CHAPTER 6: HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES

Before hunting and gathering era ended 10,000 years ago human societies had accumulated
substantial stores of information about plants and animals. People were as familiar with the
behavior patterns of some animals as they were with their own, and probably understood
them almost as well. They had also identified hundreds of varieties of edible plants and had
become familiar with their processes of reproduction and growth. Some hunters and
gatherers in the Middle East were even harvesting wild grains with stone sickles and hunting
cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. Clearly the shift from hunting animals to herding them and
from gathering plants to cultivating them was not as great as or as difficult a step as one
might imagine (135).
CAUSES OF THE SHIFT FROM HUNTING AND GATHERING TO
HORTICULTURE
Most scholars doubt that hunters and gatherers abandoned their way of life and adopted
horticulture unless they were compelled to do so by circumstances beyond their control.
Instead, they belief that the gradual growth of human population over millions of years and
changing climate eventually created a situation in which it became imperative for societies to
increase the supply and reliability of food resources. This process was gradual would take
hundreds or thousands of years (136).
Although their relative importance varied in different regions, 3 things are now generally
thought to have contributed to the transition from hunting and gathering to plant and animal
domestication: (1) environmental change, global warming in the period between 15,000 -
8,000 year ago changed climates, raising ocean levels, reducing land mass, and altering the
habitat of a number of animals and plants and reducing the number of large game and
permitted wild cereals to spread into accessible areas, (2) population growth forced greater
competition of a shrinking resource base, and (3) growth in cultural information and
technology allowing for more effective domestication and horticulture (137).
THE TECHNOLOGY OF HORTICULTURE
Horticulture differs greatly from agriculture. Where agriculturists use the plow and cultivate
large fields continuously, horticulturalists use the digging stick or hoe and cultivate small
gardens that are abandoned after a few years (138). This is due to the effectiveness of the
plow in circulating the soil and maintaining fertility, whereas horticulturalists can only access
the highest layers of soil which become quickly depleted, even after the use of slash and burn
technologies (138). Several consequences follow from the use of horticulture technologies.
1. Because of the need to allow the land periodically to revert to wilderness, horticulturalists
are able to cultivate only a small fraction of the territory that they occupy, thus allowing
for limited population densities.
2. Men are usually responsible for clearing land, while women are responsible for planting,
tending, and harvesting the crops (138). Men continue to hunt, but they are less
productive.
SIMPLE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES IN PREHISTORIC ASIA AND EUROPE
In Asia Minor, Palestine, and the hill country east of the Tigris River, archaeologists have
found the remains of ancient settlements dating from about 8000 BC in which horticulture
appears to have been the primary means of subsistence (140).
The period in which simple horticultural societies were dominant in a region was called the
Neolithic era, or New Stone Age. This name was chosen because in early research,
excavated sites often yielded stone tools that had been smoothed by grinding or polishing
(140). Their most important innovations, however, were not concerned with grinding or
polishing, but with advances in subsistence technologies. For the first time in history, groups
of people were primarily dependent on horticulture, and hunting and gathering was relegated
to a secondary role (141).
The First Great Social Revolution
The changes during this era did not seem revolutionary to the participants. Revolution here
rather is based on the long-term consequences of change (141).
Permanence of Settlements
An important consequences was the greater permanence of settlements. No longer did a
group have to move about constantly in quest of food (141). This greater permanence
enabled people to accumulate more possessions than before and resulted in larger and denser
populations (142).
Growth of Trade and Commerce
Another consequences was the rapid expansion and growing importance of trade and
commerce. The growth in trade and commerce, combined with the increasing quantity of
material produces, may well have led to the beginnings of formal record keeping and an
increase in limited occupational specialization(143-144). Most communities were still
largely self-sufficient and most families produced nearly everything they used (144).
Innovations continued in the domestic arts, with the invention of pottery and weaving being
especially important (145).
Increase in Warfare
There is little evidence of warfare in early horticultural societies. Later in the era, however,
warfare became increasingly common. The causes are not clear, but it may have been linked
to the growth in population and scarcity of new land and opportunities for hunting (145).
