Evolution And History

238 CHAPTER 10 | The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals

C1

C2

A2

A1

B2

C3 B1

Figure 10.4 Early plant and animal domestication took place in such widely scattered areas as

Southwest Asia (A1), Central Africa (A2), China (B1), Southeast Asia (B2), Central America (C1),

South America (C2), and North America (C3).

The Dani people of New Guinea specialize in growing sweet potatoes, a crop introduced in the 17th century

into a region with a long history of vegeculture. Today villagers grow more than seventy species of sweet

potato and have incorporated this root crop into many important rituals. Here Dani women are roasting sweet

potatoes on a fire as part of a ceremonial pig feast.

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