Lecture 3 Origins and Motivations Flashcards
VAVILOV’S 7
DOMESTICATION
CENTRES
domestication occurs in different regions around the world due to
distinct ecological pressures and it is likely that there were more than 7
distinct centres
DEFINING TERMS
Paleolithic
* Old Stone Age
* 2MYA to ~ca. 10kya
Neolithic
* New Stone Age
* from ~10kBP
* marks the beginning of food production
PALEOLITHIC SUBSISTENCE
Focus on large game hunting
- Migratory megafauna
Opportunistic/logistical collecting of plant foods
High degree of mobility buffers against climatic uncertainty
ice age
PLEISTOCENE-HOLOCENE TRANSITION
Pleistocene:
2.6 mya to ~10kya.
Succession of glacials and
interglacials.
Holocene:
Recent and current
geological epoch (since ~10,000 BP).
Warmer and more stable
climate
PLEISTOCENE-HOLOCENE TRANSITION
take a bigger look
16,000 to 11,000BP: Transition to rising global temperatures and sea levels (rapid, unpredictable change)
Establishment of near-modern conditions ca. 8,500 BP
Bolling-Allerod Interstadial (15-13,000 BP)
- Warm, moist period during final stages of the Pleistocene
Younger Dryas Stadial (12,900 - 11,600 BP)
- Rapid temperature decline; cold-dry conditions; sea level drop
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT SUMMARY
- Warmer temperatures globally
- Glaciers melt, sea levels rise,
dynamic coastline changes - Boreal forests emerge; tundra
replaced by woodlands - Extinction of (northern)
megafauna ca. 9000 BP - New ecozones: plants and animals move into deglaciated areas
- Increased diversityof plants and small mammals
BROAD SPECTRUM REVOLUTION
Expansion of resource breadth
Migration into new, productive ecozones
Coastal, riverine ecosystems
Focus on smaller animals, fish, shellfish, birds, etc.
Greater reliance on plants
More intensive exploitation of local resources
Less mobility, greater sedentism
important!!!!!!
DEFINITIONS
Hunter-Gatherer-Forager: obtaining daily sustenance through the
collection or pursuit of wild foods
Agriculture: near total reliance upon domesticated plants or animals
(involves clearing, tillage, planting, weeding, fertilizing, storage, etc)
Cultivation: tending of plants, wild or domesticated (low-level food
production)
WHY DOMESTICATE?
“Push models”: humans were forced into food production by external stressor (population pressure,
environmental change)- bad
“Pull models”: humans drawn into benefits of food production lifestyle (niche construction theory, social hypotheses).-good
PUSH MODELS
enviroment+demography
ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES
V. Gordon Childe (1892-1957) - Oasis Theory
- Post-Pleistocene aridification
- Humans and animals drawn to water sources
Younger Dryas (13kBP)
- Return to Ice age-conditions
- Decline of mega-fauna
‘Neolithic revolution’ - radical and rapid shift to food production
DEMOGRAPHIC PRESSURES
Edge-Zone Hypothesis (Binford)
- Population pressures would be felt more at the edges of Fertile Crescent because of less abundant resources.
Broad-Spectrum Revolution (Flannery)
- Population expansion at the end of the Pleistocene
- Move from ecologically abundant to more marginal zone
- Domestication would occur on the ‘edge’
‘Food Crisis’ Model (Cohen)
- Populations pressure (i.e., insufficient resources) at the end of Pleistocene forced cultivation of less palatable plant foods.
HUMAN BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY
Focus on human decision making
Strategies that optimize
immediate returns (Optimum
Foraging Strategy)
Cost-benefit trade-offs in the
face of resource pressure
Foragers will maximize the net rate of return (i.e. energy or nutrients) per unit of foraging time
OPTIMUM FORAGING STRATEGY (OFS)
High-ranked prey are
those that provide high net returns:
Total energy after capture and
processing costs have been deducted
Items added to the diet in descending order of caloric
return : Lower ranked items
added only when higher ranked items
are unavailable
OPTIMUM FORAGING STRATEGY (OFS)
Narrow dietary breadth = Resource Richness
(lots of high-ranked prey)
Broad dietary breadth = Resource stress
(fewer high-ranked prey available)
Broad Spectrum Revolutionsuggests reduced foraging efficiency
BSR AND EVIDENCE OF INTENSIFICATION
’Low ranked’ items of food
- Small(er) game, small seeded plants, processing time
Enhanced processing of available resources
- Marrow & grease processing
High proportions of juvenile animals
- Fewer prime-age individuals
Reduction in the physical size of prey
- Largest animals have been overhunted
ADVANTAGES OF FOOD PRODUCTION(domestication)
Less mobility – mobility requires effort, which is not always incorporated into the OFS
Ability to store resources – sedentism
More reliable and predictable resources
Selection for desirable characteristics
Steady and predictable source of food
Increased sedentism
Increased output
Geographic expansion
PULL MODELS
enviroment + demography + culture
INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY
Upper Pleistocene/Holocene increases in atmospheric in CO2
increased plant productivity & biotic diversity
Agriculture in emerges in relatively warm, wet areas, with predictable
rainfall, and without the need for irrigation
Increasing productivity = increasing carrying capacity & population
Surpluses and intergroup competition > generates a competitive rachet resulting in population growth
and intensified labour
NICHE CONSTRUCTION THEORY
** Process by which an organisms alters its own (or another species) local environment **
Resource rich, productive environments with densely packed, seasonally predictable resources
Increasing sedentism and
territorialism to secure
resource base
NICHE CONSTRUCTION THEORY
Broad resource base is evidence for environmental opportunity:
- Experimentation with enhancement techniques
- ## Ecosystem engineering/ Traditional Ecological Knowledge
- Intensification yields greater overall returns
‘Risk Aversion Strategy’ rather than ‘Cost-Benefit’ strategy
INTENSIFICATION’ AND RISK AVERSION
’Low ranked’ items of food
- Small game and seeds more abundant and predictable
Enhanced processing of available resources
- High utility bones left at kill site to reduce transport costs
High proportions of juvenile animals
- Evidence of a growing and healthy prey population
Reduction in the physical size of prey
- Associated with climate change not overhunting
Niche Construction Theory
vs
Optimum Foraging Strategy
Niche construction theory: Humans actively enhance productivity of multiple eco-zones
Optimum Foraging Strategy Humans are passive and reactive in the face of environmental change
(resource stress)
CULTURAL MODELS
“Aggrandizer” Model (B. Hayden):
- Occurs in regions of plenty
- Human predisposition for acquisition and power
- “Triple A” personalities:
Ambitious, Abrasive, Aggressive, Accumulative, Aggrandizing
Domestication emerges as a strategy to increase surpluses, wealth and power.