SIMPLE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES IN THE MODERN ERA
Population and Economy
Horticultural societies in the modern era have been substantially larger than hunting and
gathering societies. Their larger numbers gave the former an advantage when competing
with the latter for territory and led to the latter’s decline (147).
The larger populations of horticultural societies are due primarily to their greater economic
productivity. Simple horticultural economies are able to support more than 20 times as many
people per square mile as hunting and gathering economies, and advanced horticultural
societies can support denser populations. These larger populations also reflect the emergence
of multicommunity societies making possible the production of a stable and dependable
economic surplus (147-148).
An important feature of these economies is the importance of women’s productive activities
as women, not men, do most of the work of plant cultivation (148).
The Continuing Importance of Kinship
Ethnographic studies show that kinship ties have been extremely important in simple
horticultural societies of the modern era and provide the basic framework of the social
system. These kinship systems are complex, with intricate systems of rules governing
relations among numerous categories of kin. Above all, they function as mutual aid
associations, providing individuals with protection against enemies and economic support
(149). This includes ancestor worship resulting from the greater permanence of settlements
and close proximity to the buried dead (149).
Another important feature is that horticultural societies tend to be matrimonial. This pattern
appears to be linked to the relative contributions men and women make to subsistence (150).
Developments in Polity, Stratification, and Warfare
The power of political leaders has been quite limited in nearly all simple horticultural
societies. Even in the larger, multicommunity societies, local villages have virtual autonomy
except in matters of war and relations with other societies. Both the village headman and the
tribal chief depend more on persuasion than coercion. This is partly due to the limited
development of a government; a leader has few subordinates so dependent on him that they
are obliged to carry out his instructions (151). The only other important basis of political
power in these societies is membership in larger and prosperous kin group (151).
Social inequality is generally limited. Although extremes of wealth and political power are
absent, substantial differences in prestige are not uncommon. Political and religious leaders
usually enjoy high status, but this depends far more on personal achievements than on mere
occupancy of an office (151). The more advanced the technology and economy of one of
these groups the greater social inequality tends to be.
Warfare is more common among horticulturalists than among hunters and gatherers. As in
the past, combat appears t serve as a psychic substitute for the excitement, challenge and
rewards which hunting previously provided and which were so important to the lives of men
in hunting and gathering societies (152). Warfare also functions as an important mechanisms
of population control. It causes a loss of life and promotes female infanticide (152)
Ceremonial cannibalism, a widespread practice in simple horticultural societies, may have
developed as a by-product of trophy collecting. Utilitarian cannibalism is an ancient practice,
but ceremonial cannibalism a more recent innovation. The basic idea underlying it is that one
can appropriate the valued qualities of the conquered enemy by eating his body (153).
ADVANCED HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES IN PREHISTORIC ASIA AND
EUROPE
Each of the inventions and discoveries of the horticultural era increased to some degree the
ability of societies to utilize the resources in their environments. But none had such far-
reaching effects as the manufacture and use of metal weapons and tools. This is why
metallurgy is used as the criterion for differentiating between simple and advanced
horticultural societies. Societies are classified as advance only if the use of metal weapons
and tools is widespread (155).
The use of copper tools and weapons increased slowly for several reasons. (1) Until smelting
was discovered, the supply of copper was limited. (2) Metalworking was probably mastered
by only a few specialists and (3) since any man could make his own tools and weapons out of
stone, people were reluctant to switch to the costlier product (156).
Social Consequences of Metal Tools and Weapons
During the earlier era, northern China was covered with many small, self-sufficient, villages.
But in the later period the villages were no longer autonomous and a few had become urban
centers. The emergence of these urban centers was largely the result of the military success
of villages that had one important advantage: bronze weapons. Bronze was to the conquest
of people what plant cultivation was to the conquest of nature: both were decisive turning
points in sociocultural evolution (157). For the first time, the conquest, control, and
exploitation of other societies had become possible—and profitable. All that was needed to
