Origin of Agriculture and Village Life Essay

Introduction

Ancient village life also is known as the hunting and gathering life was way early before the origin of agriculture. During this period people used to depend on hunting and gathering for food. Men used to hunt for wild animals for meat while women were mainly gathering wild fruits. They used simple tools for hunting mainly sharp stones but later upgraded to hand-held axes. It is during this early stage that saw the invention of fire mostly to cook, act as a source of heat during cold times, and to scare away wild animals at night. The diet during this stage mainly composed of tubers, fruits, grasses, nuts, and seeds. Hunting became much more comfortable with the introduction of spears; this enabled them to be able to hunt larger animals to feed themselves and their groups. With the increasing hunting and gathering of fruits, animals started reducing gradually, and fruits were insufficient. It is during this period that the early man shifted into agriculture, they used simple tools for farming (Suttles, 1960). The transition involved practicing farming and keeping of livestock. This process happened gradually and took some time since there were a lot of things and setbacks that the early man had to deal with. As the population of animals decreased people started venturing into small-scale farming and they supplemented it with meat from wild animals. Agriculture mainly began in Mesopotamia and Asian countries before spreading to other parts of the world (Gupta, 2004). The main reasons that led to the transformation from hunting and gathering to agriculture include: decreased numbers of wild animals and the demand for food was high, decreased wild fruits, the invention of simple stone tools that could get used for farming, and increased population that demanded more food.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Origin of Agriculture in Mesopotamia

Early agriculture began in Mesopotamia at around 800BC and was introduced by people who settled from Egypt and Iran. Mesopotamia is a word that means land between two rivers. Agriculture is mainly said to originate from Mesopotamia or fertile Crescent before spreading to other parts of the world. There were several periods in Mesopotamian that boosted agricultural practice: pre-pottery Neolithic Age, this period encouraged animal husbandry as the hunting and gathering culture shifted to agrarian. Pottery Neolithic, it is during this period that stone tools were used mostly for farming and as weapons, they tools were sharpened to ease digging, this period got based on animal husbandry and agriculture (Gupta, 2004). Mesopotamia encouraged farming since there was enough water for farming from river Tigris and Euphrates. Several factors led to the development of agriculture in Mesopotamia, they include:

• Fertile soil. Crops highly depend on the type of soil in an area, and for Mesopotamia, there was fertile soil that supported crop farming in the area.
• Availability of water - being a land between two rivers, Mesopotamia had enough water to practice farming by use of canal irrigation.
• Animal domestication such as sheep, goat, and cattle which served as a source of food.
• Presence of indigenous crops such as wheat, barley, and dates. These were the first crops in Mesopotamia to get farmed.
• The Sumerians had developed ways to control flooding by building canals, ditches, and dykes that drained water from the swampy areas.
• The ox-drawn plough and seed drills invention facilitated the ploughing and made it faster and less tiresome.
• The invention of the wheel boosted transportation. Farm produce got transported much more comfortable with the use of carts which were pulled by animals.
• Settlement increased the demand for food which intern encouraged farming practice, due to increased population.

Origin of Agriculture in Egypt

Agriculture got first practiced in Egypt between 10,000 BC and 4,000 BC. Farming in Egypt got escalated by the presence of The Nile which was the primary source of water for irrigation. The end of the Paleolithic into the Neolithic marked the beginning of agriculture where they also kept domestic animals such as goat, cattle, and sheep. They would use them to pull ploughs, for meat and to pull carts during the transportation of farm produce. The development of the basin irrigation encouraged farming along River Nile (Armelagos & Cohen, 1984). The man crops during this period were grains such as barley, and wheat, alongside other industrial crops such as papyrus, and flax. Some factors led to the development of agriculture in Egypt, and they include:

• Water for irrigation was available from River Nile. The introduction of basin irrigation got supported by the Nile and boosted farming.
• Availability of fertile silt deposited from River Nile.
• Barley and wheat grey wildly and could do well with the climatic conditions of the area.
• The invention of tools such as ox-drawn plough and hoes made if easier to prepare the land.
• Shadoof irrigation also boosted farming along the River Nile where they would fetch water from the river with buckets into the farm.
• The commonly used farm tools in Egypt were the hoes and the ox-drawn plough.

