Cultural Evolution And Population Growth

The start of the agricultural transition was about 10,000 years ago. Says by Jared Diamond in the article "The Worst Mistake in The History of The Human Race." This conviction complete differentiates notable opinions the people are in "an ideal situation" now than in the ancient times; that now life is substantially less difficult and food more numerous, though, it was once short. Nonetheless, Diamond contends that there is obvious confirmation recommending something else.

The emergence of agriculture was a major stepping stone in human history. During this birth of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic revolution, humans began inhabiting permanent settlements, grow their own crops, and domesticate both plants and animals for food (Weisdorf, 2005). Considering humans have been hunter-gatherers for the majority of their approximately 7 million years of existence, the emergence of agriculture in the Old World only occurring 10,000-5,000 years ago, marks a significant transformation in food sustenance techniques (Weisdorf, 2005). However, this turning point in history is associated with both positive and negative implications. There is much controversy over whether or not the introduction of

Introduction: The emergence of agriculture was a major stepping stone in human history. During this birth of agriculture, also known as the Neolithic revolution, humans began inhabiting permanent settlements, grow their own crops, and domesticate both plants and animals for food (Weisdorf, 2005). Considering humans have been hunter-gatherers for majority of their approximately 7 million years of existence, the emergence of agriculture in the Old World only occurring 10,000-5,000 years ago, marks a significant transformation in food sustenance techniques (Weisdorf, 2005). However, this turning point in history is associated with both positive and negative implications.

The start of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution led directly to the beginning of civilization. The Neolithic Revolution, which happened 10,000 years ago, was the shift from hunter-gathers to a food-producing culture meaning humans started to farm and domesticate animals. This was the catalyst to help create civilizations. We know now how to distinguish groups of humans from actual civilization if those groups have certain characteristics. Those characteristics are complex institutions, record keeping, advanced cities, specialized workers, and advanced technology. A result of the Neolithic Revolution is that more people were able to thrive since there was a surplus of food. These early civilizations were able to take advantage of the rivers and create irrigation systems to water their crops.

Since the beginning of human development humans have been revolving around agriculture. It is known that, “Archaeologists and palaeontologists have traced the origins of farming to around 10,000 years ago” (Mason). This is truly remarkable to believe that the revolution as a whole may pivot on this period so long ago. Once this happened agriculture began popping up all around the ancient world spreading like wildfire. This planting of crops and domestication of animals allowed people to develop specialization because not everyone had to forage anymore. This allowed

Agriculture was such a prominent part in every civilization since the beginning of time. It was a way for humans to be one with their land for it gave them means to survive. As agriculture became much more recognized in Africa, “cultivators and herders displaced many of the hunting, gathering and fishing peoples who previously inhabited Saharan Africa.” (Bentley,384) With the progression of new technology; iron axes, adzes, and hoes were created, and revolutionized agriculture on their land. The introduction of bananas from sea lanes became popular in Africa and increased the supply of food that was available. Likewise for Medieval Europe, cultivation on Europe grounds allowed more room for agricultural techniques, the utilization of developed tools and technologies, and the institution of new crops. Similar to Africa, population pressure rose and space for more agriculture became necessary. Beans were important to the diets of Europeans as were the bananas to African diets. They also dug ponds to raise fish which in turn led to new

After 11,000 B.C., technology in the Fertile Crescent developed immensely. Inventions including flint blades for harvesting, baskets and containers for collecting crops, and underground storage pits made it possible for food production to occur. “These cumulative developments constituted the unconscious first steps of plant domestication” (Diamond 111). Utilizing the further geographical advantage of rich soil, people of the Fertile Crescent leapt into the world of food production. Food production, in turn, yielded large food surpluses stored in baskets, allowing the society to move toward a sedentary lifestyle and a more organized, specialized community. Simple agricultural tool advancements led to a

Anna Belfer Cohen and A. Nigel Gorring-Morris. 釘ecoming Farmers: the Inside Story.Current Anthropology, Vol 52, No. S4 (October, 2011): n pag. The Origin of Agriculture: New Data, New Ideas. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.

He compares three places that all developed food production and in which place it was more effective than the other two: Western Eurasia, specifically the Mediterranean and Fertile Crescent zones, New Guinea, and the Eastern U.S. Diamond first describes advantages of the Fertile Crescent that made it so suitable for farming. First, the Mediterranean climate with long dry seasons caused plants to adapt and consequently they were able to be stored for a long time. Second, the flora of the Mediterranean was previously abundant and productive, so they didn’t need to change much to be able to be cultivated. Lastly, many of the plants were self-pollinating, therefore they could keep the positive traits they were selected for by humans. These adaptations allowed food production to rise quickly and allowed for people to begin the process of civilization. Thus, the Fertile Crescent became one of the first cites of

Chapter 6 1. Food production was evolved rather then discovered because the first people who adopted food production were not trying to farm because they had never seen how to farm. 2. The four factors that “tipped the competitive advantage away from hunter-gathering and toward sedentary food production” were: a.)There was a decline in the amount of animal resources. b) There was an increased availability of domesticable plants.

Human population growth is becoming a huge issue in our world today. The population is increasing rapidly. The reason that it is becoming a concern is because it has affected the economic, environmental, and social aspects of our world. In the film Frontline: Heat, we can see how there might not be a future for our planet unless we are able to reduce the emissions and make our world a safe place. Not only for the present but also for future generations so that they are able to live long and healthy lives.

One of Jared Diamonds many questions in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is why did agriculture developed where and when it did? Diamond uses chapter five to explain why some societies had and some had not. Diamond begins the chapter with explaining how archeologists can find ancients, therefore explaining how Diamond gathers his information and what his limits of the information is. Limits like how calculations of radiocarbon dates based on assumptions through a continuous ratio, which is can have some errors.

The ongoing argument concerning the rise of civilization is centered almost wholly around the domestication of plants and animals. The prevailing view of V. Gordon Childe’s principle “that social structure and organization were bent to the demands of technology.” (Childe 1954:23-4), is now directly challenged by what archaeologist Klaus Schmidt is determining from the excavation of Gobekli Tepe; “that far from causing sedentism, agriculture actually responded to it.” (James

About 12 thousand years ago, early humans began to experiment with agriculture. It soon became clear to native peoples that this provided a more steady food source than foraging. Groups that farmed their own food experienced rapid population growth and were able to settle in permanent communities.

Evolution can be seen throughout all aspects of life, but for each aspect evolution does not occur in the same process. In his article entitled “Natural Selection, Scale, and Cultural Evolution,” Dunnell emphasizes and explains why evolution has made such a small impact on archaeology. Cultural evolution and biological evolution are not the same. Biological evolution uses theoretical propositions that explain the mechanisms of biological adaptation and evolution. The laws of cultural evolution “are not theoretical propositions but rather empirical generalizations” (Dunnell, 1996: 25). Cultural evolution does not explain the differences among the occurrences cultural phenomena. Dunnell’s main goal is to effectively formulate ways to