transform this possibility into a reality was an advance in military technology that would give
one society a definite advantage over its neighbors. That advance was bronze (158).
ADVANCED HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES IN THE MODERN ERA
These advanced horticulturalists of modern times differ in one important respect from those
of prehistoric times: the dominant metal in their societies has been iron rather than copper or
bronze. This is important, because iron ore is so much more plentiful than copper and tin that
it can be used for ordinary tools as well as weapons. However, because it is much more
difficult to separate iron from the ore, the manufacture of iron was a later development (162).
Increase Size and Complexity
Advanced horticultural societies are usually larger and more complex than their predecessors;
3.5 times larger than simple horticultural and 130 times larger than hunting and gathering
societies (162).
Political Development
The growth in social inequality is closely linked with the growth of government (163). Since
there is a natural tendency for men in this position to turn to the strongest extended family,
power begins to accumulate. This is reinforced by the wealth of such a family, which permits
it to buy more wives to produce sons and warriors, and by the development of myths that
attribute the group’s success to the magical powers of its leaders. This final link in this chain
of state building is forged when less powerful families, and even whole communities, are
brought under the control of the head of a strong kin group—either by conquest or by the
decision of weaker groups to put themselves under the strong group’s protection (165).
In these societies, religion and politics were intimately related with the King viewed as
having divine powers. This served to make tyrannical and exploitative practices legitimate
and explains why no efforts were made to establish other kinds of political systems (166).
HORTICULTURE IN THE NEW WORLD: TESTING GROUND FOR EET
There is convincing evidence that humans were in the Americas anywhere from 12,000-
14,000 to 50,000 years ago. The original settlers appear to have been hunters and gatherers
who migrated from Asia by means of the land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska
(167).
In the New World, as with the Old, the shift from hunting and gathering to horticulture was
preceded by the growth of population and led to more permanent settlements, more
substantial dwellings, increased wealth and possessions, greater inequality, the development
of pottery and later of metallurgy, the beginnings of full-time craft specialization, the
appearance of markets and increased trade, urbanism, the establishment of permanent
religious centers, and increased warfare and imperialism (167).
Similar technologies applied to similar environments tend to produce similar arrangements of
labor in production and distribution, and these in turn call forth similar kinds of social
groupings, which justify and coordinate their activities by means of similar systems of values
and beliefs (169).
HORTICULTURE SOCIETIES IN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Few events in human history have been as important as the shift from hunting and gathering
to horticulture. It is no exaggeration to say that the adoption of horticulture in the realm of
technology was comparable to the adoption of symbol in the realm of communication: each
was a decisive break with the mammal and primate world. Hunting and gathering, like the
use of signals, are adaptations of our species inherited from its prehuman ancestors.
Horticulture and symbols are more peculiarly human (169).
Of all the changes in human life that resulted from the horticultural revolution, the most
fundamental was the creation of a stable economic surplus (170).
It is important to note that in these societies we see, for the first time, ideology playing a
recognizable role in societal development (171).
The shift to horticulture meant more food and more permanent settlements, and frequently
more free time for men. More food meant population growth, and when combined with
traditional beliefs concerning the role of headmen and shamans, created the possibility of a
stable economic surplus. The increase in free time for men often led to increased warfare and
the emergence of the cult of the warrior. More permanent settlements made it feasible for
people to accumulate fare more possessions than was possible when frequent moves were
necessary. Also, more permanent settlements, in combination with the emergence of the cult
of the warrior led to the practice of ancestor worship and the greater frequency of warfare
contributed to female infanticide (171-172).
The development of economic surplus was especially important because it paved the way for
growth in the size of societies, the formation of multicommunity societies, an increased
division of labor, urban communities, increased trade and commerce, the formation of the
state, and increased inequality, were also stimulated by the increase in warfare, the increasing
accumulation of possessions, and the production of new material products of many kinds.
Finally, all of these developments contributed to the rise in intersocietal selection (172-173).

