest and lush grasslands

How did people cope with the changes in the Middle East?

People switched to small group high mobility lifestyle

Some moved to lower Jordan to continue villages

How did the Kebaran and Natufian people of the Middle East make a living?

Kebaran: small groups, mobile H&G’s, diverse diet and big territories

Natufian: sedentary H&G’s in permanent villages with special use hunting and gathering sites

What type of site was Ain Mallaha?

Was a Natufian site in the Fertile Crescent with long occupation and 3 superimposed villages

How did the pre-pottery neolithic A and B people make a living?

PPNA: domestication of wild grains occurs rapidly (wheat and barley) in the Younger Dryas

PPNB: return to warm wet conditions, increased use of agriculture, domestication of sheep, goats, and cattle

What happened at Netiv Hagdud?

Natufian village that used genetic engineering to produce wheat and barley that are more productive

How are domesticated wheat and barley different from their wild ancestors? How long did it take to create the first domesticated wheat and barley?

Harvested wheat and barley over winter → replanted desirable plants → bigger grains were replanted

Replaced brittle rachis to semi tough rachis (holds seeds in place)

Took place within a generation

Why did some people shift from hunting and gathering to farming in the Middle East in the Holocene? What roles did the Younger Dryas play?

Driven by climate change and small groups of people wanted to keep their lifestyle during the Younger Dryas. So, when it ended those small groups spread over the Middle East