WORLD PREHISTORY and ARCHAEOLOGY:

PATHWAYS THROUGH TIME, 3rd EDITION

Michael Chazan
Chapter 7
TOWERS, VILLAGES, AND
LONGHOUSES
Part Three:
Perspectives On Agriculture
The emergence of settled villages
in the Middle East.
The domestication of plants and animals in the
Middle East.
The relationship among domestication, villages,
and technology in the development of agriculture
in the Middle East.
The questions surrounding the spread
of agriculture to Europe.
Learning Objectives
After reading the chapter, you should understand:
Learning Objectives
After reading the chapter, you should understand:
Centers and Non-Centers of Domestication
Plant characteristics that were selected for
during domestication
Reduction/loss of the
means of seed/fruit
dispersal
- Brittle rachis
- Shattering of pods
Reduction/loss of
dormancy
More compact growth habit
Shorter time to flowering
and maturity
Gigantism
Photoperiod insensitivity
Reduction/loss of toxic
compounds
There were layoffs at
the plant
Sorry Larry,
were letting
you go
~15,000 years ago, the great ice sheets began to
retreat, ushering in the Holocene (recent time)
World sea levels rose rapidly some 300 feet, resulting
in major changes to geography
Asia was separated from North America and
Indonesia became a string of islands, while Britain
became an island
After the Ice Age
After the Ice Age
~15,000 years ago, the great ice sheets began to
retreat, ushering in the Holocene (recent time)
World sea levels rose rapidly some 300 feet, resulting
in major changes to geography
Climate changes resulted in lush area becoming arid
while other areas became forested
Rainfall patterns changed
Warmer conditions resulted in new plant species into
higher elevation zones of mountains
Changes in Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Many late Ice Age and early Holocene hunter-
gatherer societies were preadaptedto food
production, as they were already exploiting some
food resources intensively and living more sedentary
lifeways
In the Middle East, food resources were diverse and
seasonally predictable
Origins of Food Production
In contrast to early theories that food production was
a revolutionary development, modern hypotheses
invoke social relations, population growth, and
ecological factors as multiple causes of food
production
The Fertile Crescent
Location
In south from Israel and Jordan
In north into Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon
In east into northern Iraq and western Iran
Geography
Varies from northern woodlands through open park
woodlands to steppes and true deserts in the south
and east
The First Farmers in Southwestern Asia
Southwestern Asia was cool and dry immediately
after the Ice Age, with dry steppe over much of the
interior
The first evidence for plant domestication comes
from Abu Hureyraon the Euphrates River in about
10,000 B.C.
Sheep and goats replaced gazelle hunting abruptly at
the same site and other settlements after 9000 B.C.
TABLE 7.1 Stages in the Transition to Agriculture in the Middle East
The Early Neolithic
Evidence of Wild Grains Used
Botanical remains
Harvest and processing tools
Not farmedseeds not stored or planted
Did not need humans for protection or
reproduction
Dogs domesticated
Wild gazelles, fish, birds
The Early Neolithic
Development of Farming in Middle East
Cerealsemmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley
Increased grain size with tough rachis
Pulseslentils, peas
Legumesbitter vetch, chick peas
Domestication of Animals in Latter PPNB
Sheep
Natural range is northern mountains of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran
Goats
Specific place unknown
Pigs and cattle
at end of PPNB
The Early Neolithic
Shifts in Tools Technology
From tools made on bladelets to tools
made on blades (PPNB)
Used for sickles (polish indicates use)
Ground stone axes and adzes for wood
working
Grinding stones for cereals
Use of Plaster (PPNB)
Highly developed process of burning of
limestone
Used on floors and in rituals
Some bowls and basins
Plaster-covered human
skull from Jericho
The Late Neolithic
Pottery Manufacture
Small bowls, jars, cooking
vessels
Hand formed, not wheel-
made
Low temperature firing
Variation across time and
space in form, decoration
Plaster Making Ceases
Stone Tools
Expedient tools made of
local materials
Minimal energy investment
in creating tools
Serrated sickle blades are
common
Sickle Polish on Serrated Blade
The Late Neolithic in Middle East
Fewer sites, smaller
Few large sites remain
Many abandoned
Remainder not densely packed
Small, dispersed hamlets
Symbolic artifacts
Stylized human figurines
Plastered skulls not found
The Late Neolithic
Central and Western Turkey
Dense villages continue
atalhyk site
9,0008,000 years ago
Rooms with frescoes
Animals, goddesses, geometrics, and vultures
Ritual rooms or households
Bulls heads, horns
Burials under floor
Goddess figurines (cult?)
The Spread of Agriculture to Europe
Origins in Middle East
No indigenous domestication
Wave of Advance
8,500 in Southeastern Europe
7,500 in Central and Western Europe
6,000 in far reaches of Western Europe
The Spread of Agriculture to Europe
Spread of FarmingMigration or Continuity?
Did farmers replace hunter-gatherers?
Population increase required expansion of territory
Language dispersal hypothesis
Entire lifeway
The Spread of Agriculture to Europe
Did Hunter-Gatherers Adopt Agriculture?
Adapted well
Used fire to manage landscape
Attract animals to grass
Wild food plants
Lepenski Vir Site
8,4007,600 yrs ago
Mesolithic hunter-gathers living alongside farmers
The Spread of Agriculture to Europe
Linear Band Keramik (LBK) culture
7,200 years ago
People
Grew Middle Eastern crops and herded Middle Eastern
animals
Lived as large extended families in lengthy longhouses (over
90 ft), unlike in Middle East
Rapid onset
Uniform migration of people across area
Interaction between farmers and hunters
Trade and exchange
Violence
Variation across area
Key Terms Key Terms
Abu Hureyra
atalhyk
Domestication Syndrome
Fertile Crescent
language dispersal hypothesis
Lepenski Vir
Linear Band Keramik
lunate
Natufian
plastered skulls
sickles
Younger Dryas