Animal and Plant Domestication Flashcards
Domestication of Animals and Plants
The process by which humans selectively bred plants and animals for food.
Example: The domestication of wheat and barley in the Natufian culture around 12,000 years ago in the Levant marks an early shift towards agriculture.
Pastoralism
The practice of raising and herding domesticated animals.
Example: The development of pastoralism is evidenced by the Kharaneh site in Jordan, which shows early evidence of herding and animal domestication.
Paleoethnobotany
The study of ancient plant remains to understand past human diets and environmental interactions.
Example: The analysis of plant remains provides insight into the early stages of agriculture and the domestication of wild plants.
Tough Rachis vs. Brittle Rachis:
The distinction between domesticated plants, which have tougher rachis (seed stalks), and wild plants, which have brittle rachis.
Example: Domesticated wheat and barley at Jericho show evidence of a tough rachis, a trait that differs from wild varieties that easily shed their seeds.
Evidence of Maize Agriculture in Ontario
Location: Maize agriculture in Ontario began around 1000 CE.
Significance: The introduction of maize marked a shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies in the Great Lakes region.
Key Features:
Archaeological Sites: Sites like Cedar Creek show early maize cultivation.
Crop Evidence: Maize pollen and charred kernels found in Ontario confirm its introduction around 1000 CE.
Impact: Maize farming allowed for permanent settlements and influenced social structures and trade.
Pre-Pottery Neolithic
Time Period: 10,000 - 8,000 BCE.
Significance: It represents a critical phase in human history where agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals became central to human life. People in this period began to form permanent villages and engage in complex social structures.
Key Features:
Domestication of plants like wheat, barley, and legumes.
Animal domestication: The herding of goats, sheep, and later cattle.
Architecture: Permanent structures, such as mudbrick houses and public buildings.
Plastered Skulls (Pre-Pottery Neolithic)
human skulls that have been modified with plaster to create a more lifelike appearance, often with painted facial features.
Location: Found in sites like Jericho and Ain Ghazal in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period.
Significance:
Plastered skulls are believed to be part of ancestor worship or ritual practices.
They may represent a form of spiritual or social cohesion, where the living preserved the likenesses of the deceased for ancestral veneration.
These skulls suggest advanced social structures, ritual behaviors, and a belief system beyond basic survival.
