The Human Diet: THe Origins Of Agriculture Flashcards
The End of the Pleistocene
-After Last Glacial Maximum (20ka0, glaciers retreat
-Resource base widens: Small game, fruiting plants, fish
-Bread
>grinding stones and starch grains
Domestication vs. Agriculture
Sedentism and Domestication both predate agricultural production
>Domestication practiced by Hunter-gathers, both nomadic and sedentary
>Visible in archaeological plant remains
Incorporated into Broad Spectrum subsistence (B.S.S.): hunting and gathering a wide variety of wild resources, plus some selective weeding and breeding
*Sedentism is the practice of living in one place for a long time
Why did they change the pattern?
-Broad Spectrum Subsistence is highly adaptive
>combination of wild and domesticated plants & animals
>nutritionally complete
>loss of one or several resources –> others compensate
>vertical economies: exchange of people, plants, animals
>still have relative mobility in case of resource stress
What caused the from BSS to reliance on food production in some areas, and only partial reliance in others?
-One major factor: The Younger Dryas Interval
I. Estimated circa 13-11.5Ka
II. Worldwide cooling & drying trend –> narrowing the resource base in many environments
>grasses do better in cool/dry conditions than other plants
> livestock herds are mobile
III. Populations had been growing with BSS –> increased food stress
> some environments were still okay with hunting and gathering
> more marginal environments meant more more food stress
Changes with Agriculture: New & EXpanded Repertoire of Medicinal Foods
> Mushrooms: phytochemicals
Green tea, citrus: antioxidants
Ginger: digestive
Onions & Chilies: antimicrobials
Caffeine: helps headaches
Soy: phytoestrogens
Turmeric: prevents Alzheimer’s
Changes with Agriculture: Diversifying Combinations &Techniques
Cuisines
I. Processing: food is more digestible
II. Processing: remove poisons–> becomes safe & nutritious
III. Combinations: complementary nutrients
Changes with Intensified Agriculture
-Malnutrition & Disease
>Anemia (from parasites and/or B-vitamin defiency; possibly from inherited blood disorders)
>Growth Disruption & Stunting
>Lots of childhood stress
>Earlier mortality, shorter lifespans
>Tooth caries
>Bony Abscesses
>Antermortem Loss
Changes with Intensified Agriculture: New Types of Infectious Disease
> Example: Tuberculosis
-Particular kinds of vertebral damage, aDNA in mummified lung tissues
-Increasing social differentiation
I. Specialization
II. Inequality
III. Differential health
-Increasing urbanization
I. Sanitation & water supplies
II. Food imports & trade
III. Infectious epidemics
