Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations - Kootenay Local Agricultural Society

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wheat dating from 10,000 years ago are found in sites near Damascus, in
northwestern Jordan, and on the Middle Euphrates River. Domesticated
crops then spread south to Jericho in the Jordan Valley and northwest into
southern Turkey.
Although tradition places agriculture in the Middle East long before any
parallel activity in Asia and the Americas, recent research suggests that people
in South America, Mexico, and China may have domesticated plants
long before the first signs of settled villages in these regions. Sediments in
a cave called Diaotonghuan along China’s Yangtze River tell a story similar
to that of Abu Hureyra in which wild rice was domesticated around the
time of the Younger Dryas. Perhaps the abrupt climate changes of the
Younger Dryas pushed semisettled people with declining resource bases
into agricultural experimentation.
Once the climate improved, groups adapted to growing grains had an
advantage. Increasing reliance on domesticated crops spread across the
region. The Natufian culture that flourished along the Mediterranean
coast in modern Israel, Lebanon, and Syria from 9000 until 7500 bc was
based on harvesting wild grain and herding goats and gazelles. Neither
plants nor animals were fully domesticated when Natufian culture arose,
yet by the end of the era, hunting accounted for just a fraction of the food
supply.
The regional population began to grow dramatically as domestication of
wheat and legumes increased food production. By about 7000 bc small
farming villages were scattered throughout the region. Communities
became increasingly sedentary as intensive exploitation of small areas discouraged
continuing the annual cycle of moving among hunting camps
scattered around a large territory. By about 6500 bc large towns of up to
several thousand people became common. The seasonal rhythm of an
annual trek to follow resources was over in the Middle East.
Populations able to wrest more food from their environment could better
survive periods of stress—like droughts or extreme cold. When bad
times came, as they inevitably did, chance favored groups with experience
tending gardens. They better endured hardships and prospered during
good times. And agricultural success upped the ante. Development of
more intensive and effective subsistence methods allowed human populations
to grow beyond what could be supported by hunting and gathering.
Eventually, communities came to depend on enhancing the productivity
of natural ecosystems just to stay even, let alone grow. Early cultivators
became tied to a place because mobility did not allow for tending and har-
rivers of life