History of agriculture
Wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 20,000 BC. From around 9500 BC, the eight Neolithic founder crops – emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas, and flax – were cultivated in the Levant. Rye may have been cultivated earlier but this remains controversial. Rice was domesticated in China by 6200 BC with earliest known cultivation from 5700 BC, followed by mung, soy and azuki beans. Pigs were domesticated in Mesopotamia around 11,000 BC, followed by sheep between 11,000 BC and 9000 BC. Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and Pakistan around 8500 BC. Sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 7000 BC. Sorghum was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 5000 BC. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 8000 BC and 5000 BC, along with beans, coca, llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs. Bananas were cultivated and hybridized in the same period in Papua New Guinea. In Mesoamerica, wild teosinte was domesticated to maize by 4000 BC. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 3600 BC. Camels were domesticated late, perhaps around 3000 BC.
Fiona Marshall
Fiona Marshall works on Pastoral Neolithic sites in eastern Africa. Food production started in southwest Asia about 10,000 years ago, leading to higher populations, cities, and social stratification. This early food production may have led to the current distribution of wealth. The Neolithic in Africa, however, went differently. Instead of people becoming sedentary farmers, many peoples in Africa became mobile herders. But this pastoralism did not spread throughout all of Africa; it was more sporadic around the Sahara. Africa did eventually develop food production in farming, it was just later than the rest of the world at around 4000 BP. Marshall has examined the question of why ancient peoples domesticated wild plants and animals. Cattle were the first domesticates in North Africa around 10,000-8000 BP. The reason that cattle were so useful is because they allow pastoralists to adapt to changing climates. Even though pastoralism took root in Africa, Marshall points out that herding also contributed to the unequal spread of food. Pastoralism is also more labor-intensive and unpredictable than hunting-and-gathering, which is why Marshall believes that it was more patchy throughout Africa rather than taking it all over at once.