Agriculture Revolution
Michael Chiavelli
Dr. Birch / Jonathan
ANTH 1102
25 February 2016
Agriculture Revolution
The transition to farming led to an extensive spike in population because of two key changes – a sedentary lifestyle, and a food surplus. In hunter and gatherer societies, women needed a gap of at least three to four years between children because they were consistently migrating and not able to raise multiple children at once (Mithin 2004: par. 7). No such limitation existed when people lived in permanent settlements, and so it became possible for women to have children much more frequently. This was because families had a permanent settlement which allowed them to have and raise multiple children at a time due to the stability in their lives. Additionally, as the techniques of plant cultivation and animal domestication became more refined, it was possible to feed entire groups of people from relatively small numbers of food sources, and still have food left over for storage during the winter months. People in agricultural communities were less subject to the whims of nature than hunter and gatherers and thus had a higher chance of survival (Mithin 2004: par. 7). All of these factors were key contributors as to why a population explosion occurred. Over time villages, then towns, and eventually cities, took shape.
The transition to farming had a negative affect on human health. This was due to a multitude of factors. When society transitioned to farming there was a large spike in population growth. Since there were so many more people disease spread very quickly. For example, “the crowding of urban centers leading to sexual practices such as prostitution and an increase in sexual promiscuity” may have been a key factor in transmitting a pathogen which causes syphilis (Armelagos 1991: 16). Also during this period of urban development populations were expanding and exploring new areas, which resulted in people being exposed to diseases that their bodies have never seen before. Since many of these diseases were new to them, they had very little resistance which caused the diseases to spread more quickly (Armelagos 1991: 17). The transition to farming also caused disease through human waste (Armelagos 1991: 17). Prior to agriculture societies, populations were mainly hunter and gatherers which meant they were constantly moving, leaving them with no consistent base camp, but this all changed with the transition to farming. Societies now became sedentary which meant they were in much greater contact with human waste, hence the “proximity of habitation area and waste deposit sites to the water supply [became] a source of contamination” (Armelagos 1991: 17). Another way that the change to an agriculture society caused disease was through animals. During these times, animals such as goats, sheep cattle, pigs, and fowl became domesticated which “increased the frequency of contact with zoonotic diseases” (Armelagos 1991: 16). Products of these animals such as milk, hair and skin, as well as dust raised by the animals could transmit anthrax, Q fever, brucellosis, and tuberculosis (Armelagos 1991: 16). Insects were also a common way in which diseases were transferred. When farmers would break sod during cultivation they would become exposed to to insects that carried diseases such as scrub typhus (Armelagos 1991: 17).
I believe the agricultural revolution was a bad thing for the human society. Granted it did have some positive effects, I believe the bad outweighed the good. First off it was bad for health. When society was based off hunting and gathering people had more of a varied diet, but when society shifted more toward farming people obtained most of their food from one or a few starchy crops (Diamond 2008: 836). Second, due to the dependence on a limited number of crops, farmers ran the risk of starvation if a crop failed. Also, like I said earlier, due to the fact that agriculture encouraged people to clump together in crowded societies, diseases would spread very quickly and easily. Besides malnutrition, starvation, and diseases, the agriculture revolution caused deep class divisions. Hunter and gatherers have “little or no stored food, and no concentrated food sources, like an orchard or a herd of cows: they live off the wild plants and animals they obtain each day” so therefore there can be no kings (Diamond 2008: 840). However, in farming societies a healthy elite can make himself supreme over those who are weak and ill. It also is perceived that the revolution caused inequalities between men and women. Because of the shift to farming, women were having more frequent pregnancies in order to have more hands in the field which had a negative effect on their health.