Lecture 1&2

Question 1

Details of the last glacial age

Answer 1

22,000 years ago
Lowest sea level, formation of land bridges
Followed by rapid changes in climates and rainfall across Africa and the Middle East
Caused changes in animal migration routes, forcing humans you change their diet and lifestyle

Question 2

Transition in human lifestyles

Answer 2

1. Hunter-gatherer: low impact, travel light, few remains, highly mobile
2. Nomadic: possess livestock, annual/seasonal routes, return to sites predictably
3. Farmer-forager
   Transition happened in less than 1000 generations

Question 3

When did the nomadic lifestyle develop?

Answer 3

15,000 years ago

Question 4

When did the farmer-forager lifestyle develop?

Answer 4

12,000-8,000 years ago

Question 5

Where was the fertile crescent?

Answer 5

Modern day Iraq, Iran, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel

Question 6

Direct archaeological evidence for farming

Answer 6

Charred seed
Seed deposits
Stones from fruit
Dried deposits in arid locations

Question 7

Indirect archaeological evidence for farming

Answer 7

Impressions left in pottery

Images in hieroglyphs, mention in texts, language

Question 8

Problems with some crops and archaeology

Answer 8

Soft fruit - only seeds/stones remain, and wild and cultivated versions have similar remains
Roots/tubers - often don’t store well so few deposits
Veg and herbs - disintegrate quickly, tee obvious remains, leaves difficult to classify, pollen difficult to identify

Question 9

Ideal initial crop traits for farming

Answer 9

• Edible (not poisonous)
• Energy-rich seed (starch/protein/oil)
• Large enough seed to harvest
• Easy to store (dry seed)
• Annual crop (easy to relocate or move)

Question 10

Current selected traits in agriculture

Answer 10

• Non-toxic
• No seed release
• Clean-threshing (easy to process)
• Self-pollinating so sets seed easily
• Bigger seed
• No extended dormancy (so all seeds germinate and grow)

Question 11

When was rice first cultivated?

Answer 11

6-7 thousand years ago

Possibly taken into cultivation several times from wild relatives

Question 12

When did rice reach Europe?

Answer 12

3000 years ago

Question 13

What crops were first domesticated in Central/South America?

Answer 13

Potato - 8 kya
Squash and beans - 8 kya
Maize - 7 kya
Cassava - 6 kya
Quinoa - 6 kya

Question 14

Why is a mixture of cereal, nuts and legumes needed for a healthy diet?

Answer 14

Nuts/seeds low in lysine
Cereals low in lysine
Maize low in lysine and tryptophan
Legumes low in methionine

Question 15

What tree crops were domesticated early in the Mediterranean?

Answer 15

Digs
Olives
Dates
Almonds
Carob
Grape
8-5 kya

Question 16

Second phase of tree crop domestication

Answer 16

In China
Apples
Pears
Cherries
Plums
Pomegranates
Peaches
Nectarines
Citrus

Question 17

What features does a farmland habitat create eg for a bird?

Answer 17

More open spaces
Often ploughed in spring - stubble/crop residues
Missed seed is a good resource
Management of natural predators

Question 18

What features do annual crop weeds have?

Answer 18

Usually annuals, grow tall so they can compete
Prolific seed release, often with good dormancy
Difficult to eradicate
May co-harvest and co-thresh the seed
Some weeds become crops e.g. poppy, oats

Question 19

1st-7th century UK

Answer 19

• Subsistence farming
• Small surplus for trade/taxes
• Diverse crops: oats, beans, barley, roots
• Productivity limites by labour
• Closed system (no soil nutrients lost)

Question 20

10th-14th century UK

Answer 20

Middle Ages

• “Open field system”
• Manors, tenants
• Organised, semi-communal

Question 21

What is an Open Field System?

