The Neolithic, Origins of domestication and agriculture - Chapter 14

To understand our social organization of today, we must take several factors into consideration that have influenced us over the years. The Neolithic Revolution was one of the most influential ones because it completely changed the way humans lived, being considered by anthropologists and scientists the most impact oriented change in human behavior.

During the Paleolithic period, humans were nomad, meaning, they moved around in search for food and better resources in different places. They were usually divided in groups of 20 – 30 people maximum, just to help each other on hunting and gathering and keep each other protected from dangerous predators.

Around 10,000.00 ya, everything started changing. That was when the Neolithic Revolution happened. Such revolution was a fundamental change in the way people lived and an essential influence to the way we live today. They shifted from hunting and gathering to domestication and agriculture a very characteristic element of a sedentary lifestyle.

Before we begin discussing the new habits of the Neolithic, it’s important to understand the difference between domestication and agriculture, or cultivation.

The first stage of the revolution was the domestication which consisted in using elements of wilderness and taking them into the home or the surroundings with the intent of manipulating and using these elements as part of their household. One good example of domestication is using dogs to protect the people in the household from predators in exchange for feeding the dog. It is a situation that is beneficial for both parts. While agriculture is based on cultivation of crops, preparation of the field, and storing seeds - notably grains such as wheat, rice, corn, rye, barley. The domestication came before the agriculture, but once agriculture began, they both coexisted and still do. A wide variety of plants and animals have been independently domesticated at different times and in numerous places. The first agriculture appears to have developed at the closing of the last glacial period, or Ice Age, the temperature was getting warmer and therefore more likely for crops to grow and the global climate change definitely played a role in the development of agriculture.

Besides domestication and agriculture, other elements were changing at this period such as craft specialization. Craft had changed to supply their current needs and one big tool advancement at this period was the microlith. Microliths are usually made of flint and are typically one centimeter long and half a centimeter wide. Depending on the shape of the microlith, it would be related to a specific time period, ranging from geometric shapes to types of blades.

All of these discoveries wouldn’t be able without archeological sites that have found important piece of information that helps us today, understand when everything begun. Some of the famous archeological sites are divided by region, considering that in different regions would have changed into different paces and accordingly to the resources provided in each region. For example two sites in Israel have evidence of hunters and gatherers who harvested on the side to add more variety to the diet. Same evidence was found in Africa – Egypt, but using the geographical location, the locals of that area would harvest the rich fauna and flora around Nile region. In China, dating 10,300 – 8,700 ya evidence of cultivation of millet was found. In Guila Naquitz, an archeological site located in Mexico, evidence was found from a cave that was occupied by 4 to 6 people, and that confirms the idea that they were now living in groups and staying at one place.

The result of the succession of changes happening at that time was not always good. There are a few problems generated from the new lifestyle that begun during Neolithic Revolution. Some of these problems are results of fast pace growth on the number of humans living in the same region. With the beginning of agriculture, people would rely on the aliments provided from the crops to sustain their needs, so many times their diet was not very variable and not as nutritious as before causing diseases related to lack of vitamins, a disease related to bad nutrition is anemia. Other diseases were generated from the fact that humans were interacting and living closely to animals and close to other humans, which would facilitate the diseases to spread with ease.  Some of these diseases are anthrax, brucellosis and tuberculosis. On a broader perspective, living in cities lead to issues such as managing the placement of waste. Many times that management was poor, due to the lack of infrastructure, so that also caused the appearance of some diseases. 

Personal Input

I feel like we have had a great semester overall, the study of human behavior in a chronological organization was really interesting. I was able to understand biologically the changes that were happening in the human body during the evolution and as result of these changes, the behavior adaptations and change of habits and costumes.

In this chapter of the book, we took a great look at how the Neolithic changed the organization of the society and their habits in relation to nature. The decision of adopting a sedentary lifestyle COMPLETELY changed everything in a way that we couldn’t go back to being nomads ever. I understand the benefits of settling in a place and the possibility of accumulating things, rather than living a life with a few belongings in search for the best environment or the best resources. I do wonder from time to time how things would be if we were still wandering around. Would h. sapiens have survived or would we have evolved to a different species?

Additional Information

For my additional information this is map that shows what where the different products harvested around the world when agriculture started. 

