During the rise of agriculture, did early humans know how to do selective breeding?

Question

Grains like rice and wheat have had their yields increased exponentially, was it just sheer luck that early humans cultivated good genes until they noticed a general improvement in yield?

Answer 1

No, it was not sheer luck. Early humans noticed what grew where and for how long. They began by collecting seeds and storing them. This methodology allowed them to increase crops substantially. And, if there was bad weather and plants did not grow, they had their seeds to fall back on.

There were (are four basic subsistence patterns. The ways in which societies transform the material resources of the environment into food, clothing, and shelter. This development is in response to:

1) Seasonal variation in the environment.

2) Environmental variations over the long run such as drought, flood, or animal diseases.

The factors that impacted these subsistence strategies were:

1) Population density - the number of people inhabiting an area of land.

2) Productivity—yield per person per unit of land.

3) Efficiency—yield per person per hour of labor invested.

The major subsistence patterns which still exist today are Foraging (hunting and gathering), Pastoralism, Horticulture, and Agriculture. Some would say in modern times Industrialization is a subsistence pattern.

The most important part of these strategies working was the domestication of animals and plants.

Domestication: The purposeful planting and cultivation of selected plants and taming and breeding of certain animals. Which increased (s) the supply of the selected species by controlling their location and numbers. This began arose 10,000 years ago in the Old World and 5,000 years ago in the New World. Domestication supports greater numbers of people per unit of land.

Old world in the region known as the Fertile Crescent (Jordan, Israel, Syria, eastern Turkey, western Iran, and Iraq) produced some of the world’s earliest crops. Examples include wheat, barley, lentils, peas, carrots, figs, almonds, pistachios, dates, and grapes. Dogs were among the earliest domesticated animals in the Old World

New world (pre-Columbian) in Central America and Mexico, some of the world’s most widely used crops today were domesticated. These included: maize (corn), tomatoes, several varieties of beans, red peppers, avocados, cacao (used for making chocolate) and squash. Llamas and alpacas were among the earliest domesticated animals in this region

In summation, the influences that developed were population growth, a need to stabilize the food source and to have animals available for food and labor. No sheer luck rather human ingenuity for adapting to environments.

All information retrieved from Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology

Author(s): Sharon Peniston, PhD.

Edition: 1

Copyright: 2015