by Emma J Devereux
Citation: Devereux, E.J., (2021) Why Agriculture Happened: How Past Climate Change Events Led to Modern Farming, EcoFoodDev, https://www.ecofooddev.com/the-12000-year-grind-extraordinary-evidence-for-climate-change-farming-modern-society-from-10000-bc/
A series of changes in climate occurred during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene (roughly 12,000 years ago, i.e., about 10,000 BC). These changes in environmental conditions feasibly led to variability in available food resources. Foodstuffs, that hunter-gatherers living in this region up to this time may have previously relied upon, would suddenly become less abundant or would have disappeared altogether, and the distribution of these foodstuffs (both flora and fauna) would have changed. As a result, hunter-gatherers were forced to adjust the foods that they ate. This, in turn, led to changes in their entire way of life and the emergence of a new type of society and economy, that of settlement, social and economic hierarchy, and agriculture.
Sudden Changes
At the turn of the Holocene, there was a rapid and marked increase in global temperatures following the Younger Dryas glacial event. The Younger Dryas was a major and sudden climate change event that took place ~12,900 – 11,700 years ago, in which large areas of the Northern Hemisphere cooled, while the Southern Hemisphere warmed. The Northern Hemisphere was also drier than the Southern Hemisphere. Though it is a subject of much debate and current research as to what caused the Younger Dryas, many of the changes that took place as a result were likely due to the changes in ocean temperatures/movements occurring at that time. Freshwater from retreating ice sheets may also have contributed to these changes in the oceans. There is a debate that agriculture was not possible during the Pleistocene due in part to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, and that the warming of the Holocene provided the stability and conditions necessary for crop cultivation and agriculture. Attributing a single cause to the development of agriculture is impossible and foolhardy- a combination of push and pull factors likely led to the adoption of widespread farming, however, climate conditions were the likely most precipitating factor.
From Hunting to Farming
This shift from hunter-gatherer to a more sedentary way of life (termed the “Neolithic Revolution’), and the eventual emergence of practiced agriculture, was accompanied by economic and population growth, and something altogether new – per capita income. The next most similar and significant shift in the human economy and way of life was not seen again until the Industrial Revolution and the advent of mechanized agriculture and manufacturing. Although I focus here on the Levantine region, the development of agriculture occurred at different times throughout the world, independently. The domestication of animals for food and secondary products (milk and wool for example) is also a huge topic, which I will look at in greater detail in later posts.
The pollen record shows an increase in a habitat type called ‘steppe woodland’ from 13,000 BC. Steppe woodland is a temperate habitat type, composed of grassland with intervals of woodland. The spread of steppe woodland led to an increase in landscapes that were rich in cereals, pulses, and nuts. With changing food availability and a growing population, these new foods would have become very appealing. These resources were exploited, sites in the region and the population increased, and a dependence on cultivation emerged due to the increased stress on the land. This cultivation would have, in turn, increased the gross yields of the land.
Archaeological evidence from around 10,500 BC shows us that settlements were beginning to grow. This period is known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period and is the first visible culture from the Levantine region from this time of the emergence of agriculture. There is evidence from the PPNA for the appearance of long-term storage within settlements (only needed if you have shifted from being a nomad to living in one place and accumulating material and food). There is also evidence from this period for the development of equipment used to process food such as pounding and grinding equipment for grain processing, indicating the exploitation of cereals. Evidence for changes in symbolic culture are attributed to this period, and cemeteries have been found dating from the PPNA, which points to increased settling down and population growth. The culture associated with this period, and for which there is ample evidence, is the Natufian culture, one of the earliest in the Levant who exploited wild cereals and lived a sedentary to semi-sedentary lifestyle.
There is direct botanical evidence for the exploitation of cereals from this period. Seed morphological changes (changes in seed and plant shape/structure) indicate a shift to domestication, and these changes can be seen from cereal remains dating from the early Neolithic (there is also evidence for herding). Even more remarkably, ancestral wild species of domestic crops are still found at the locations in which they were first domesticated.
Two-row barley has been found at most of the sites from this period and is the oldest form of barley. ‘Two-row’ refers to how the seeds are arranged on the seed head. Two-row barley is lower in protein than the commonly cultivated six-row barley and is highly fermentable (making it an excellent source for ancient beer- and it was fermented!). Emmer wheat has been found at sites in the southern and central Levant, and einkorn wheat has been found in the southern Levant and the Euphrates, from the ancient city of Jericho, and from c. 8000BC levels at the cave site of Iraq el- Dubb, north east of Jericho.
