The Origins of Agriculture
How did it come about that farming developed independently in a number of world centers (the Southeast Asian mainland, Southwest Asia, Central America, lowland and highland South America, and equatorial Africa) at more or less the same time? Agriculture developed slowly among populations that had an extensive knowledge of plants and animals. Changing from hunting and gathering to agriculture had no immediate advantages. To start with, it forced the population to abandon the nomad's life and become dentary, to develop methods of storage and, often, systems of irrigation. While hunter-gatherers always had the option of moving elwhere when the resources were exhausted, this became more difficult with farming. Furthermore, as the archaeological record shows, the state of health of agriculturalists was wor than that of their contemporary hunter-gatherers.
Traditionally, it was believed that the transition to agriculture was the result of a worldwide population crisis. It was argued that once hunter-gatherers had occupied the whole world, the population started to grow everywhere and food became scarce; agriculture would have been a solution to this problem. We know, however, that contemporary hunter-gatherer societies control their population in a variety of ways. The idea of a world population crisis is therefore unlikely, although population pressure might have arin in some areas.
Climatic changes at the end of the glacial period 13,000 years ago have been propod to account for the emergence of farming. The temperature incread dramatically in a short period of time (years rather than centuries), allowing for a growth of the hunting-gathering population due to the abundance of resources. There were, however, fluctuations in the climatic conditions, with the conquences that wet conditions were followed by dry ones, so that the availability of plants and animals oscillated brusquely.
It would appear that the instability of the climatic conditions led populations that had originally been nomadic to ttle down and develop a dentary style of life, which led in turn to population growth and to the need to increa the amount of food available. Farming originated in the conditions. Later on, it became very difficult to change becau of the significant expansion of the populations. It could be argued, however, that the conditions are not sufficient to explain the origins of agriculture. Earth had experienced previous periods of climatic change, and yet agriculture had not been developed.
It is archaeologist Steven Mithen's thesis, brilliantly developed in his book The Prehistory of the Mind (1996), that approximately 40,000 years ago the human mind developed cognitive fluidity, that is, the integration of the specializations of the mind: technical, natural history (geared to understanding the
behavior and distribution of natural resources), social intelligence, and the linguistic capacity. Cognitive fluidity explains the appearance of art, religion, and sophisticated speech. Once humans possd such a mind, they were able to find an imaginative solution to a situation of vere economic crisis such as the farming dilemma described earlier. Mithen propos the existence of four mental elements to account for the
emergence of farming: (1) the ability to develop tools that could be ud intensively to harvest and process plant resources; (2) the tendency to u plants and animals as the medium to acquire social prestige and power; (3) the tendency to develop "social relationships" with animals structurally similar to tho developed with people—specifically, the ability to think of animals as people (anthropomorphism) and of people as animals (totemism); and (4) the tendency to manipulate plants and animals.
The fact that some societies domesticated animals and plants, discovered the u of metal tools, became literate, and developed a state should not make us forget that others developed pastoralism or horticulture (vegetable gardening) but remained illiterate and at low levels of productivity; a few entered the modern period as hunting and gathering societies. It is anthropologically important to inquire into the conditions that made some societies adopt agriculture while others remained hunter-
gatherers or horticulturalists. However, it should be kept in mind that many societies that knew of agriculture more or less consciously avoided it. Whether Mithen's explanation is satisfactory is open to contention, and some authors have recently emphasized the importance of other factors.
Paragraph 1: How did it come about that farming developed independently in a number of world centers (the Southeast Asian mainland, Southwest Asia, Central America, lowland and highland South America, and equatorial Africa) at more or less the same time? Agriculture developed slowly among populations that had an extensive knowledge of plants and animals. Changing from hunting and gathering to agriculture had no immediate advantages. To start with, it forced the population to abandon the nomad's life and become dentary, to develop methods of storage and, often, systems of irrigation. While hunter-gatherers always
farming. Furthermore, as the archaeological record shows, the state of health of agriculturalists was wor than that of their contemporary hunter-gatherers.
O choice
O benefit
O idea
O experience
2.According to paragraph 1, all of the following are advantages of hunting and gathering over agriculture EXCEPT:
O It is a healthier lifestyle.
O It requires less knowledge of plants and animals.
O It does not need storage capabilities.
O It is not tied to any specific location.
Paragraph 2: Traditionally, it was believed that the transition to agriculture was the result of a worldwide population crisis. It was argued that once hunter-gatherers had occupied the whole world, the population
started to grow everywhere and food became scarce; agriculture would have been a solution to this problem. We know, however, that contemporary hunter-gatherer societies control their population in a variety of ways.
some areas.
O in theory
O obviously
O frequently
O as a result
4.Which of the following best describes the way paragraph 2 is organized?
