The Birth of Agriculture. Whats the Cause?

Source: Wiki Civ

Around 10,000 years ago (10kyra), humans undertook a very important transition from hunter-gatherer foraging to agriculture cultivation (Lev-Laden et al 2000).  This transition was so significant because it resulted in an increase in food storage, demographic growth and a sedentary lifestyle which all together helped the emergence of complex social societies (Harris 1996). So by understanding the conditions that allowed the establishment of agriculture across the world, we can get an idea of the conditions which helped facilitate the growth of ancient civilizations. 

Source: Wiki Civ

Agriculture didn’t just randomly occur one day out of the blue, nor did it stem from one geographic location; in fact there are several “nucleus of origins” mainly located in the Near East, South West Asia and the Eastern Sahara (Bar-Yosef 1998). Each nucleus involved the domestication of wild crops and or animals, which resulted in a more stable and sedentary lifestyle which led to innovations such as pottery and polished tools (Bar-Yosef 1998). Though when looking at the rest of the world the archaeological record doesn’t show any sign of domestication before about 7.3 -7kyra which indicates that certain conditions and or parameters  have prevented agriculture from occurring all over the world and its eventual diffusion (Lev-Laden et al 2000). So why only now is agriculture being adopted? Why has it originated from a few geographically separated areas in this fashion?  

 

A Map showing the centres of agricultural origin and dispersal routes
Source: Wikipedia

The Near synchrony of the birth of agriculture could be explained by climatic drivers, creating the conditions to push hunter-gatherers towards agricultural practices as a method of risk mitigation (Bar-Yosef andMeadow 1995). Researchers seem to believe that the cooler, drier conditions of the Younger Dryas (9-8kyra) led to diminished returns for hunter-gatherers, which forced them to resort to new sources of nourishment to sustain their populations (Bar-Yosef 1998; Lev-Laden et al 2000). During this time, especially in the Near East, wild crops flourished providing a new source of food for hunter-gathers, which resulted in increased food storages which is a precursor to sedentary settlement and complex societies (Harris 1996). Eventually as the climate improved, settlements appeared near water bodies to provide the maximum return for their endeavours (Harris 1996).

A Climate graph which shows the climatic variation during the Younger Dryas and Holocene
Source: http://www.atmo.arizona.edu

Though, the conditions of the Younger Dryas and the Early Holocene are not that significantly different from other times in the climatic record, so what else could of caused such a vital shift in hunter-gather societies (Marceau and Myers 2006). One such idea is that human’s development of tech outstripped local environmental capacity, resulting in adaptations to raise the Capacity Threshold to sustain their growing populations (Marceau andMyers 2006). It is quoted by Ostrum (1990 p241) “if adaptation of new technology is accelerated, the balance between rules and technology becomes unbalanced … the rapid introduction of a more efficient technology can trigger… the tragedy of commons”. This tragedy would force hunter-gathers towards new sources and can instil a sedentary lifestyle which results in the increased likelihood of agriculture (Marceau and Myers (2006).

In the end both of these theories have merits which leads to the lifestyle which installs the notion and growth of complex society, ranging from the tools created to the impressive architectural feats to house an increasing demographic. It’s hard to tell what driver is more important in the birth of agriculture. But, not all of the major civilizations occurred in these nucleus areas. So the question now becomes ‘how and why did agriculture spread from the centres of origin to the outskirts?’ Well, I am going to be explaining that in my next blog.