After you've read Part II: Rise & Spread of Food Production, identify one point or issue with which you agree, disagree, or about which you would like to learn more. Use the SVHS databases or the Internet to find out more.
Your comment to this post should include the author, title, source, link or database title, and a summary of the source. In your summary, please explain why you choice this particular topic for further exploration.
Chapter six of the novel GGS describes the interesting process in which a wild plant becomes a domesticated crop. There are many factors that farmers consider when deciding what wild plants should become domesticated. When farmers come across a bitter or poor tasting plant they would chose to not domesticate it since taste is a major factor in domestication. When a farmer finds plants that are unable to be controlled, the farmer may choose to not domesticate this plant since control determines the ease of harvesting. In addition, farmers may raise plants such as tulips for their beauty. Overall, farmers base their decisions of domestication on taste, control, and sometimes beauty. This topic provides a great explanation of why some countries have more domesticated plants than others which improves one’s knowledge of domestication. (PBS. “The Botany of Desire: Viewer’s Guide.” Infotopia. N.p., 2009. Web. 27 June 2016.)
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ReplyDeleteIn the seventh chapter of the book GGS, Jared Diamond discusses the domestication of plants and how some were easier to domesticate than others, and he gave many reasons to support that. He said that wheat and barley were examples of easier crops to domesticate because of their quick and easy reproduction, making it easier for farmers to make. I agree with this, and what interests me even more is how some other crops were harder to domesticate such as berries, oak trees and acorns. These were not domesticated and not looked at by farmers because of their slow reproduction and their difficult selection. This is exactly what my source reinforces and explains and talks about the consequences of domestication and why some crops and plants were easier to domesticate than others. In conclusion, domestication of plants was not always an easy task, and the plants farmers were able to domesticate are only a small percentage of all the crops in the world, which shows just how complicated of a task it was. ("Plant Domestication")
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Citation is: (Brown, Nino. "Plant Domestication." - PlantBreeding. Plant Breeding, n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2016.)
DeleteIn chapter nine of GGS, Diamond explains how only fourteen large herbivore animals succeeded in becoming domesticated. What is further interesting is how despite the efforts of humans, the domestications of other large animals have been incredibly unsuccessful. Diamond goes on to give reasons as to why only fourteen large animals were domesticated, and explains that thirteen of the fourteen domesticated came from Eurasia. At first this was confusing, as there are many animals that could possibly be domesticated, but Diamond then explains how many animals had attempted domestications that failed. He explains that even in the past two centuries animals such as the zebra, moose, and elk, have underwent domestication experiments that have not succeeded. Also, many animals have been tamed and may be found as pets such as, kangaroos or possums, but these animals have failed domestication for a variety of reasons, from the environments they must live in to their diets and temperaments. It is interesting how despite a lack of technology, people living thousands of years ago were still capable of domesticating the only fourteen large animals that have passed domestication experiments. They managed to intelligently find and discover most mammals that would be important and assisting to their daily lives, and then managed to domesticate them. As Diamond explains, when selecting which animals to domesticate, six categories were involved: the diet of the animal, the growth rate of the animal, the ability to breed the animal in captivity, the temperament of the animal, the sociality of the animal, and the way each animal dealt with danger. After learning about each category, it makes complete sense as to why only fourteen large animal species, were able to be domesticated and why so many others failed. “History of the Domestication of Animals”, explains in further detail, the timeline of the domestication of certain animals (both large and small), and the reasons in which they were domesticated. For example, it explains how alpacas were domesticated for their wool, and gives estimated dates as to when some animals were domesticated. Finally, it includes animals, such as the elephant, which although not domesticated, some have been tamed. The domestication of only fourteen large animals is interesting, as it is amazing how only fourteen large animals succeeded in being domesticated, and the domestications of these animals occurred so long ago. (Gascoigne, Bamber. "History of the Domestication of Animals." History World. N.p., 2001. Web. 1 Aug. 2016. rack=pthc>.)