O A possible explanation for a phenomenon is prented and then criticized
O Two similar ways of accounting for a puzzling fact are considered.
O Early societies' respon to a problem is contrasted with contemporary societies' respon.
O A prehistoric development is first explained in traditional terms and then in contemporary terms.
Paragraph 3: Climatic changes at the end of the glacial period 13,000 years ago have been propod to
conditions were followed by dry ones, so that the availability of plants and animals oscillated brusquely.
5.Which of the ntences below best express the esntial information in the highlighted ntence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out esntial information.
O The resources needed by the growing hunting and gathering population incread rapidly once te
mperatures ro.
O Dramatic temperature increas and the simultaneous growth of the hunting and gathering population led to the need for more resources.
O Higher temperatures led to the existence of incread resources, thus enabling the hunting and gathering population to grow.
O The dramatic temperature increa occurred during the few years when abundant resources allowed the hunting and gathering population to grow.
6.According to paragraph 3, the abundance of resources fluctuated sharply after the end of the glacial period becau
O locally abundant resources were quickly exhausted by hunter-gatherers
O the temperature became much higher in some areas over others
O different types of plants and animals became available as the climate changed
O the amount of rainfall varied radically from one period to the next
Paragraph 4: It would appear that the instability of the climatic conditions led populations that had originally been nomadic to ttle down and develop a dentary style of life, which led in turn to population growth and to the need to increa the amount of food available. Farming originated in the conditions.
7.It can be inferred from paragraph 4 that it was difficult for people to change from farming back to hunting and gathering becau
O people had become more ud to different types of food
O climatic conditions were no longer favorable for hunting and gathering
O populations had become too large to be supported by hunting and gathering
O the farmer's dentary life was easier than the hunter-gatherer's nomadic life
O To suggest that climate change had occurred long before the development of agriculture
O To argue that climate change does not properly explain why agriculture developed
O To challenge the assumption that agriculture developed only in some parts of the world
O To question the claim that climate change occurred at the time when agriculture developed
Paragraph 5: It is archaeologist Steven Mithen's thesis, brilliantly developed in his book The Prehistory of the Mind (1996), that approximately 40,000 years ago the human mind developed cognitive fluidity, that is, the integration of the specializations of the mind: technical, natural history (geared to understanding the behavior and distribution of natural resources), social intelligence, and the linguistic capacity. Cognitive fluidity explains the appearance of art, religion, and sophisticated speech. Once humans possd such a
farming dilemma described earlier. Mithen propos the existence of four mental elements to accoun
t for the emergence of farming: (1) the ability to develop tools that could be ud intensively to harvest and process plant resources; (2) the tendency to u plants and animals as the medium to acquire social prestige and power; (3) the tendency to develop "social relationships" with animals structurally similar to tho developed with people—specifically, the ability to think of animals as people (anthropomorphism) and of people as animals (totemism); and (4) the tendency to manipulate plants and animals.
O complex
O creative
O immediate
O reliable
10.According to paragraph 5, Steven Mithen believes that all of the following contributed to the emergence of farming EXCEPT
O the development of a mind flexible enough to come up with solutions to complex problems
O the tendency to u plants and animals to acquire power
O the tendency to emphasize the differences between animals and people
O the ability to make tools that could be ud for the large-scale harvesting of plants
Paragraph 6: The fact that some societies domesticated animals and plants, discovered the u of metal tools, became literate, and developed a state should not make us forget that others developed pastoralism or horticulture (vegetable gardening) but remained illiterate and at low levels of productivity; a few entered the modern period as hunting and gathering societies. It is anthropologically important to inquire into the conditions that made some societies adopt agriculture while others remained hunter-gatherers or
have recently emphasized the importance of other factors.
O investigation
O improvement
O debate
O interpretation
12.According to paragraph 6, which of the following is a weakness of Mithen's explanation?
O It does not clearly distinguish agriculture from pastoralism and horticulture.
O It fails to explain why some societies adopted agriculture while others did not.
O It explains the domestication of plants and animals but not the development of metal tools.
O It overlooks the fact that illiteracy and low productivity remain problems even today
Paragraph 7: How did it come about that farming developed independently in a number of world centers (the Southeast Asian mainland, Southwest Asia, Central America, lowland and highland South America, and equatorial Africa) at more or less the same time? Agriculture developed slowly among populations that had an extensive knowledge of plants and animals. ■Changing from hunting
and gathering to agriculture had no immediate advantages. ■To star t with, it forced the population to abandon the nomad's life and became dentary, to develop methods of storage and, often, systems of irrigation. ■While hunter-gatherers always had the option of moving elwhere when the resources were exhausted, this became more difficult with farming. ■Furthermore, as the archaeological record shows, the state of health of agriculturalists was wor than that of their contemporary hunter-gatherers.
13.Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following nte nce could be added to the passage.
