History 151: The Agricultural Revolution

Overview

• Focus on the question: What was it like being a food gatherer during the "peopling of the world"?
• Exploration of the Agricultural Revolution, also termed as evolution or development.
• Assigned readings: Smith's chapter on agriculture, Kaplan and Salins' works.

Key Questions

• What was the agricultural invention?
  • Development from pre-existing food gathering tools.
• When and Where did it occur?
  • Importance of understanding the timeline and location of the agricultural changes.
• Who experienced these changes?
  • Not everyone experienced or pursued agriculture.
  • Scholarly debate: Salins vs. Kaplan on hunter-gatherer life.
• Why pursue agriculture?
  • Various explanations from Smith, Kaplan, and Salins.

Çatalhöyük, Turkey

• One of the earliest sedentary towns with evidence of agriculture (10,000-11,000 years ago).
• Importance in Smith's analysis due to depth of evidence and archaeological findings.

Interpretive Challenges

• Changes in tools from early lithic to Neolithic.
• The concept of "progress" in historical context.
  • Progress in terms of disease avoidance: Hunter-gatherers avoided diseases common in agricultural societies.

Spread of Agriculture

• Key regions: China, Middle East, Mesoamerica, Andean region, Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Technology transfer vs. people movement.
  • Not always about the movement of people but the spread of technology.
• Cultural implications of "agriculture" (agri - field, culture - societal practices).

Comparative World History

• Exploring why agriculture developed in certain areas and not others.
• Globalization aspect: Spread and intensification of agriculture across the world.
• Balance between hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies.

Scholarly Debate: Salins vs. Kaplan

• Salins' Thesis
  • Affluent Society: Hunter-gatherers lived a more affluent life than agricultural or industrial societies.
  • Less work required for a high quality of life.
• Kaplan's Argument
  • Critiques Salins' definition of "work" and "affluence".
  • Highlights the complexity and work involved in hunter-gatherer societies.
  • Debate on property and resource sharing among hunter-gatherers.

Additional Theories

• Possible alternative reasons for agricultural change: Fermentation theory.
  • Early pottery in northwestern China contained fermented cereals.
  • Theory suggests that fermentation, possibly for alcoholic beverages, contributed to agricultural development.

Conclusion

• Complex interaction between agricultural and hunter-gatherer lifestyles.
• Importance of understanding the historical context and scholarly debates in the study of the Agricultural Revolution.