The Emergence of Agriculture

Download or read book The Emergence of Agriculture written by Bruce D. Smith and published by Times Books. This book was released on 1995 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this text, the archaeologist, Bruce Smith, explores the initial emergence and early expansion of agriculture and the transformations in human society that made it possible. He charts the course of the agricultural revolution as it occurred in the Middle East, Europe, China, Africa and the Americas, showing how basic archaeological methods and modern technologies, such as plant analysis, radiocarbon dating and DNA sampling are used to investigate this event. Although in the agricultural mind, the agricultural revolution is often seen as a one-step transition from hunter-gatherer societies to farming ones, Smith shows how truly varied were the patterns of animal and plant domestication in different parts of the world.