ANTH 2820 Chapter Notes - Chapter Lecture 5: Plant Propagation, Sub-Saharan Africa, Pleistocene
9 Feb 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The major transition in the course of human prehistory. Vast majority of our history has been spent as hunter-gatherers (more than 4 million years) Switch to domestication about 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. Entails long-term changes in structure and organization of societies and new relationship with the environment. Domestication changes the physical characteristics of the plant or animal: not just exploiting the crops (i. e. acorns from an oak tree) Agriculture needs several major practices for long-term success. Propagation: selection and sowing of seeds/breeding of animals. Husbandry: tending to plants/animals during growth period. Plant propagation and husbandry involve cultivation (clearing fields, prepping soil, weeding, providing water, protecting plants and animals) Earliest domesticates are seed crops, specifically cereal crops. Covered large shells that can be stored for long periods. Earliest animals for food = pigs, goats, sheep and cattle. Primary centers where plants/animals first domesticated: near east, east asia, sub-saharan africa, central america, south america and.
