Domestication and the origins of agriculture: an appraisal

Abstract

The first domestications of plants and animals, which occurred between 10 K years and 5 K years BP, and which underpinned the inception of agricultural systems, represent a major turning point in cultural and environmental history. Whilst much has been written on these topics, new archaeological discoveries and the development of new methods of data collection require that these issues should be reappraised. One example of a new archaeological discovery is that of evidence for rice cultivation prior to 10 K years BP in the middle Yangtze Basin of China. This region is now considered to be the likely centre of rice domestication and, because of the discovery of settlement structures, it may have been home to China's oldest civilization. In addition, further age determination may establish this region of China as the earliest centre of agricultural innovation, instead of southwest Asia.New methods of age estimation, notably by radiocarbon, have necessitated a reappraisal of the origins of agriculture in Mesoamerica, whilst biomolecular techniques are contributing to the identification of the wild relatives of domesticated plants and animals. Genetic analysis has also been applied to modern human populations in order to establish the relationships between different groups and thus to attempt to determine the movement of peoples in prehistory. Such relationships in Europe have been related to the spread of agriculture from its centre of origin in southwest Asia, although this is speculative rather than conclusive. Despite these advances, however, there is still no unequivocal evidence as to why agriculture was initiated.

Biogeography and Genetic Diversity of Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) from Sahelian Africa

“…Each crop species has undergone a unique set of selective processes, which unfold spatially and temporally to allow for the emergence of new crop varieties and subspecies with distinct adaptations and distributions. In areas of crop domestication, wild progenitors were selected over several generations until differentiated populations arose (often considered to be subspecifically distinct) and cultivated germplasm became biologically and geographically differentiated from its ancestors (Sauer 1952;Vavilov 1992;Mannion 1999;Diamond 2002). This initially happened during the process of pearl millet domestication throughout the Sahel.…”

Environmental history, palaeoecology and human activity at the early Neolithic forager/cultivator site at Kuahuqiao, Hangzhou, eastern China

“…The invention and development of agriculture by human communities in the Holocene, based upon the domestication and controlled breeding of plants and animals (Mannion, 1999), is the single most important factor in the transformation of the world's biophysical systems from entirely natural to the situation existing today, when much of the world's surface is turned over to farming of a few selected food crops at varying degrees of intensity (Diamond, 2002). Despite its importance, however, our understanding of agriculture's origins and the details (the stimuli, mechanisms, environmental context, even dates and locations) of the transition from reliance on foraging (culturally Palaeo/Mesolithic) to reliance on farming (culturally Neolithic) economies remains uncertain, particularly for its earlier stages.…”

Selection Under Domestication: Evidence for a Sweep in the Rice Waxy Genomic Region

“…It is also among the oldest domesticated crops, with archeological evidence indicating that it was cultivated .11,000 years ago by Asian Neolithic farmers (Mannion 1999). Traditionally, three major ''variety groups'' or subspecies have been recognized within O. sativa: indica varieties, typical of the Indian subcontinent; tropical japonica (javanica) varieties, most common in Southeast Asia and South China; and temperate japonica varieties, which predominate across northeastern Asia (Glazmann 1987;Khush 1997;Garris et al 2005).…”