Answer 21

Traditional Medieval farming system in which land was divided into strips and managed by an individual only during the growing season, but is available to the community for grazing animals during the rest of the year

Question 22

Developments between 1st-7th century and 10th-14th century

Answer 22

• Oxen/heavy horse and metal ploughs so bigger acreage
• Ditches for drainage
• Limited bought-in labour

Question 23

Benefits of Medieval farming system

Answer 23

• Varied habitat
• Few if any inputs (fuel or chemical)
• Sense of belonging
• Connection with land/food
• Little wasted
• Fully sustainable

Question 24

Problems with Medieval farming system

Answer 24

• Hard work
• Only supported 2-6 million people
• Landlords variable
• Rents unmanaged
• Limited markets for surplus
• Limited opportunities for advancement
• Limited alternatives if crops failed

Question 25

Purpose of fallow land

Answer 25

- Nitrogen management - Wheat requires high nitrogen - After growing a crop, leave the field unplanted for a year or two to recover nutrition - Plants such as legumes, then oats/barley, then peas/beans fix nitrogen into the soil - Add manures to grow wheat

Question 26

Features of the early industrial revolution

Answer 26

- New opportunities for employment - rural depopulation - Machinery in farming - more productivity but needs less labour - Towns become major market for surplus - More centralised taxation - Better infrastructure

Question 27

What is rough ploughing?

Answer 27

- Breaks up surface for sowing seed - Uses oxen (so no fuel needed) - Simple plough - small metal blade so barely any mechanical inputs

Question 28

What changed when horses were used for ploughing?

Answer 28

- Better plough technology - All metal, still one blade - Turns soil more uniformly - Furrows and drills allow weed management

Question 29

Ploughing once steam power became available

Answer 29

- Dual engine - Winched systems - Suits bigger fields so hedgerows removed - Uniform and complete - big impact on weeds - Little soil compaction

Question 30

Modern tractor for ploughing

Answer 30

- Highly mechanised - little labour - High input (fuel, machinery, etc) - Enormous fields

Question 31

Transport from mid 1800s onwards

Answer 31

- Fast (due to trains)so can get fresh produce to markets faster - Bulk transport (across oceans) - Imports become viable for bulk dry goods - Specialist plantations worldwide - Grain produces cheaper in other countries causing competition with local farmers - Population no longer constrained by local food production

Question 32

Bulk dry goods

Answer 32

``` Tobacco Cotton Tea Sugar Coffee ```

Question 33

The problem with easy transport?

Answer 33

Cheap imports -> collapse of local farming industry with land left unmanaged and skills lost -> complete reliance on imports -> vulnerable to crises

Question 34

Corn Laws overview

Answer 34

- Government control of imports, exports and pricing - Protecting the UK farming sector by stabilising food supply and prices - Allowing the UK to maintain a degree of self-sufficiency - However, gives the government a lot of control over the agricultural industry - No import unless price exceeded threshold, to protect the local market and prevent excessive profiteering

Question 35

When was the Corn Laws act passed?

Answer 35

1773 | although control to some extent from mid-1600s

Question 36

Repeal of Corn Laws

Answer 36

``` 1846 After the Irish potato famine Removed to prevent unrest However, cheap imports meant reduced farm incomes UK wheat prices halved from 1825 to 1885 28% reduction in land used ```

Question 37

Government policy resulted in...

Answer 37

- Big alterations in land use - Shift away from commodity crops - Focus towards high value rather than extensive crops: fruit, veg - “Market gardens” around major cities

Question 38

Wheat Act

Answer 38

1932 | Some government intervention via payments to farmers to keep local wheat production viable

Question 39

WWII impacts on British agriculture

Answer 39

- Not self-sufficient - Urgent need for staple crops - Ploughing of meadows - Enforced drainage - Promoted use of machinery - Promoted use of pesticides (maximise yield) - Promoted use of recognised varieties (reduced local varieties, depleted gene pool) - Big impact on biodiversity

Question 40

After WWII...

Answer 40

- Mindset of self-sufficiency continued | - Agriculture Act

Question 41

Agriculture Act

Answer 41

1947 Price guarantees or “deficiency payments” On cattle, sheep, milk, eggs, barley, wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, sugar beet, wool

Question 42

Problem with GDP and farming

Answer 42

If income from GDP is so variable, how can there be: -Government interest in fixing issues -Outside investment -Long-term planning -Conservation-minded activity Do we maximise outputs, or minimise inputs?