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| Wheat (source: Wikipedia) |
Several hypotheses have been brought forward to explain the reason for the origination of agriculture, many of which have been outlined in Current Anthropology's Wenner-Gren Symposium Series (Price & Bar Yosef, 2011). These include the oasis hypothesis (Childe, 1936), the hilly flanks hypothesis (Braidwood, 1960), the population-pressure hypothesis (Binford, 1968), the edge hypothesis (Cohen, 1977), and the social hypothesis (Price & Bar-Yosef, 2010).
The oasis hypothesis suggests that domestication occurred at oases at the end of the Pleistocene due to increased climatic aridity following deglaciation, while the hilly flanks hypothesis suggests that the earliest domesticated species appear in the original habitats of their wild predecessors. The population-pressure hypothesis, on the other hand, suggests that the imbalance between humans and their food supply created a necessity for agriculture, and expanding on this theory, the edge hypothesis adds that this population pressure was felt most harshly at the edge or boundaries of the habitats of the ancestors of domesticated species. The social hypothesis explores the idea that domestication resulted in social inequality, allowing certain populations to possess a surplus of food. More recently, evolutionary ecological approaches have been used to attempt an explanation for the origins of agriculture, which employ the biological theory of optimal foraging. Greenland ice cores have also been used to formulate hypotheses on the subject, where increases in carbon dioxide levels following the end of the Pleistocene are argued to have favoured agriculture in the Holocene (Bettinger et al., 2010).
However, the cause of the origination of agriculture is still unclear today, and no single theory can explain why it has occurred. Further research will be necessary to better understand the origins of the global phenomenon that has revolutionised sustenance for human populations.
In the next part of this post, we will continue to examine the origins of agriculture, looking at some of the major centres of agriculture in the Holocene. Until then, I'm leaving you with a map of these centres displaying the earliest domesticated plants and animals, the most ancient including our modern-day staples of wheat and barley appearing in the Fertile Crescent some 10,000 years BP.
The oasis hypothesis suggests that domestication occurred at oases at the end of the Pleistocene due to increased climatic aridity following deglaciation, while the hilly flanks hypothesis suggests that the earliest domesticated species appear in the original habitats of their wild predecessors. The population-pressure hypothesis, on the other hand, suggests that the imbalance between humans and their food supply created a necessity for agriculture, and expanding on this theory, the edge hypothesis adds that this population pressure was felt most harshly at the edge or boundaries of the habitats of the ancestors of domesticated species. The social hypothesis explores the idea that domestication resulted in social inequality, allowing certain populations to possess a surplus of food. More recently, evolutionary ecological approaches have been used to attempt an explanation for the origins of agriculture, which employ the biological theory of optimal foraging. Greenland ice cores have also been used to formulate hypotheses on the subject, where increases in carbon dioxide levels following the end of the Pleistocene are argued to have favoured agriculture in the Holocene (Bettinger et al., 2010).
However, the cause of the origination of agriculture is still unclear today, and no single theory can explain why it has occurred. Further research will be necessary to better understand the origins of the global phenomenon that has revolutionised sustenance for human populations.
In the next part of this post, we will continue to examine the origins of agriculture, looking at some of the major centres of agriculture in the Holocene. Until then, I'm leaving you with a map of these centres displaying the earliest domesticated plants and animals, the most ancient including our modern-day staples of wheat and barley appearing in the Fertile Crescent some 10,000 years BP.
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| Major centres of domestication and dates for earliest plants and animals (Price & Bar-Yosef, 2011) |
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