The Agricultural Revolution

Braidwood, Robert J.

doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0960-130

Cited by 226 publications

(63 citation statements)

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“…This naturally raises the question as to what factors were central to its appearance. Classical arguments identify such factors as environmental change (e.g., Childe 1936;Wright 1977), population growth/pressure (e.g., Boserup 1965Boserup , 1981Cohen 1977), a cultural/technological plateau being reached that made humans "ready" for domestication (e.g., Braidwood 1960), and even the need to appease the gods after harvests of wild plants (e.g., Heiser 1990). Barlow's (2002) model of prehistoric agricultural production concluded that it is likely to be economical to practice intensive agriculture only when rates of encounter with high return wild resources are low.…”

Section: Using Niche Construction Within Archaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Niche Construction Theory and Archaeology

Laland

O’Brien

2010

J Archaeol Method Theory

257

142

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Niche construction theory (NCT) is a relatively new development within evolutionary biology, but one that has important implications for many adjacent fields of research, including the human sciences. Here, we present a broad overview of NCT and discuss its application to archaeology. We begin by laying out the basic arguments of NCT, including a historical overview, focusing on how it affects understanding of human behavior and evolution. We then consider how NCT can be used to inform empirical research and how it might profitably be applied in archaeology, using as a case study the origins of agriculture. We suggest that the unrivaled potency of human niche construction, compared with that of other species, means that archaeologists need not be mere consumers of biological insights but can become important contributors to evolutionary theory. The Niche Construction Perspective within Evolutionary BiologyNiche construction theory (NCT) is a fledgling branch of evolutionary biology that places emphasis on the capacity of organisms to modify natural selection in their environment and thereby act as co-directors of their own, and other species', evolution. It is best regarded as an alternative means of thinking about evolutionary problems rather than as a discrete field of evolutionary enquiry. In the same way that advocates of the gene's-eye perspective (Williams 1966;Dawkins 1976) argued that

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Section: Using Niche Construction Within Archaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Niche Construction Theory and Archaeology

Laland

O’Brien

2010

J Archaeol Method Theory

257

142

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“…Grand theories have cast agriculture as a cognitive breakthrough (Darwin 1876), as a cultural revolution (Childe 1951), or as the realization of human potential (Braidwood 1960). Even recent discussions of how and why agriculture began emphasize human motivation (Smith 1995:16, 207;Tchernov 1998:220).…”

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Why Didn’t Agriculture Develop in Japan? A Consideration of Jomon Ecological Style, Niche Construction, and the Origins of Domestication.

Bleed

Matsui

2010

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Over the course of some 12,000 years, Jomon cultures developed a highly refined adjustment to the Japanese landscape. Japanese archaeologists have exposed Jomon culture in great detail, but because it rested on wild resources, the Jomon era attracts little worldwide archaeological interest. This paper discusses Jomon ecological style in light of niche construction theory to consider the conditions that gave rise to agriculture and domestication. Jomon communities clearly managed much of their landscape and many plant and animal populations. Drawing on ideas from niche construction theory, we argue that qualities of potential domesticates are a central factor in the development of agriculture.The Jomon era represents more than 12,000 years of the Japanese past. It opened in the waning days of the Pleistocene and persisted as a continuous cultural entity until after 400B.C. Research on Jomon sites has extended over nearly 150 years, involving thousands of excavations and resulting in a vast amount of literature. Indeed, given the depth of information available on the Jomon era, it has to be considered the most intensively studied and thoroughly known archaeological entity in the world. A number of English-language summaries of Jomon archaeology have appeared recently (Imamura 1996;Hudson 1999;Kendrick 1995), including excellent syntheses by Habu (2004) and Kobayashi (2004). It is ironic, then, that the Jomon era receives scant attention in Western archaeological thinking and syntheses of world prehistory.

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“…Este desarrollo se habia producido a traves de la formulaci6n de nuevas teorias explicativas de la neolitizacion. R. Braidwood y G. Willey (1962) habian determinado ya en 1962 la multiplicidad de focos originarios, considerando la cuesticin a escala mundial y para distintas especies animales y vegetales (Teoria de las ireas nucleares), explicando el primero de estos autores (BRAIDWOOD, 1960, 134) la aparicion de la agricultura por una especializacion de distintas comunidades humanas entre otras causas.…”

Section: La Primeras Aplicaciones Del Marc0 Auxiliar Al Estujiio Del unclassified

El Paradigma Difusionista Y La Neolitización De La Península Ibérica: Una Explicación Recurrente

Miguel¹

1997

cupauam

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ResumenEl paradigma difusionista ha sido utilizado como explicacidn en 10s estudios del Neolitico peninsular de forma prttcticamente continuada a partir de 10s inicios de la investigaddn en el siglo XIx. Desde 10s planteanuentos tradicionales de 10s dos prinleros tercios de nuestro siglo hasta la aparicidn de otros alternatives, ya en la decada de 10s ochenta, se hallartt siempre presente con distintos matices (mayor enfasis en la via norteafricana, en un principio, o en las relaciones europeas despub) La revalorizacion de este paradigma se produce en monlentos m& recientes como consecuencia de la aceptaddn del modelo del "frente de avance" y de diversas posibilidades derivadas de la colonizacidn o la aculturacidn. Otras explicaciones, en cambio, hacen hincapie en modelos como el de "capilaridad" que otorga un papel preponderante a las relaciones sodales intergrupales. SummaryDiffusionism has been used as an explanation in the studies concerning the Neolithic of the Iberian Peninsula almost continuously since the beginnings of research in XIXth century. From traditional approaches in the first two thirds of our century to the emergence of others alternative in the eighties, it will be always present with different nuances (more emphasis on North African way at the beginning or on European relations later) It is remarkable that the reassessment of this paradigm takes place in recent time as a consequence of the acceptance of the "wave of advance" model and the several posibilities derived from colonization or acculturation. Other explanations, on the contrary, emphasize models like that of "capilarity" which confers a preponderant role to social relations anlong human groups.No parece necesario insistir demasiado en el Cxito obtenido por el difusionismo como paradigma de la investigacion en Prehistoria desde su formulacidn en el siglo pa-

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The Agricultural Revolution

Cited by 226 publications

References 0 publications

Niche Construction Theory and Archaeology

Niche Construction Theory and Archaeology

Why Didn’t Agriculture Develop in Japan? A Consideration of Jomon Ecological Style, Niche Construction, and the Origins of Domestication.

El Paradigma Difusionista Y La Neolitización De La Península Ibérica: Una Explicación Recurrente

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