Chapter 9 Flashcards
Agricultural development in Africa
both domestication of local plants and animals and the adoption of domesticaticated plants and animals from the Middle East
3 Primary Regions of Plants and domestication in Africa
- Ethipoia and Ertrea (teff, finger millet and coffee)
- Central Africa (pearl millet and sorghum)
- West Africa (rice)
plants and animals adopted from the Middle East
- wheat, barley, and lentils
- sheep and goats
Sahara Desert
between 14,000-4,500 years ago, there was much more rainfall here that supported agriculture
Hunter-gatherers in Northern Africa
9,000-8,000 years ago developed storage pits, pottery, wooden artifacts, basketry, barbed bone points, and bladelets
Which was domesticated first?
animals (sheep, goats, and cattle)
Pastoral societies
mobile societies with an economy based on herds of domesticated animals
Cattle may have been domesticated independently in Egypt
as early as 10,000 years ago (this theory is not widely accepted)
Domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats clearly had been introduced into societies that still had not domesticated plants
around 8,000 years ago
Village farming communities
in Africa is still poorly understood
Earliest evidence of domesticated plants is in Egypt
around 7,000 years ago
Large villages
developed rapidly in the Nile Valley causing domesticated plants
Westerns Africa millet grains
dates to 3,500 years ago are the earliest evidence of plants domestication whit sorghum being introduced sometime after this period
When was pottery introduced
at the beginning of the sequence leading up to agriculture, whereas it was only first developed towards the end of the sequence in the Middle East
Pastoral societies
Africa developed thousands of years before fully agricultural villages did
Small villages in Africa and Middle East
precede the domestication of plants and animals
Sahul
the single landmass of New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania in glacial periods
New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (east) and Indonesian province of Irian Jaya (west)
2 items central to modern agriculture societies in New Guinea
pigs and sweet potatoes
Exchange of pigs
a key element of political power and pigs are fed sweet potatoes, so having more sweet potatoes is essential for gaining political power
Pigs and sweet potatoes
are not indigenous to New Guinea
Sweet potatoes
were domesticated in South America and likely introduced to New Guinea after they were brought to the Philippines by Spanish sailors in the 16th century
Pigs
still no date when they were introduced
Indigenous New Guinea plants include
yams, bananas, taro, and possibly sugarcane
Coastal sites in New Guinea
date 40,000 years ago
Earliest occupation of highland sites
date 30,000 years ago
No evidence of domesticated plants and animals at these early dates
wide range on animals were hunting in both regions
Kuk Swamp
earliest evidence of the development of agriculture
Major Features of Kuk Swamp includes
drainage canals, pit, and earth mounds, all which indicate that the swamp have been drained to create beds for planting crops
Canals at the sites
date to 10,000 years ago
while the earth mounds date to 6,500 years ago
Maintenance of agricultural fields came to an end
3,000 years ago
Taro
found at Kuk Swamp and is not indigenous to the highlands
Banana cultivation
6,500 years ago when the highlands environment changed from forest to grassland and required human intervention for banana plants to grow
Only plants were involved
gradual in New Guinea. Pottery was introduced quite late and did not have a role in early agricultural systems
The Andes
are the second highest mountain chain in the would with 4 primary zones based on altitude
Quechua Zone
2,300-3,500 meters
corn grow well here
Suni Zone
3,500-4,000 meters
indigenous crops such as quinoa, potatoes, oca, and olluco
Puna zone
4,000-4,800 meters
open grassland for llamas and alpacas
Cordillera Zone
4,800 + meters
altitude is too high for agriculture
Coastal region
Andes is rich in marine resources
Humboldt Current
brings cool water u the coast of South America, stirring up nutrients from the ocean surface
Beans found in Guitarrero Cave
dates based on charcoal recovered from the same level dating to 10,000 years ago; however, AMS radiocarbon dating found the beans were only 4,300 years ago
Llamas and alpacas
both animals are camelida and it appears they were domesticated between 10,000-5,000 years ago
8,000 years ago
small settles villages developed along the Peruvian coast by hunter-gatherers who relied heavily on coastal marine resources
Monumental architecture
began to appear along the coastal region around 5,700 years ago in a period called Cotton Preceramic
2 coastal sites
wide range of domesticated plants (gourds, squash, chili peppers, beans, achira, and jicama) with the dominant crop being cotton used for making nets and textiles
El Nino
results in a massive decline in marine resources, torrential rains on the shore and massive flood
Domestication of plants and animals in the Andes
had little impact on how people lived
Settled villages
preceded that adoption of agriculture. Villages were small collections of huts with little evidence of social inequality
Animals domesticated in China included
dogs, pigs, and water buffalo in southern China
pigs, possibly chicken in northern China
Earliest known pottery in East Asia
20,000 years ago
Collecting wide rice
Actually domestication is difficult to determine in East Asia
Earliest evidence of rice farming
found on village sites that dated to 9,000 -8,000 years ago
Earliest evidence of millet
dates to roughly 10,000 years ago based on AMS radiocarbon dating
Domestication of plant and animals in the East Asia
happened roughly the same time
All regions of agriculture
was a gradual process