Horticulture
Horticulture is small scale, low intensity farming.  This subsistence pattern involves
at least part time planting and tending of domesticated food plants.  Pigs, chickens,
or other relatively small domesticated animals are often raised for food and prestige. 
Many horticultural societies supplement their farming subsistence base with
occasional hunting and gathering of wild plants and animals.  Horticulturalist
population densities are higher than those of most foragers and pastoralists. 
Usually, there are at least 1-10 people per square mile with community sizes ranging
from around 30 to several hundred.  In most cases, horticulture is more productive
than foraging (with the exception of aquatic foraging).  Some horticulturalists are not
only subsistence farmers but also produce a small surplus to sell or exchange in
local markets for things that they cannot produce themselves.

Pigs raised for food and sale on a Women from a Papua New Guinea
small horticultural farm in Colombia horticultural village selling fruits and
 vegetables in a small town market
Horticulture is still practiced successfully in tropical forest areas in the Amazon Basin
and on mountain slopes in South and Central America as well as low population

density areas of Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and Melanesia .  In the past, it
was a common subsistence base elsewhere in the world until population densities
rose to high levels and people were forced to develop more intensive farming
methods.

Major horticulturalist regions during the 20th century

Horticulturalists usually have a shifting pattern of field use.  When production drops
due to the inevitable depletion of soil nutrients, horticulturalists move to a new field or
a long fallow one to plant their crops.  They clear the wild vegetation with a slash
and burn technique.  Brush and small trees are cut down and allowed to dry out in
place.  They are then burned.  This simultaneously clears the field of all but large
trees and adds ash to the soil surface.  The ash acts as a fertilizer.  No other fertilizer
is applied to the field.  As a result, soil productivity lasts only for a few years.

    Hillside field in Colombia cleared of Colombian horticulturalists using

    wild vegetation by the slash and burn hand tools to work their land in
    technique (note the ash covered soil) preparation for planting

Horticulturalists do not have large beasts of burden to pull plows.  Likewise, they
don't have mechanized farming equipment such as tractors or rototillers.  They use
pointed sticks, hoes, or other hand tools to make holes in the soil to plant their
seeds, tubers, and cuttings.  This is a labor intensive but not capital intensive form of
farming.  Pesticides and herbicides are not used by traditional subsistence
horticulturalists.  Likewise, irrigation is rarely used.

Like pastoralists, many horticultural societies in the past carried out periodic inter-
village raiding in which people were killed.  The goal was usually revenge for
perceived wrongs and, at times, the theft of women, children, dogs, and other things
of value.  The horticulturalists of New Guinea and the Amazon Basin were

particularly interested in raiding their neighbors.  The Yanomamö of Venezuela

and Brazil are one of the most well documented aggressive horticultural peoples. 
The ethnographer Napoleon Chagnon reported that in the past as many as 1/3 of
Yanomamö men died of injuries acquired in raids.

Misunderstandings about Horticulturalists

People in the industrialized nations with advanced intensive agriculture have for a
long time had a distinctly ethnocentric model of farming.  When indigenous
horticultural societies were encountered, they were assumed to be relatively
unproductive and ignorant of soils and plant nutrients.  Slash and burn field
clearance practices were seen as being
destructive of the environment.  In fact, the
knowledge and farming skills displayed by
indigenous horticulturalists often has been
surprisingly detailed and practical with regard to  
soils, plants, and cropping techniques.  

In the early 1950's, the Hanunóo mountain

  Hanunóo men
people of Mindoro Island in the Philippines were
studied by the ethnographer Harold Conklin.     
These horticulturalists recognized 10 principle
and 30 derivative soil categories.  They also
understood the suitability of each soil for their
crops as well as the effects of erosion and over-  
farming.  They distinguished 1500 useful plants
including 430 cultigens and they identified minute
differences in plant structures.  All of this detailed
knowledge was unexpected among    Many different food crops growing
horticulturalists.  The Hanunóo usually grew as    together in the same Colombian
many as 40 different crops in the same field.  As      farm plot (big leafed banana plants
a result, their vegetable gardens looked more like    provide shade for the more sun
   sensitive crops)
a tangle of wild vegetation than our modern rows
of crops.  This multi-cropping allowed them to
have successive harvests throughout the growing season, while the dense
vegetation of their crops broke the erosional force of rain and shielded delicate
plants from the sun.
Multi-cropping is a common horticultural practice.  Mesoamerican horticulturalists
carefully plant corn, bean, and squash seeds in the same hole.  As the corn stock
grows up, it provides support for the climbing bean plant.  The squash grows over
the ground and keeps down the weeds. 