This second link is a very interesting video explaining the Neolithic Revolution based on archeological sites and archeologists work, using evidences found in relation to human behavior and habits at the time.

http://www.schooltube.com/video/4b32cbf4ad4c5c1740c0/

This is my last link for my anthropology class blog and I thought it would be interesting to go back to where everything begun. We saw how agriculture started and changed human habits, but nowadays it seems like agriculture has lost a lot of its power to industrialization. This next link explains how to live a more sustainable life using agriculture as a part of it. Maybe that will take as back to our ancestor and appreciate where we came from.

http://www.theguardian.com/guardian-professional/video/2013/oct/16/food-security-future-sustainable-farming-video

Early Holocene Hunters and Gathers - Chapter 13

The earliest dates of human arrival in America vary between 12,000-16,000 BP.  This assumption has been based on the presence of an unique American invention, the Clovis Point.  These data reveal three or four distinct migrations of humans to the Americas, and a fifth mysterious migration indicated from data collected among the Ojibwa Amerindian group in the Great Lakes region of North America 

The first archaeological evidence of prehistoric human arrival in the Americas was discovered in 1927 at Folsom in New Mexico, where some spears associated with the remains of a Late Pleistocene bison were found, and in 1933 at Clovis, which is also in New Mexico, where other less sophisticated, spears were discovered near the remains of a mammoth. In the following years many other tools were found resembling the Clovis technology. The typical elements of the Clovis culture were fluted pointy objects, made with rocks such as jasper created by removing large blades from a central point and refinished so as to obtain a laminar shape.

Among all the possibilities on how early modern humans entered America, here are two hypotheses that are the most famous ones, the first one being the most accepted.

1^st Humans entered the new world from Asia, most specifically through the Beringia, which would be an ice bridge formed between Asia and America during the ice age. The earth's climate was colder during the Ice Age than it is today. During the Ice Age snow made up much of the earth's precipitation. Thick layers of snow slowly accumulated at higher latitudes and higher elevations. As snow accumulated, the bottom layers were compressed and transformed into ice and eventually glaciers.

2^nd Scenario would be also coming from Asia, but using the Pacific coastal route, with speculations that they used boats.

The entire hypotheses are ideas based on findings, which always change as archeologists find more evidence.  Some example of earlier findings of older habitants in America are the  12,000  - 13,000 ya tools found in Monte Verde, Chile and a skull called Luzia dating 11,000 ya found in Brazil, which leads to the idea that somehow homo sapiens had arrived to the south America before making it to north America.

Leaving the answer for when exactly the first humans arrived in the new world unanswered, we must move on to when humans got established to this area, or an ending date to their arrival. As for an ending date, many archaeologists see the end of the Paleo-Indian period coinciding with the end of the last Ice Age in North America. However, some of the life styles, such as organizing groups for hunting and gathering, continued into the post-Ice Age times in several parts of North America for several thousand years more. In others areas, the habits of the Paleo-Indian period were quickly supplanted by very different cultural systems. So we are able to identifying and ending period happening in different times and areas but somewhat between 8,000 – 9,000 ya.

So after the Clovis time came the Folsom (11,000 - 10,200 ya), also characterized by fluted projectile points (though smaller and more finely made than Clovis points).

It was during the early Holocene that archeologists started to identify profound difference in the adaptation and overall life style between groups in the western plains and those in the eastern. Some of the western Plains Archaic complexes had economic strategies that, at least during some seasons and years, were comparable the earlier Paleo-Indian hunters. Also during this period research is providing more evidence for sedentary practices and horticulture.  So probably humans found land that was fertile and decided to explore the resources of a specific area rather than going around exposing themselves to dangerous predators. Also at this period, there is evidence of an early stage in the eventual domestication of native species.

Personal Input

The understanding of when and how modern humans arrived to the new world is just as complex as the search and exploration for new evidences. It is almost incredible that from tools that were used at that period of time, we were now able to base how things happened so many years ago.

What caught my attention in this chapter was the study of the Clovis technology. I found it immensely interesting that the way h. sapiens were using their intelligence to create tools for specific needs – hunting, cutting, pealing fruits and so on. That alone was evidence that times were changing and a need for a more organized society was becoming something they took into consideration.

About the way they arrived in America, I do find it hard to believe the use of boats at that moment, even knowing that earlier all the evidences lead to believe they have used boats to go from China to Australia. Overall there are many questions still not answered and even the hypothesis about them coming through the  Beringia seems a little doubtful if you think evidence of early human indicate they were living in South America about the same time we think they arrived to North America. 

Additional Information

For my additional information this chapter, I could not forget to mention something I learned in the book about my own country. They skull Luzia that was found in Brazil and even growing up there, that is something I never heard of. Luzia was found in Minas Gerais, Brazil in a location that indicates was a cemetery because her skull was buried aside of other bones. Her skull dates 11,000 ya and I found online several articles from Brazil with the header saying “The oldest woman ever found  in Brazil”.

This following website links to an article from Stephen Oppenheimer going in depth about who Luzia was, her possible ancestors and how possibly she had arrived there.

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/luzia.html

This following video I believe would be very useful for classes in the future, about this subject. It is an overview on how the early humans arrived in the modern world, explaning all possibilities, explaning ice age and how the hypotheses have been changing. It’s a documentary from PBS leaning media, so the source is trustworthy.