Comparison Between Mesopotamia and Egypt

Significant similarities exist between the two towns mainly from the origin of agriculture. The following are some of the comparison-similarities shared between the two countries.

The two were located along banks of major Rivers. Mesopotamia being between two rivers, Tigris, and the Euphrates while Egypt was located along River Nile. The rivers acted as a source of water to both.

Fertile soil was available in both, during flooding the water from the rivers would deposit fertile silt into the land which encouraged farming.

Development of irrigation systems, Mesopotamia used canal irrigation system while Egypt used the basin irrigation system.

They both used tools made of stones, invented during the Neolithic pottery period. They later upgraded to hoes tools after the bronze age when they discovered the use of metals to make farm tools.

They reared common animals which are sheep, cattle, goat, and chicken.

In both, agriculture began between 10,000 BC and 4,000 BC.

The first crops to be planted in both areas were barley and wheat.

Finally, they used both animal and human labour and developed wring to keep farm records.

Archeological Evidence

There exist different archaeological pieces of evidence about the origin of agriculture across the globe, and the use of stone farm tools. Most of the evidence shows that early agriculture began in the western and northern fertile crescent. Some of this archeological evidence include: Archeologist Nicholasn Cornard and Mohsen Zeidi documented exclusively remains of aceramic architectural, stone tools, bone tools, remains of animals and human, and plant remains reported to be from the pre-pottery Neolithic from the near East (Suggs, 1961). Research by Simone Riehl which analyzed over 30,000 remains of plants showed that the origin of agriculture got attributed to different centers and not a single area, she also documented that eastern fertile Crescent actively participated in the domestication process (Suggs, 1961).

Theories on Agricultural Origin

Different theories got advanced to explain the origin of agriculture, specifically how it started and spread. Some of these theories include the hill flanks, oasis, evolutionary, and demographic theories (Rowley, 1985).

Oasis Theory

This theory bases its argument on climatic conditions that led the people and animals to converge along oases. This made man to domesticate animals at the same time start practicing farming along the water bodies.

Hilly Flanks Theory

Proposed by Robert Braiswood in 1948 an archeologist working in Turkey. The theory deduces that agriculture began as a result of rainfall and crops did not require irrigation. It also explains that agriculture started in hilly flanks of the Zagros and Tauros mountains in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. The hilly flanks refer to western of the Fertile Crescent where agriculture is said to begin.

Feasting Model Theory

Theory by Bryan Hayden states that agriculture resulted from ostentatious displays of power. A lot of food got assembled as a result of throwing feasts as a way of dominance exerting.

Demographic Theories

These are theories by Carl Sauer around 1889-1975. The theories explain that with the increasing population, hunting and gathering could not offer enough foods and they opted for farming to satisfy their demand for food.

Evolutionary/Intentionality Theory

The theory by David Rindos among other scholars explains the coevolutionary adaption of wild plants and humans. It all started with the protection of the wild animals and developed to domestication.

Domestication Theory

This is a theory by Daniel Quinn among other scholars. It explains that humans settled first in specific areas where they later got into nomadism and then practiced agriculture and animal' domestication.

Conclusion

In conclusion, agriculture was practiced as a way of satisfying the demand for food that was high as a result of increased populations. Origin of agriculture had its outcomes on the people who practiced it: resulted to the settlement, the increase in production of food led to a rise in population, invention of the wheel, it promoted social, economic and political aspects among the different communities, better living standards, and encouraged trade and intermarriages. Generally, agriculture up to date is of benefit to those who practice it since it is a source of capital and a source of food.

Works Cited

Gupta, Anil K. "Origin of agriculture and domestication of plants and animals linked to early Holocene climate amelioration." CURRENT SCIENCE-BANGALORE- 87 (2004): 54-59.

Armelagos, George J., and Mark Nathan Cohen, eds. Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture. Orlando (FL): Academic Press, 1984.

Suttles, Wayne. "Affinal Ties, Subsistence, and Prestige among the Coast Salish 1." American Anthropologist 62.2 (1960): 296-305.

Suggs, Robert Carl. "The archeology of Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. Anthropological papers of the AMNH; v. 49, pt. 1." (1961).

Rowley-Conwy, Peter. "The origin of agriculture in Denmark: a review of some theories." Journal of Danish Archaeology 4.1 (1985): 188-195.