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ReplyDeleteIn chapter 5, Diamond states that newer technology, being used for dating historic artifacts, has its own problems. I was curious as to what those problems could be. After researching, this source revealed that the burning of fossil fuels is messing up the dates. The scanners they use measure the amount of radiocarbon left in an organic material versus how much normal carbon has been created in it. The fossil fuels that are burned are so old they no longer contain any radiocarbon, and since there is now so much in the atmosphere it works to make dating fossils difficult. Any new item is being synthetically aged and now it has become very difficult to distinguish between these new plants and the old fossils. Nuclear weapon testing reversed that effect for a while, but now there is so much carbon that the effects of the nuclear testing have become invisible. ( Kaenel, Camille von. "Fossil Fuel Burning Obscures Radiocarbon Dates." Scientific America: n. pag. Infotopia. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.)
ReplyDeletePart II of GGS thoroughly discusses local food domestication, but when did people begin trading for foreign foods? GGS states that food production started fairly recently: “It was only within the last 11,000 years that some peoples turned to what is termed food production…” (Diamond 82). From the article “Imported food trade began ‘4,000 years ago’” the author Roger Highfield examines new evidence of when trade could have started. The information concludes that the time trade was started is at least 4,000 years ago. Scientists came to this conclusion after finding a stone in Andean highlands that had sediments from crops grown in the Amazon basin rainforests. This article provided an estimated time as to when food trading began. (Highfield, Roger. "Imported Food Trade Began '4,000 Years Ago.'" The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1511857/Imported-food-trade-began-4000 years-ago.html)
ReplyDeleteIn chapter seven of GGS, Diamond speaks about the domestication of plants. He states how some plants are easier to domesticate than others. It is also known that some plants grow better in certain parts of the world than in others. In Africa they had first domesticated Sorghum because it was easy to grow in that area. The Middle East was the first to grow barley and wheat because of the abundance of them. When domesticating plants there needs to be plenty of them and there needs to be something to gain from it. ("Domestication of Plants and Animals in Global Perspective." Teaching the Middle East, U of Chicago Library, teachmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu/ foundations/origins-of-civilization/framing-the-issues/issue-01.html.)
ReplyDeleteChapter IV of GG&S, "Farmer Power", takes a good look at the benefits of an agricultural society as opposed to a hunting-gathering society, and how supposedly "weak" farmers managed to overcome strong hunter-gatherers. For a very long time, humans' only source of food was through hunting of animals and gathering of plants. Only recently, specifically within the last 11,000 years, had humans started to switch to an agricultural society, which proved to be vastly superior. Many plants/animals are either inedible or very difficult to find/gather, so the concentrating of them through farming allowed humans to be far more efficient with their space, and encouraged humans to live in more densely populated areas, which consequently allowed mothers to support more children. Additionally, domestication of animals allowed for improved crop production, due to manure having many uses and the strength of animals being used to pull plows. Large domesticated animals were later the premier method of combat and transportation. Increased production of crops resulted in food surpluses, which gave people more time to worry about technology, politics, and conquest. Unfortunately, domestication of animals resulted in many diseases, but this allowed initial farmers to develop resistance to these pathogens, while those that they attacked fell victim to them. I completely agree with Jared Diamond's view on this; hunter-gatherers are forced to be on the move and cannot afford to have food surpluses, which never gives them the time to do anything but move and hunt. I chose to look at this topic in further detail because I found it strange that farmers, a class that may have seemed weak and forgettable, managed to overcome the seemingly physically superior hunter-gatherers. National Geographic's article further looks at the spread of the agricultural revolution and how it came to be, unlike the pro/con evaluation of Diamond. ("The Development of Agriculture." National Geographic, genographic.nationalgeographic.com/development-of-agriculture/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2016.)
