We did it because we figured out dropping seeds near rivers and deltas worked consistently well for some reason.
Which meant far less nomadic gathering, and thus stationary civilization could brew. We’re so good at it now, that many people don’t like leaving their house.
Yes and we were hunting our megafauna to extinction. You need the carrot and the stick. Agriculture wasn’t just a nice tool we disovered we could utilize, it was increasingly becoming something we needed as large game became more scarce. People don’t adopt a new system of production that radically changes their social formations unless their current one is failing. There is a good reason settled agriculture took so long to take hold even after we figure out planting.
Agriculture actually lowered the standard of living and nutrition.
BUT it fed more people per area.
So agricultural communities could support more fighting men to drive away nomadic ones and expand.
It wasn’t a peaceful transition.
And the pastoralists were there too. For whatever reason they seem OP in historical wars (the Mongols but also Cumans, Huns, Turks, PIEs and so on). But, they still decline.
I don’t know, though, you can eat smaller animals just about as well. And it happened on multiple continents and in multiple biomes, and at various times over the Holocene. (The Middle East was early, west Africa IIRC was pretty late but still did it independently, and North America was interrupted mid way though by the arrival of maize)
People don’t adopt a new system of production that radically changes their social formations unless their current one is failing.
Yes, it would make no sense in a generation, or even a few without help. Ignoring the animals and wild plants around them to try and make grass grow faster would sound absolutely mad to whatever cave person.
We did it because we figured out dropping seeds near rivers and deltas worked consistently well for some reason.
Which meant far less nomadic gathering, and thus stationary civilization could brew. We’re so good at it now, that many people don’t like leaving their house.
Yes and we were hunting our megafauna to extinction. You need the carrot and the stick. Agriculture wasn’t just a nice tool we disovered we could utilize, it was increasingly becoming something we needed as large game became more scarce. People don’t adopt a new system of production that radically changes their social formations unless their current one is failing. There is a good reason settled agriculture took so long to take hold even after we figure out planting.
Agriculture actually lowered the standard of living and nutrition.
BUT it fed more people per area.
So agricultural communities could support more fighting men to drive away nomadic ones and expand.
It wasn’t a peaceful transition.
And the pastoralists were there too. For whatever reason they seem OP in historical wars (the Mongols but also Cumans, Huns, Turks, PIEs and so on). But, they still decline.
Huh, I’ve never heard that explanation before.
I don’t know, though, you can eat smaller animals just about as well. And it happened on multiple continents and in multiple biomes, and at various times over the Holocene. (The Middle East was early, west Africa IIRC was pretty late but still did it independently, and North America was interrupted mid way though by the arrival of maize)
Yes, it would make no sense in a generation, or even a few without help. Ignoring the animals and wild plants around them to try and make grass grow faster would sound absolutely mad to whatever cave person.