ORIGINS OF FARMING
Present Knowledge & Debates
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez
Professor, Anthropology - UCSC
Curator, Monterey Bay Archaeology Archives
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
MATERIALS COVERED
Transitions: foraging to farming
Present views on why farming began
Southwest Asian (“Near Eastern”)
archaeological evidence
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Took Place Before Written Records
Only way to study is archaeologically
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Origins of Farming:
Sources of Theory & Data
Theory drawn from modern cases
Ecological theory
Human ecology
hunter-gathers and farmers
Social theory
Data and theory relating to past
Paleoclimatology
Paleoethnobotany
Zooarchaeology
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Transitions to Farming
7 geographically independent cases of
regional plant & animal species domestication
Southwest Asia (a.k.a. Near East)
Sahelian/Saharan Africa
North China
South China/Southeast Asia
North America (Mississippi/Ohio Rivers)
Mesoamerica
South America
All between 12,000 and 2500 years ago
Homo sapiens existed ~200K years prior
as hunter gatherers
Allowed/forced many transitions in human life
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Human Transitions Due to Farming:
Demographic
(Archaeological Site Density, Population Estimates)
Global Human Population Levels
10,000 yrs bp
PRESENT
7 - 9 million
>6.5 billion
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Transitions Due to Farming:
Ecological
(Theory & Modern Forager vs Farmer Ecology)
Predation (+/-) --> Mutualism (+/+)
mutualism present in nature (ants & aphids, etc.)
Natural Ecosystem --> Agroecosystem
high species diversity --> low species diversity
Resilient Food Systems --> Unresilient
100's species --> heavy dependence on few species
75% of humanity depend on 8 species
95% rely on 30 food species
famine therefore a common risk
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Transitions Due to Farming:Medical
(Paleopathology & Modern Foragers vs Farmers)
Less malnutrition --> more malnutrition
Less infectious disease --> more disease
sanitation-related (feces, etc.)
density-related (critical mass of hosts)
animal-related (proximity over longer spans)
domestic animals (smallpox, cholera, SARS)
parasites (rats & plague, mosquitos & malaria)
Low rate metabolic disorders --> higher
high carbohydrate diet: obesity, diabetes,
hypertension, high cholesterol
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Transitions Due to Farming: Social
(Archaeology & Modern Foragers vs Farmers)
Small-scale --> large-scale societies
living with strangers
Mobile --> sedentary societies
Conflict mediated interpersonally or by moving
away --> conflict mediated by laws, specialists
(judges), even warfare
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Transitions Due to Farming: Social
(Modern Foragers vs Farmers)
Egalitarian ideologies --> less egalitarian
Shared resource rights --> exclusive rights
both are ‘risk-reduction strategies’ in their contexts
More female autonomy --> relatively less
women’s control of own production, marriage, and
reproduction is the norm in hunter-gatherer groups
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Why People Started To Farm:
The Puzzle
Modern foragers don't work as hard
as farmers do for a living, even in
marginal environments.
Therefore: older “progress” model for
origins of farming (big advance over
hunting and gathering), is not supported
by the ethnographic evidence.
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
The Puzzle Continues…
Wild cereals & legumes (common domestic
plants) are “2nd choice” foods for modern
foragers
require more time & equipment to process, relative to
preferred foods
contemporary studies of time/energy expenditures
Therefore: Older idea that grains and legumes
were domesticated because they were better or
more convenient is not supported by the
evidence
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Another Piece of the Puzzle
Human bones from pre-farming phases
show people were generally healthier &
better nourished than their farming
descendants
Therefore: Older idea that population
pressure (“people were starving”) drove
people into farming is not supported by
the evidence.
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
If all this is so,
why DID
people start farming?
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
“Ingredients” of Early Farming:
1. Climatic Variability & Risk Reduction
At end of Ice Age, climate got warmer and
moister BUT
More variable and less predictable,
especially in semi-arid latitudes
locales of many transitions to farming
Hunter gatherers needed to reduce risk of
food shortages in bad years
What were their options?
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Risk Reduction Options
1. In times of stress, emigrate to seek food
@ end of Ice Age, some foragers' large home
ranges were too closely “packed”
did not allow risk-reduction by emigration
2. Stay put and use more 2nd & 3rd choice food
grains, legumes, nuts and roots w/ toxic substances (acorns,
manioc, yams)
more labor-intensive to process, but very common
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
2. Some 2nd-Choice Plants Coevolve
and Increase Yields for Humans
Some species evolve quickly under intensive
harvesting:
“weedy colonizers” flourish in disturbed habitats
landslides, flood silts, broken-up soil @ human camps,
trash dumps
very dense wild stands
hard seeds can be stored
Natural mutations selected for by humans
mutation: seed head that does not shatter when ripe
maladaptive in wild reproduction, but “rewards”
harvesters who plant its seeds “for” the plant
Annual generation turnover permits swift changes
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
‘Positive Feedback’ with Some Plants
Change in the species -> more human food
encourages more human use
selecting for more evolutionary change
more food increase, more use, etc.