Another example of the practical farming knowledge of horticulturalists was found

among the Birom people of the Jos Plateau in north central Nigeria.  An
important food of the Birom was the tiny seeds from a grass that they called acha. 
This cereal crop was traditionally grown in fields without the use of added fertilizers. 
During the first half of the 20th century when Nigeria was still a British colony,
colonial officials concluded that the Birom were ignorant of the effects of fertilizer
because they did not put manure on their fields.  In fact, the acha crops failed when
the Birom were induced by government officials to fertilize them.  Acha grows too
quickly in enriched soils, falls over from its own weight, and rots before its seeds are
ripe.  Following this failed experiment, the Birom were allowed to return to their
traditional farming practices.

Economic Advantages of Horticulture

Horticulture is particularly well suited to humid, tropical conditions.  In such
environments, temperatures and rainfall are usually high, there are no cold seasons,
and plants usually grow vigorously year round.  In these areas, nutrients are mainly
locked in growing plants rather than in the soil.  Energy cycles through the food chain
rapidly.  Plants flourish, die, quickly decompose, and the nutrients are taken up by
growing plants.  When forestry product corporations in tropical regions cut down the
trees and haul them off for lumber, they remove most of the nutrients leaving the soil
impoverished.  In addition, clear cutting tropical forests exposes the soil to rainfall
and intense sunlight.  As a result, the organic components are leached out and the
soil erodes away leaving a waste land.  

In contrast, horticulturalists usually leave the big trees in place in and around their
farm plots.  Tree roots help to stabilize the soil.  Burning the other wild vegetation
converts chemical compounds locked in the plants to a form that is readily useable
by their food crops.  Planting many different species in the same field assures that
the soil remains covered with vegetation throughout most of the year.  This protects
it from erosion.  When the labor input rises to an unreasonable level in a few years,
the farm plot is abandoned and allowed to revert to the original natural vegetation
again.  The decline in productivity is usually due to a
combination of the loss of nitrates and potassium from the
soil as well as growing competition from weeds and insect
pests.

Most temperate zone intensive agricultural techniques are

generally inappropriate for tropical forest areas.  Plows
expose too much soil to the elements.  Massive amounts of  
fertilizer must be added to the soil regularly due to the
leaching effect of heavy rain fall.  Because mono-cropping is
the usual practice with this kind of agriculture, the crops are

Colombian horticulturalist
woman spinning wool to
produce her own clothing
often more susceptible to being wiped out by insects, fungal infections, and other
parasites.  As a result, pesticides and herbicides must be heavily used.  Large
domestic animals for pulling plows and wagons are often restricted in the tropics by
insect-borne diseases.  This is particularly true of Central Africa.  Tractors and other
mechanized pieces of equipment powered by internal combustion engines are
usually too costly for most nations that have extensive tropical forest lands.  These
large-scale agriculture methods are not labor intensive but they are expensive.  For
instance, in North America, it takes about 2 pounds of oil to produce one pound of
wheat.  In contrast, horticulture is labor intensive but not capital intensive.

Horticulture is only economically practical as long as the population density remains

low and land for new fields is readily available.  When horticulturalists are not
permitted to practice their usual field shifting pattern of farming, the result is soil
depletion and poverty.  This has been the case in the last 30 years in parts of the
Amazon Basin of Brazil and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo as a
result of over population and government schemes to send urban poor families into
the forests to become low income farmers on small plots of land.
 

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