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DeleteIn part two of GGS, Diamond talks a great amount about food production, how it came to be, and its developments. Diamond also goes on about hunter-gatherers and their transition to food producers and domestication, or how they tried to continue on with life not becoming food producers. Diamond does not mention much about their living or religion or culture. I became interested in how they do things because it seems overlooked, but very important. "The World of Hunter-Gatherers" article says that hunter-gatherers travelled in groups of about twelve adults plus any children, they collected nuts, berries, and plants, and followed wild animals for the men to hunt for meat. Every group of hunter-gatherers had a certain territory where they stayed, and it was very large. The large area allowed for them to have a place to gather and hunt. The family groups were a part of larger clans or a people of fifty to one hundred adults. The people had a common ancestor, and they were not allowed to have intercourse with people outside of their clan. The hunter-gatherers also used myths as their views on the world, how it came to be, where humans came from, etc. Some clans had more wisdom or abilities than others, but all of them were shared more or less equally. Men and women were mostly equal, although women were more respected because they provided the nutrition, being the gatherers. Each clan had different religious beliefs, but most consisted of Animistic beliefs and ancestor worship. Shamans were also a big part of religion, they were healers, judges, law-makers, and war leaders. Fire was the main "technology" that hunter-gatherers used, fire gave them warmth, light, and it was used to harden wooden spears. Hunter-gatherers used stone, wood, bone, and antlers as weapons, and they practiced mining, digging trenches, and so on. People made clothing from animal skins, plants (for thread), and thin bones as needles. Their weapons included spears, bows, arrows, harpoons, and domesticated dogs for hunting. Hunter-gatherers also created art like cave paintings, clay figures, etc. They sometimes cleared areas for more preferred plants to grow which slightly harmed the environment. Sometimes peoples would create villages in a few favored locations. Groups wouldn't interact with other groups, so ideas did not spread easily or quickly. ("The World of Hunter-Gatherers." TimeMaps, 2016, www.timemaps.com/ hunter-gatherer.)
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DeleteIn the end of chapter six in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond brings up the point that in areas of the world where farming is better than hunting-gathering, people that didn't farm either became farmers or were killed by societies that had farmers. I immediately connected this point to the modern world. I think Diamond was trying to point out that farming eventually led to guns, germs, and steel which eventually led to conquering those without guns, germs, and steel. Just like farming, new inventions in the modern world are usually developed accidentally, and just like farming, these inventions give any society an advantage over another. I agree with Diamond that newer, more efficient technology usually overtakes older ones.This is why I decided to research ways modern farming method are being spread. In the article I read on how teachers throughout the country are bringing farming into their curriculum and trying to get student interested. Some communities are even having classes offered at local community centers and high schools are offering classes like forestry. I imagine ancient communities gathering to show and spread farming as well. Lynch, Nate. "North Stonington Students Learn Modern Farming Methods via Aquaponics System." The New London, 26 Dec. 2015. EBSCO Host, web.b.ebscohost.com/src_ic/detail/detail?vid=15&sid=7d82ca73-90f8-4f63-87d9-88853b104fca%40sessionmgr101&hid=107&bdata=#AN=2W6351830943&db=n5h. Accessed 26 Aug. 2016.
ReplyDeleteIn part two of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond talks about the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is where the first agricultural region was developed. The Fertile Crescent was very important to Middle Easterners they were able to use the area to successfully grow food among surrounding deserts. Located in several countries, the Fertile Crescent is thought to be founded in the ninth millennium. ("Fertile Crescent" https://www.britannica.com/place/Fertile-Crescent by the editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica)
ReplyDeleteChapter eight of Guns, Germs and Steel discusses whether agriculture arose more slowly in areas due to the people or due to the plants. This is tested by observing three different regions around the world: the Fertile Crescent, New Guinea, and the eastern United States. The Fertile Crescent was the earliest site of wild plant and animal domestication. In most cases, the reason that wild species were not domesticated was that the species was preventing their own domestication. For example: zebras were once going through the process of domestication, yet no one was able to figure out why they continued to be dangerous and violent, so that study was forced to shut down. It is very difficult to domesticate a wild animal or plant if that wild organism refuses to be domesticated. (Diamond, Jared. "Evolution, Consequences and Future of Plant and Animal Domestication." Nature, vol. 418, 8 Aug. 2002, pp. 700-07, doi:10.1038/nature01019. Accessed 29 Aug. 2016.)
ReplyDeleteIn Part II of Guns, Germs, and Steel, food production is discussed. More specifically, in chapter 1, Diamond makes a statement that intrigues me and influenced me to do research about it. The statement he makes is “Geographic differences in the means by which food production arose are also puzzling. In a few places it developed independently, as a result of local people domesticating local plants and animals. In most other places it was instead imported, in the form of crops and livestock that had been domesticated elsewhere.” The climate in different locations greatly impacts what develops there. As well as climate, another significant factor that affects food production immensely is the soil. Some other more minor factors that impact food production are landforms, plants and animals No matter what every place in the world will have different outcomes with food production due to these geographic differences.
ReplyDelete"Influences on Food Production." Swirk, www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-11_u-48_t-139_c-444/
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