High seed yields lead to mass food storage
But mass storage lowers human mobility
Kent Flannery: “Where are you going to go with a
metric ton of wheat?”
Sedentism: lessened mobility over the year
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
3. Sedentism & Population Growth
Sedentism relaxes pressure for wide
inter-birth spacing typical of foragers
Population growth --> more use of 2nd
choice foods, etc.
another positive feedback loop
More time and energy spent encouraging
altered species to thrive
open up more habitat for them
eliminate their predators and competitors
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
4. Irreversible Habitat Alteration
Encouraging altered species undermines other
wild foods
cannot fall back on other wild food species in crisis
more dependence on the altered food species
Risk reduction favors emergence of true farming
more intensified practices to get higher, more
dependable yields from altered species
even more dependence on the altered species, etc.
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
5. Ecosystem to Agroecosystem
Altered natural ecosystem now agroecosystem
its own flow of energy, with human labor and other inputs
People ARE NOW FARMERS
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
ORIGINS OF FARMING
Southwest Asian Evidence
18,000 - 3750 B.C.
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
Environmental Setting
Semiarid climate, winter rainfall
Native ranges of wild ancestors of
wheat barley
peas
garbanzos
flax
pistachios
almonds dates
apricots
goats sheep
pigs cattle
Dogs already domesticated >10K B.C.
Cats domesticate humans ~6K B.C. Egypt
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
18,000 - 10,000 B.C.
End of Ice Age
Rainfall and temperature increase
Woodland-grassland habitat expands
Humans settle former deserts (Sinai, Negev)
Shallow sites --> high mobility foraging
Ecofacts: larger and small game
Artifacts: similar to earlier
but some mortars, pestles show seed gathering
and processing is intensifying
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
10,000 - 8,000 B.C.
Climate moister, warmer than present
Sites reflect semi-sedentary lifestyle
stone-built houses, repeated occupation, storage
pits outside houses in common space
Sites double in number, increase in size
population growth
Ecofacts: no domestic plants, animals, more
waterfowl, fish, shellfish
Artifacts: many harvesting and processing
tools
Burials in houses (few burials earlier)
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
8500 -7600 B.C.
Climate as before: warmer, moister than today
Strong continuity in artifacts, house forms, etc.
Large sites (>8 acres area) + smaller sites
Sites located near springs and cultivable land
Ecofacts: rare domestic morphology grains,
wild animals only
Evidence of wide trade: Turkey to Red Sea
interregional communication
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
7600 - 6000 B.C.
Increase in number & size of sites (>20 acres)
population increase
Reorganization of living space in settlements
square, multiroomed houses w/ courtyards, walls
storage pits inside houses
Ecofacts:
much domestic sheep & goat, some wild game
domestic wheat, barley, peas, & lentils
wild plant remains still common
Artifacts: grinding equipment and sickle blades
predominate
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
6000 - 5000 B.C.
Climate markedly drier, desert expands
Sites shift from open to woodland zones
colonize previously unfarmed regions
Continuity of settlement organization,
shift in burial: houses to cemeteries near settlements
Ecofacts: more productive domestic wheat &
barley; domestic pigs, cattle, sheep and goats,
few wild animals
Artifacts: first pottery, relatively more farming
tools, fewer hunting tools
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
5000 - 3750 B.C.
Settlement form and size remains same, but the
number of sites doubles
inferred jump in population levels
Modern bread wheat & barley forms widespread,
plus flax (linen, linseed oil)
all require high water input: irrigation
irrigation only possible on some land
rich/poor differentiation based on land quality?
Hunting & gathering minimal input to food supply
Full emergence of a stable agroecosystem
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu
5000 - 3750 B.C., Pt. 2
Occupational diversification: villages specialize
ceramic, stone, and animal production
First large temples, cities in Levant, Mesopotamia
architecture suggests occupational and class
differentiation
farmers, priests, craft specialists, traders
Artifacts in graves & houses reflect differential
access to rare or exotic goods
status differentiation
Beginnings of record-keeping in temples, etc.
taxes, trade transactions, loans, lawsuits
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, UC Santa Cruz
dianegg@ucsc.edu