Notes from "Big History"

Chapter 5 on Early Agriculture

This is a fascinating chapter on the transition from hunter-gatherer to settled agricultural
societies, which occurred independently in at least 7 different locations around the world
between 8000-3500 BCE. Why? They had to, for survival during what seems to be a food crisis
due to population pressures; those who didn't make the switch eventually died.
A warmer climate meant the proliferation of plants and animals that were good candidates for
domestication: "a kind of genetic engineering in which humans gradually take control of the
reproduction of an animal or plant that is predisposed to engagement with humans, separating it
from its wild species in order to control its development into a new species with the
characteristics of human desire." (p. 77)
This led to more population density, p. 80, as cultivated land could support 50-100 times more
people. (A)
"Archaeologists have hotly debated whether agriculture spread by people circulating the
knowledge by word of mouth or by people themselves moving into new areas. But genetic
research has revealed unequivocally that people themselves moved rather than just talked about
how to do it." (p. 81)
p. 82 -- consequences for the New World in being late-adopters (B)
Effects of settling down, pp. 86-89, is super interesting:
-- need for storage leads to specialization (pot makers)
-- grains mean babies can be weaned sooner, leads to more babies
-- people had to work harder (less sleeping, socializing): farming, grinding seeds, weaving cloth
-- domesticating animals meant people "became domesticated in a mutual exchange"
-- more population density leads to a need for more rules, guidelines (judges, laws, ceremonies)
-- ownership/control of land meant families had to be more tightly defined
-- garbage, waste become issues
-- development of fabrics
-- the need for salt intensifies when people eat less meat, p. 87 (C)
-- spread of diseases from animals, p. 87-88 (D)
-- more anxieties about weather, fertility
-- women excluded from power because limited by children, p. 88 (E)
-- environmental costs, deforestation, p. 89 (F)
"The decision of a group of people to commit itself to cultivation and settlement can never have
been an easy one." (p. 90) The oldest literature in the world contains stories about the conflicts
people faced as they made these choices. Both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of Adam and
Eve can be interpreted in this way, pp. 92-93 (G)

(A) p. 80

(B) p. 82

(C) p. 87

(D) pp. 87-88

(E) p. 88

(F) p. 89

(G) pp. 92-93