Human Biocultural Evolution The Challenge of Technology and Human Diversity

Part 4
Human Biocultural Evolution

The Challenge of Technology
and Human Diversity
Part Outline
 Chapter 11 The Neolithic Revolution:

The Domestication of Plants and
Animals
 Chapter 12 The Emergence of Cities and
States
 Chapter 13 Modern Human Diversity
Chapter 11
The Neolithic Revolution: The

Domestication of Plants and
Animals
Chapter Outline
 When and where did the change from

food foraging to food production begin?
 Why did the change take place?
 What were the consequences of the
Neolithic revolution?
Domestication
 A domesticated plant or animal is

genetically modified as a consequence
of human manipulation.
 Analysis of plant and animal remains at
a site will indicate whether the
occupants were food producers.
Effects of Domestication
 Edible parts of domesticated plants are

usually larger than those of their wild
counterparts.
 Domestication produces skeletal
changes in some animals.
 Age and sex imbalances in herd animals
may also indicate human
domesticators.
Foraging to Food
Production: Observations
 Food production was not the result of
new discoveries about planting, people
were very knowledgeable about plants
and animals.
 The switch to food production did not
free people from hard work.
 Food production is not necessarily a
more secure means of subsistence
than foraging.
Subsistence Trends in
Mexico’s Tehuacan Valley
Oasis Theory
 Domestication began because the oasis

attracted hungry animals.
 The animals were too thin to eat, so
people began to fatten them up.
 Theory fell out of favor as studies of the
origins of domestication were begun in
the late 1940s.
“Hilly Flanks” Theory
 Domestication began in the hilly flanks

of the Fertile Crescent.
 The people were at the point in their
evolutionary development where they
were “settling in”.
 This culture-bound theory reflected
notions of progress that people in the
Western world had faith in following
World War II.
Chance and Evolution
Theory
 As early as 13,000 y.a. people living east of
Aleppo, Syria, grew domestic rye.
 They continued to rely on wild plants and
animals for food.
 3 millennia later they became farmers.
 The process was a consequence of a chance
convergence of independent natural events
and cultural developments.
Fertile Crescent of Southwest
Asia and the Area of Natufian
Culture
Natufians
 Lived at a time of dramatically changing

climates in the region.
 Shallow lakes dried up, leaving just
three in the Jordan River Valley.
 The plants best adapted to instability
and seasonal aridity were annuals,
including wild cereal grains and
legumes.
Natufians
Natufians modified their subsistence

practices:
 Regularly fired the landscape to
promote browsing by red deer and
grazing by gazelles.
 Placed greater emphasis on the
collection of wild seeds from annual
plants that could be stored through the
dry season.
Consequences of
Domestication
 Crops become more productive and
more vulnerable.
 Periodically population outstrips food
supplies and people are apt to move
into new regions.
 In this way, farming has often spread
from one region to another, as into
Europe from Southwest Asia.
Domestication of Sheep
Resulted in Evolutionary
Change
Early Plant and Animal
Domestication
 Southwest Asia (A1), Central Africa (A2),
China (B1), Southeast Asia (B2), Mesoamerica
(C1), South America (C2), North America (C3)
Neolithic Technology
 People developed scythes, forks, hoes,

and plows to replace their simple
digging sticks.
 Pestles and mortars were used for
preparation of grain.
 Plows were redesigned when
domesticated cattle became available
for use as draft animals.
Neolithic Pottery
 Pottery vessels could be used for

storing small grain, seeds, and other
materials.
 Pottery was also used for cooking,
pipes, ladles, lamps, and other objects.
 Some cultures used large vessels for
disposal of the dead.
 Widespread use of pottery is a good
indication of a sedentary community.
Neolithic Clothing
 For the first time in history, clothing

was made of woven textiles.
 Raw materials came from:
– flax and cotton from farming
– wool from domesticated sheep
– silk from silk worms
– spindle and loom from the human
mind

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Part 4

Human Biocultural Evolution

 Chapter 11 The Neolithic Revolution:

The Neolithic Revolution: The

 When and where did the change from

 A domesticated plant or animal is

 Edible parts of domesticated plants are

 Domestication began because the oasis

 Domestication began in the hilly flanks

 Lived at a time of dramatically changing

Natufians modified their subsistence

 People developed scythes, forks, hoes,

 Pottery vessels could be used for

 For the first time in history, clothing

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