Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume II
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with Agriculture, 12,000 bce–500 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Archaeogenetics
- 3 Agricultural origins
- 4 What did agriculture do for us?
- 5 Communities
- 6 Pastoralism
- 7 Agriculture and urbanism
- 8 Early agriculture in Southwest Asia
- 9 ’Ain Ghazal, Jordan
- 10 Early agriculture in South Asia
- 11 Mehrgarh, Pakistan
- 12 Early agriculture in China
- 13 Xinglonggou, China
- 14 Early agriculture in Japan
- 15 The Nara basin paddies, Japan
- 16 Early agriculture in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
- 17 Swamp cultivators at Kuk, New Guinea
- 18 Early agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa to c. 500 ce
- 19 The Tichitt tradition in the West African Sahel
- 20 Early agriculture in the Americas
- 21 Nanchoc valley, Peru
- 22 Early agricultural society in Europe
- 23 Pioneer farmers at Brześć Kujawski, Poland
- Index
- References
5 - Communities
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
By
Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume II
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with Agriculture, 12,000 bce–500 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Archaeogenetics
- 3 Agricultural origins
- 4 What did agriculture do for us?
- 5 Communities
- 6 Pastoralism
- 7 Agriculture and urbanism
- 8 Early agriculture in Southwest Asia
- 9 ’Ain Ghazal, Jordan
- 10 Early agriculture in South Asia
- 11 Mehrgarh, Pakistan
- 12 Early agriculture in China
- 13 Xinglonggou, China
- 14 Early agriculture in Japan
- 15 The Nara basin paddies, Japan
- 16 Early agriculture in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
- 17 Swamp cultivators at Kuk, New Guinea
- 18 Early agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa to c. 500 ce
- 19 The Tichitt tradition in the West African Sahel
- 20 Early agriculture in the Americas
- 21 Nanchoc valley, Peru
- 22 Early agricultural society in Europe
- 23 Pioneer farmers at Brześć Kujawski, Poland
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter surveys the nature of early agricultural communities, focusing on archaeological evidence for the social life of early farmers in different parts of the world. In many ways early agricultural societies are extremely diverse, but underlying this range of cultural forms are striking similarities, suggesting that agriculture tended to constrain and direct social behaviour along certain lines. The chapter focuses on archaeological evidence for, first, the nature of agricultural practice, and second, forms and scales of collective social action, from residential families to work parties, ritual congregations and broader networks. It also presents three pairs of case studies, each comprising a major centre of agricultural origin involving domestication of key cereal crops and an adjacent region of agricultural spread, West Asia and Europe, China and Korea and Mesoamerica and the Southwest. Archaeobotanical evidence indicates that cultivation took place in a range of lowland and upland contexts, using high-water-table, floodwater, mesa top run-off, or rain-fed techniques.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History , pp. 124 - 160Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
References
Further reading
Banning, E.B. ‘Housing Neolithic farmers.’ Near Eastern Archaeology, 66 (2003), 4–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, G. The Agricultural Revolution in Prehistory: Why did Foragers Become Farmers? Oxford University Press, 2006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, G.L. China, Korea and Japan: The Rise of Civilization in East Asia. London: Thames & Hudson, 1993.Google Scholar
Bar-Yosef, O. ‘From sedentary foragers to village hierarchies: the emergence of social institutions.’ In Runciman, W.G. (ed.), The Origin of Human Social Institutions. Proceedings of the British Academy 110. Oxford University Press, 2001. 1–38.Google Scholar
Colledge, S. and Conolly, J. (eds.). The Origins and Spread of Domestic Plants in Southwest Asia and Europe. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2007.Google Scholar
Colledge, S., Conolly, J., Dobney, K., Manning, K., and Shennan, S. (eds.). The Origins and Spread of Domestic Animals in Southwest Asia and Europe. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2013.Google Scholar
Flannery, K.V. ‘The origins of the village as a settlement type in Mesoamerica and the Near East: a comparative study.’ In Ucko, P.J., Tringham, R., and Dimbleby, G.W. (eds.), Man, Settlement and Urbanism. London: Duckworth, 1972. 23–53.Google Scholar
Flannery, K.V. ‘The origins of the village revisited: from nuclear to extended households.’ American Antiquity, 67 (2002), 417–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flannery, K.V. and Marcus, J.. The Creation of Inequality: How our Prehistoric Ancestors Set the Stage for Monarchy, Slavery and Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuller, D.Q., Harvey, E., and Qin, L.. ‘Presumed domestication? Evidence for wild rice cultivation and domestication in the fifth millennium bc of the lower Yangtze region.’ Antiquity, 81 (2007), 316–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuller, D.Q. and Rowlands, M.. ‘Ingestion and food technologies: maintaining differences over the long-term in West, South and East Asia.’ In Wilkinson, T.C., Sherratt, S., and Bennet, J. (eds.), Interweaving Worlds: Systemic Interactions in Eurasia, 7th to the 1st Millennia bc. Oxford: Oxbow, 2011. 37–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaakidou, V. and Tomkins, P. (eds.). Escaping the Labyrinth: The Cretan Neolithic in Context. Oxford: Oxbow, 2008.Google Scholar
Kohler, T.A. ‘News from the northern American Southwest: prehistory from the edge of chaos.’ Journal of Archaeological Research, 1 (1993), 267–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lave, J. and Wenger, E.. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press, 1991.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, G.-A. ‘The transition from foraging to farming in prehistoric Korea.’ Current Anthropology, 52, Supplement 4 (2011), S307–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcus, J. and Flannery, K.V.. Zapotec Civilization: How Urban Society Evolved in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. London: Thames & Hudson, 1996.Google Scholar
Pappa, M., Halstead, P., Kotsakis, K., and Urem-Kotsou, D.. ‘Evidence for large-scale feasting at late Neolithic Makriyalos, N Greece.’ In Halstead, P. and Barrett, J. (eds.), Food, Cuisine and Society in Prehistoric Greece. Oxford: Oxbow, 2004. 16–44.Google Scholar
Peterson, J. Sexual Revolutions, Gender and Labor at the Dawn of Agriculture. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Schibler, J. and Jacomet, S.. ‘Short climatic fluctuations and their impact on human economies and societies: the potential of the Neolithic lake shore settlements in the Alpine foreland.’ Environmental Archaeology, 15 (2010), 173–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staller, J.E., Tykot, R.H., and Benz, B.F. (eds.). Histories of Maize: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Biogeography, Domestication, and Evolution of Maize. Amsterdam and London: Elsevier Academic Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Twiss, K.C. ‘Transformations in an early agricultural society: feasting in the southern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic.’ Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 27 (2008), 418–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willcox, G. and Stordeur, D.. ‘Large-scale cereal processing before domestication during the tenth millennium cal bc in northern Syria.’ Antiquity, 86 (2012), 99–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wills, W.H. ‘Plant cultivation and the evolution of risk-prone economies in the prehistoric American Southwest.’ In Gebauer, A.B. and Price, T.D. (eds.), Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory. Monographs in World Archaeology 4. Madison, WI: Prehistory Press, 1992. 153–76.Google Scholar
Wright, K. ‘The social origins of cooking and dining in early villages of Western Asia.’ Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 66 (2000), 89–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Accessibility standard: Unknown
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
Accessibility compliance for the HTML of this chapter is currently unknown
and may be updated in the future.