Lecture 2: Mobility & Early Farming Flashcards
How much colder was it in the late ice age?
8-10 °C lower than today
How much lower was the sea level in the late ice age?
100-120m lower than today
When was the Younger Dryas
10,800-9600 BC
What was the Younger Dryas?
Abrupt climate change, global cooling
How much did the temperature drop in the Younger Dryas compared to today?
Up to 10 °C
What happened around 9600 BC?
Increasingly milder, wetter & warmer climate
How fast did the Younger Dryas end?
Abruptly, probably within decadal timescale (< 50 years)
What happened after the end of the Younger Dryas, having to do with water?
Retreat of ice; melting of glaciers; increase of rainfall; increase of water run-off; creation of rivers, marshes, lakes, ponds
What happened after the end of the Younger Dryas, having to do with sea level?
Increase of sea level & flooding of lowlands
What happened after the end of the Younger Dryas, having to do with vegetation and animals?
Expansion (recolonization) of forests & other vegetation + animals in regions formerly too cold and dry
When did the Geometric Kebaran live?
ca. 16.000-12.500 BC
In what areas did the Geometric Kebaran live?
Coasts, woodland, steppe, caves & open-air station
How big where the Geometric Kebaran sites?
Small, 15-600m2 (up to 2500 m2: Azraq)
What type of technology did the Geometric Kebaran have?
Microlith technology
What type of toolkit did the Geometric Kebaran have?
Portable toolkit: few bone tools & ground-stone tools
Why did the Geometric Kebaran leave minimal stratigraphy behind?
(vanaf hieronder anki toevoegen)
Frequent movement
How did the Geometric Kebaran acquire their food?
They were hunter-gatherers
Where did the Geometric Kebaran live?
Circular, semi-subterranean huts; postholes
When did the Natufian people live?
ca. 12,500-10,000 BC
How big where the Natufian sites?
Up to 2000m2
How long did the Natufian occupy an area?
Long, they were sedentary
What did the Natufian do with their dead?
They were put in cemeteries
Which came first (in the case of the Natufian) sedentism or food production?
Sedentism
Neolithic
New Stone Age, 10,000-5300
Who came up with the term “Neolithic Revolution”?
Gordon Childe
What did Gordon Childe mean with the term “Neolithic Revolution”
The transition from food gathering to food production
What is misleading about the term “Neolithic Revolution”?
It suggests a “Great Leap Forward” while it was a slow & gradual process of change over thousands of years
Were sedentary settlers always farmers?
No, agriculture, is not a necessary requisite of village life
Domestication
Biological process that evolves changes in genotypes and physical characteristics of plants and animals as they become dependent on humans for reproductive success
When did domestic cereals emerge?
From late 9th millennium BC onwards
When did domestic sheep, goats and pig emerge?
From late 9th millennium BC onwards
When did domestic cattle emerge?
In the 7th millennium BC
Arguments against theory that agriculture started as a reaction to a changing environment?
- Timing, intensity, duration of climate change; data hardly consistent
- Urgency for change not consistent -> change takes place at different moments in different regions
- Carrying capacity never reached in any region
Arguments against theory that agriculture started due to population increase
- Sedentism before farming
- Restricted archaeological proof for population increase; only very few sites known from the earliest Neolithic
Arguments against theory that agriculture started due to social factors, power & prestige
Lack of explicit evidence; interpretation of current data in the first place
Arguments for the theory that agriculture started as a reaction to environmental changes
- Holocene climate change (considerable increase of plant and animal resources)
- People change only under pressure (new food strategy is risky)
Arguments for the theory that agriculture started as a reaction to population increase
- Sedentary lifeway reduces miscarriages, interval between pregnancies -> increase of population
- Sedentary lifeway leads to exhaustion of local environment & local resources -> requieres intensification
Arguments for the theory that agriculture started because of social factors, power & prestige
- Intensification/agriculture provides surplus to support rivalry, allows development of exchange networks & rise of status markers
- Staples and storage; territorial claims; property
- People actively bring about the change (not environmental determinism)