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.earthsys.firstpeople/when-did-the-first-americans-arrive/

This was a fun, interactive view on the possibilities of how humans arrived in the modern world. Very brief little animation, but I thought it was fun especially because it has links to important finds of artifacts in America with images and explanations.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pringle-first-americans-trail-interactive

The Origin and Dispersal of Modern Humans - Chapter 12

Current data suggest that modern humans evolved from archaic humans primarily in East Africa.  About  195,000 ya according to fossil found in Ethiopia that shows early changes in the human skull,  changes that we associate with modern people.  More advanced transitional forms have been found at Laetoli in Tanzania dating to about 120,000 years ago.  By 115,000 years ago, early modern humans had expanded their range to South Africa and into Southwest Asia (Israel) shortly after 100,000 years ago.  There is no reliable evidence of modern humans elsewhere in the Old World until 60,000-40,000 years ago, during a short temperate period in the midst of the last ice age.

The archeological evidence that we have today leads to believe that Homo sapiens began migrating to Asia by at least 70,000 years ago.  Homo sapiens who had once reached Asia, decide to travel to Australia about 46,000 ya.  Because Australia was not connected to Southeast Asia by land, it is probable that these first Australian Aborigines arrived by simple boats or rafts.  Modern humans reached the Japanese Islands more or less around 30,000 ya. It’s believed that around 35,000 to 30,000 ya, moved to Siberia and then from there around 20,000 – 15,000 ya they decided to come to America through via Beringia. The Beringia would be an intercontinental land connection between Siberia and Alaska during the ice, so the area was covered in ice, allowing for crossing. That was the first time modern humans had contact with the new world (there are some controversies on that but the Beringia hypothesis is the most accepted). By 11,000 ya, several species of animals in the new world were exterminated, which might have been a combination of the cold temperatures of the ice age, along with the result of human hunts with use of tools.

As we all know the Upper Paleolithic was a period of incredible diversity and technological innovation. During this period, the trends were leading towards creation of very efficient stone tools, including the development of blades. These two blades were from this period of time: 

Along with these technological advances, came great innovations in artistic expression.  The Upper Paleolithic transition brings the first great works of art to the world, including the remarkable cave paintings in Southwest Europe and the small “Venus figurines”. The “Venus figures” is a term used to combine into the same group, prehistorical little sculptures representing. Mostly found in Europe dating the Upper Paleolithic period, these statuettes had features representing a woman’s body with some anatomic exaggerations.

During the Upper Paleolithic, we can also find evidences that people decorated their bodies. Some of elements would be necklaces and what appear to be tattoo kits, to mark their skin.  In the Upper Paleolithic the kind of cultural variation that we see today started. The ability to use highly complex language from this time is indisputable, but it is known that they used some sort of symbolic method of communication.

Now, let’s take a look at the places where these early modern humans were found, going back in time about 100,000 ya, to understand the earliest modern human found and where things took place. Dating the period of time, the specimens come from Africa, more specifically Ethiopia. Using advanced technology, they were able to identify that the skull found at that location dated about 195,000 ya, which would be the earliest modern human ever found.

In Israel, at Mt. Carmel the fossils found date 130,000 to 100,000 ya while the Qafzeh has been dated around 120,000 and 92,000 ya. In China, there are seven early anatomically modern human localities found, with the earliest one dating 200,000 ya.

In Central Europe there is evidence of the earliest anatomically modern human found in Europe dating 35,000 ya. 

Personal Input

Taking a look at the Upper Paleolithic feels like looking to ourselves nowadays. Although this time period happened thousands of years ago, it is so evident that they began a cultural tradition that has carried on until today. As we mentioned in class, they probably had a plan when started to disperse, because they were looking for something new that could also be dangerous and put them in risk. Have survived to the modern human expansion, is a clear result of a plan that worked.

I found it particularly interesting the art present at this period of time. Although not proven that the ability to develop a culture, create art and communicate is not 100% proven to be related to the bigger size of the brain in modern humans, I do believe something led them to start thinking about life as an interesting experience rather than just being. 

Additional Information

This first article I found right after we watched the movie in class related to the modern humans having a certain amount of Neanderthal DNA, but I thought I should hold on to this article and share it on this blog post. This article will talk about a research from scientists from University of Cambridge who believe our “Neanderthal” part of DNA did not come from the result of an interbreeding between both species, but actually from a possible common ancestor we shared.  

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/14/study-doubt-human-neanderthal-interbreeding

This is a very interesting interactive timeline from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s website. This timeline allows you to click on each species and it will show you an explanation about the species with images.

http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline-interactive

This is another interactive link to PBS.org. It is a toolbox from the Upper Paleolithic and as you click on each tool, a multiple choice question will come up for you to identify the tool and its use.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/stone-age-toolkit.html

My last link I will share with you for this blog post is about a very beautiful statuette part of the “Venus Figurines” and I really loved this one so I decided to research a bit more on  it and share with you here.

http://archaeology-travel.com/friday-find/venus-of-brassempouy/