02b - How did we get there?

Domestication Syndrome

• larger fruit or grain

• reduced branching

• gigantism

• the loss or reduction of seed dispersal

• the loos of seed dormancy

• changes in photoperiod sensitivity

• the loss or reduction of toxic compounds

Earliest AMHs

• AMH stands for anatomically modern human

• also called homo sapiens sapiens

• first appear 200 thousand years ago in East Africa

• first dispersal out of africa is 120 - 90 thousand years ago

• eventual spread to the 6 habitable continents - about 90 thousand years ago

Animal Domestication

• the first domesticated animal was possibly the dogs around 15,000 years ago

• common features of domesticated animals:

  • diverse appetite

  • rapid maturation

  • willingness to breed in captivity

  • docility

  • nature that conforms to social hierarchy

• often results in neotenization

Neotenization

biological process where an animal retains its juvenile or larval traits into adulthood

Plant Domestication

• First plant domestication as early as 10,000-12,000 years ago

  • Emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley are among the first domesticates

• Domestication Syndrome

Origin on Agriculture

the transition to agriculture is a slow process that starts after 10,000 years ago (after plants are domesticated)

What might have happened (with a focus on plants)?

• initially, certain plants were just one reason to locate camps in particular spots

• repeated occupation created microenvironments favorable to some plants

  • organically enriched and continually disturbed soil in sunny clearings

• human activity, however casual, resulted in new selective pressures

  • such as uniform ripening of seed heads for harvested grains

• humans began intentional gardening

  • casually sowing seeds where they would grow, weeding, watering

  • introducing seeds to new areas thereby expanding the range of the plant

  • perhaps initially treated plants as a secondary (or famine) food

• eventually human survival was based on the cultivated plants

  • too many people to revert back to old way of life

Inheritance and Intergenerational Wealth

• the earliest indicators of inheritance and intergenerational wealth are during the neolithic

  • estimated around 7,000 years ago

• the resources needed for agriculture (land, tools, beasts of burden, etc.) are expensive and can be inherited from one generation to the next

Origins of State

no earlier than 6,000 years ago

• mesopotamia

• egypt

• pakistan

• china

• mesoamerica

• peru

Circumscription Theory

• is one of the more widely accepted theories about the origin of the state

• interplay of three principal factors

  • environmental circumscription

  • population growth

  • warfare

Sequence of events for Circumscription Theory

• population grows in a region with well-defined limits

• region becomes filled, so suitable land is in short supply

• competition intensifies

• one group emerges as the principal political force

• losers unable to flee are dominated by victors

European Colonial Expansion

• 1400s

• made possible by the 1450 development of the caravel by the Portuguese

• caravels were a lighter ship that could sail further and faster than previous vessels, were highly maneuverable, and could sail into the wind

• key motivations of colonial spread included:

  • economic gain

  • spreading Christianity

  • national glory

  • finding new markets and resources

Industrial Revolution

• 1800s

• period of rapid scientific, technological, and socioeconomic change that transformed primarily agrarian societies into industrialized, urban ones, marked by mass production by machines in factories

• means of production are owned by some and run by others making class differences even larger

Bands

the simplest and smallest form of human social and political organization, typically consisting of a fluid, egalitarian group of 20 to 100 people

Tribes

a social group made of smaller communities - like bands, clans, or villages - that share a common language, culture, ancestry, and territory

Chiefdoms

an intermediate form of socio-political organization that sits between a tribal society and a fully developed state

States

the most complex form of political and social organization in which a centralized authority governs a defined territory, holds a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force, and enforces formal laws over a permanent population

Egalitarian

a type of society or social organization where all members have roughly equal access to power, prestige, and wealth

Ranked Stratified

• ranked society is one where people have unequal access to prestige and status, but everyone still has equal access to basic economic resources and survival needs. Status is often inherited, and leaders exercise influence or manage wealth redistribution rather than hoarding personal fortune

• stratified society is one where groups have unequal access to both prestige and basic economic resources, power, and wealth. Inequality is formally built into the social structure, creating permanent economic and social layers (such as distinct socioeconomic classes or castes) where lower groups face restricted access to land, money, and power

Wealth

a broad collection of valuable resources - including personal skills, social bonds, and physical goods - that help a person or community survive and thrive

Power

the ability or potential to bring about change, influence decisions, and control the actions or behaviors of others through methods ranging from physical force to persuasion

Prestige

the voluntary respect, honor, and admiration a group grants to an individual because of their valued skills, knowledge, or generosity

World Systems Analysis

• the world-system refers to the inter-regional and transnational division of labor, which divides the world into core countries, semi-periphery countries, and periphery countries

• core countries have higher-skill, capital-intensive industries, and the rest of the world has low-skill, labor-intensive industries and extraction of raw materials

• it is a world-economy rooted in a capitalist economy

Major events

Earliest AMHs → First AMHs leave Africa → Earliest domestication of animals → Earliest domestication of plants → Earliest origin of agriculture → Inherited wealth → Earliest origin of states → European colonial expansion → Industrial revolution

What is a domesticate (plant and animal)

an individual plant or animal species that has genetically and physically evolved through human care and selective breeding to depend on humans for survival

Do all societies have a division of labor?

Yes, all societies have some division of labor.

When and why do we see inequality emerge?

• early foragers - paleolithic hunter-gatherer groups were generally egalitarian because food could not be easily hoarded and nomadic lifestyles limited personal property

• early farmers - the earliest agricultural societies showed relatively equal household sizes and modest disparities, though temporary differences arose

• the late neolithic transition - enduring, intergenerational wealth gaps became common and permanent toward the end of the neolithic and the rise of early proto-states

• resource intensification & surplus - as populations grew, communities invested in intensive labor practices like building irrigation canals, terracing fields, and draining wetlands. this created a reliable food surplus, but also created a distinct gap between those who managed the systems and those who did the physical labor

• land as a finite resource - as population density increased, prime agricultural land became scarce. Control over fixed real estate allowed certain lineages to monopolize essential resources

• wealth transmission and inheritance - the shift toward privatized, transmissible wealth-such as inheriting land or large domesticated herds from parents - allowed disparities to compound across generations rather than resetting with an individual’s death

• centralized political power - the rise of hierarchical settlements, early elite leadership, and proto-states provided the political structures and enforcement needed to protect and perpetuate unequal access to wealth