Food Production and Farming

Question 1

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS)

Answer 1

• allows for more precise radiocarbon dating
• helps archaeologists date early farming events more accurately

Question 2

Archaeobotany/Paleoethnobotany

Answer 2

study of ancient plant remains in archaeological sites
(recovery revolution)

Question 3

Elements of Animal Domestication

Answer 3

• Containment
• Feeding: without taking food from yourself
• Breeding: needs selective breeding
• Sociality: highly social animals are easier to keep a herd

Question 4

Flotation

Answer 4

(recovery revolution)
- technique to recover microscopic (minuscule) seeds and plant remains from archaeological sites (occupation levels)

Question 5

Foot tethering

Answer 5

• method of containment where you tie animals legs or feet tg to restrict its movement
• seen on Syrian Sites

Question 6

Hierachy

Answer 6

• as specialization & population densities increase, there’s a gradual increase in inequality
• flows back and forth
• “haves” and “have nots”

Question 7

Holocene

Answer 7

• geological epoch
• end of Ice Age, beginning of warmer, more stable climates
• crucial for food production to begin
• until holocene, 99% of humans were hunter-gatherers
• as glaciers opened, new ecological niches opened

Question 8

Interpersonal Violence

Answer 8

• an increase in conflict & physical violence between individuals/groups
• associated w/ rise of sedentary farming societies
• high population densities, resource competition, hierarchies, close quarters, getting property
• cultural repercussion of food production

Question 9

Monumental Architecture

Answer 9

• pooled labor used to create large structures
• served religious, ceremonial, or political purposes
• ability of sedentary communities to organize labor & devote resources to non-subsistence activities

Question 10

Population Densities

Answer 10

• number of people living in a given area
• increased during agriculture and sedentarism
• food production lead to high population densities, growth maintained level due to disease, famine, and violence

Question 11

Rachis

Answer 11

• part of plant that holds the seed
• associated with Mesopotamia
• domesticated rachis are non-brittle, so seeds dont scatter therefore better for harvesting

Question 12

Sedentarism

Answer 12

• remaining in one place instead of migrating frequently
• permanent shelters, long lived villages
• agricultural infrastructure
• storage technology (fermentation)

Question 13

Social Structure

Answer 13

• organized relationships and roles within a society that determine how people interact, share resources, and distribute power

Question 13

Specialization

Answer 13

• as fewer households needed to grow food, others could focus on mastering other crafts

Question 14

Teosinte

Answer 14

• wild grass native to Mesoamerica
• ancestral form of modern maize
• selectively bred over generations to produce larger domesticated corn
• supported large, permanent settlements

Question 15

The Recovery Revolution

Answer 15

• major refinement/advancement of field and lab methods in archaeology

Question 16

The Three Sisters

Answer 16

• 3 crops the grow together can increase (crop output) yield and production on small plots
• squash, beans, corn
• corn is stalk for beans to grow, beans fix nitrogen to soil and stabilize corn, squash shades the ground to keep from drying and prevent weeds
• grow them all together and build relationship and preserve resources

Question 17

Oases Theory

Answer 17

• V. Gordon Childe
• Theory of Agriculture Revolution is earliest
• drought conditions and arid climates = humans, plants, & animals comes together & try agriculture (survival strat, near water)
• storing food leads to surviving harsh times - stored wheat & barely lasts longer than fruits and veggies

Question 18

Hilly Flanks Theory

Answer 18

• Zagros Mountains
• found evidence of domestication there
• rejects childe’s oases theory
• argues that agriculture and domestication began in the mountain terrains & fertile lands

Question 19

Population Growth Theory

Answer 19

• Ester Boserup
• argued external pressures (population pressures) as needed to switch to ag.
• foraging was easier, but w/ growing population more food per land was needed even if its lower quality
• farming = harder work, but needed cus of population densities

Question 20

Settling in Hypothesis

Answer 20

• sedentarism = increase familiartity w local flora,
  so cultivation more likely

Question 21

Ecological Hypothesis

Answer 21

• some environments were more conducive to agriculture, some weren’t
• where it worked well, it picked up steam

Question 22

Climatic Hypothesis

Answer 22

• changing climates lead to fewer foraging resources
• made farming more likely to success as stable alternative

Question 23

Circumption and Sedentism Hypothesis

Answer 23

• similar to oases, but includes competition over resources
• stay because they dont want sb to steal their stuff
• aggression & competition over resources

Question 24

Transportation

Answer 24

- movement of harvested crops and resources from fields to settlements - gourds as water carriers - cay vessels for carrying and cooking food - technology

Question 25

Mesopotatmia

Answer 25

- wheat, barely, peas, lentils - domesticated wheat, barley, and rachis from wild forms - Abu Hureya in Syria

Question 26

South & East Asia

Answer 26

- rice, soy beans, millets - flooding & paddies: flood dry land, new strands wild rice, sow/harvest wet fields/paddies, irrigation then domestication

Question 27

New Guinea

Answer 27

- bananas, sugarcane, taro, sweet potatoes - no animal domestication (but chickens nearby)

Question 28

Sub Saharan Africa

Answer 28

- rice, yams sorghum, millets - Bantu agriculturalists - west central africa - no spread north bc of sahra desert

Question 29

Mesoamerica & Southwest

Answer 29

- tomatoes, beans, squash, avocados, maize - central mexico to north south america - bred from teostine grass - medicinal and food purposes

Question 30

The Andes

Answer 30

- squash, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, quinoa, peppers!!! - maize from mesoamerica - 3800 variety potatoes - food growth -- high altitude adaptations

Question 31

Eastern North Africa

Answer 31

- squat, sunflower seed, pitseed goosefoot - hunting still mian source of animal products - marine resource containment more prominennt - not domesticated

Question 32

What were some of the original uses for the domestication of livestock? How does the domestication of livestock differ from dogs and cats?

Answer 32

- original uses (cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs) were driven by utility and survival needs, not companionship

Question 33

How did the domestication of plants led to the development of storage solutions and what these may have looked like across the globe?

Answer 33

- domestication = surplus of food, humans needed to preserve and store this - Mesopotamia: clay vessels, pit silos - East Asia: sealed jars, raised granaries - Mesoamerica; gourds, corn cribs - Andes: freeze dried potatoes (chuno), stone bines - Africa: mud or woven granaries

Question 34

Health Repercussions of Domestication and Agriculture

Answer 34

- declines in overall health due to diet, living changes, and exposures to animals - bioarcheology evidence shows: decrease in bone strength, shorter stature, dental issues - reshape jaw structure by cooking grains - sedentarism led to zoonotic disease spread (from animals to humans): tuberculosis, syphillis, smallpox, cowpox