In addition to this botanical evidence, we can see that sites from this time in the Neolithic, in this region, appear to be arranged in certain patterns, suggesting an increased degree of social complexity. Space is divided within settlements, separating work areas from residential zones, as well as providing open areas for communal activity. Evidence for feasting can be deduced from the remains of hearths and animal bones.
Society Emerging: Göbekli Tepe
The extraordinary and famous site of Göbekli Tepe in southeastern Turkey gives an interesting glimpse into pre-domestication cultivation and the use of cultivated cereals in what is thought to be religious feasting. Archaeologists believe that wild cereals were exploited at this site and used to make beer, which was consumed as part of communal, celebratory feasts. Six large, limestone basins at Göbekli Tepe provide incredibly important evidence. They consist of barrels and troughs, are immobile, and can hold up to 160 litres. This suggests to archaeologists that the space in which these structures were located was dedicated to a specific process or activity on a large scale- something not seen before. Analysis of the vessels focused on identifying evidence of oxalates. Oxalates are a type of acid/salt that develop during the steeping, mashing and fermentation of cereals such as barley and wheat.
But how was farming practiced in the Neolithic? Agriculture at this point, in this region, might be described as ‘garden agriculture’, as discussed by Amy Bogaard in “‘Garden agriculture’ and the nature of early farming in Europe and the Near East”. Cultivation was likely to have been intensive, combined with small-scale herding, and occurred before the crop and animal husbandry that led to domesticated crops and farm animals. Research into the systems of early farming is fascinating and will be discussed in further posts. It’s important to figure out where crops and herding etc. began, but how early farmers farmed is even more fascinating and significant to questions of agriculture, climate change, and diet today.
It is evident that domestication had profound effects on the hunter-gatherer societies of the Near East. At a time of climate change, turning to cultivation of wild cereals was a natural choice, but not the easiest decision considering the greater amount of work and the huge lifestyle changes that were needed. This required hunter-gatherers to change the ways in which they lived. Sedentary society emerged, and from this, more complex societies. Though there is evidence for complexity before the domestication of cereals, it was not as widespread. But, of course, there is much more archaeology to be found in this region. Sites such as Göbekli Tepe suggest large scale exploitation of wild cereals for feasting, or communal processing centres, centuries before domestication. Could these sites simply be isolated occurrences, or are there more ancient “kitchens” waiting to be found? Hopefully, as time moves on, there will be more opportunity to study this area archaeologically.
An important idea that this does show, is that we have had to respond to climate change before, and major shifts were undertaken to secure our food and survival. This is something that we know we can do. Now we need to do this again. Our climate is significantly changing- again. Our food is being impacted- again. Now we must innovate with the same effort as our ancestors did, and find alternative ways to produce the food that we need in a way that is sustainable, which I will discuss in upcoming posts, particularly from the perspective of applying paleobotanical and indigenous knowledge to inform nature-based solutions to modern farming problems.
- Bogaard, A., 2005. ‘Garden agriculture’ and the nature of early farming in Europe and the Near East. World Archaeology, 37(2), pp.177-196.
- Colledge, S., 2013. 14. Plant Remains and Archaeobotanical Analysis. In Wadi Hammeh 27, an early Natufian settlement at Pella in Jordan. Brill.
- Dietrich L, Meister J, Dietrich O, Notroff J, Kiep J, Heeb J, et al. (2019) Cereal processing at Early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey. PLoS ONE 14(5): e0215214. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215214
- Fuller, D., Willcox, G., Allaby, R., 2012,” Early agricultural pathways: moving outside the ‘core area’ hypothesis in Southwest Asia”, Journal of Experimental Botany, pp617-633
- Garrard, A, 1999, “Charting the Emergence of Cereal Domestication in South-west Asia”, Environmental Archaeology 4, pp67-86.
- Scanes, C.G., 2018. The Neolithic revolution, animal domestication, and early forms of animal agriculture. In Animals and Human Society (pp. 103-131). Academic Press.
- Willcox, G. and Stordeur, D., 2012. Large-scale cereal processing before domestication during the tenth millennium cal BC in northern Syria. Antiquity, 86(331), pp.99-114.
