250 CHAPTER 10 | The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants and Animals
quality—and probably in the length—of human life asso-
ciated with the adoption of agriculture.”^26
Rather than imposing ethnocentric notions of progress
on the archaeological record, it is best to view the advent
of food production as but one more factor contributing to
the diversification of cultures, something that had begun
in the Paleolithic. Although some societies continued to
practice various forms of hunting, gathering, and fishing,
others became horticultural, and some of those developed
agriculture. Technologically more complex than horti-
cultural societies, agriculturalists practice intensive crop
cultivation, employing plows, fertilizers, and possibly ir-
rigation. They may use a wooden or metal plow pulled by
one or more harnessed draft animals, such as horses, oxen,
or water buffaloes, to produce food on larger plots of land.
The distinction between horticulturalist and intensive ag-
riculturalist is not always an easy one to make. For exam-
ple, the Hopi Indians of the North American Southwest
traditionally employed irrigation in their farming while at
the same time using basic hand tools.
Pastoralism arose in environments that were too dry,
too grassy, too steep, too cold, or too hot for effective horti-
culture or intensive agriculture. Pastoralists breed and man-
age migratory herds of domesticated grazing animals, such
as goats, sheep, cattle, llamas, or camels. For example, the
Russian steppes, with their heavy grass cover, were not suit-
able to farming without a plow, but they were ideal for herd-
ing. Thus a number of peoples living in the arid grasslands
and deserts that stretch from northwestern Africa into Cen-
tral Asia kept large herds of domestic animals, relying on
their neighbors for plant foods. Finally, some societies went
on to develop civilizations—the subject of the next chapter.The Neolithic and the Idea
of Progress
Although the overall health of Neolithic peoples suf-
fered as a consequence of this cultural shift, many view
the transition from food foraging to food production
as a great step upward on a ladder of progress. In part
this interpretation is due to one of the more widely held
beliefs of Western culture—that human history is basi-
cally a record of steady progress over time. To be sure,
farming allowed people to increase the size of their
populations, to live together in substantial sedentary
communities, and to reorganize the workload in ways
that permitted craft specialization. However, this idea
of progress is the product of a set of cultural beliefs, not
a universal truth. Each culture defines progress (if it
does so at all) in its own terms.
Whatever the benefits of food production, however,
a substantial price was paid.^25 As anthropologists Mark
Cohen and George Armelagos put it, “Taken as a whole,
indicators fairly clearly suggest an overall decline in the
agriculture The cultivation of food plants in soil prepared
and maintained for crop production. Involves using technolo-
gies other than hand tools, such as irrigation, fertilizers, and the
wooden or metal plow pulled by harnessed draft animals.
pastoralism Breeding and managing large herds of domesti-
cated grazing and browsing animals, such as goats, sheep, cattle,
horses, llamas, or camels.(^25) Cohen, M. N., & Armelagos, G. J. (1984). Paleopathology at the origins of
agriculture. Orlando: Academic; Goodman, A., & Armelagos, G. J. (1985).
Death and disease at Dr. Dickson’s mounds. Natural History 94 (9), 12–18.
Human Disease Animal with Most Closely Related Pathogen Deaths Globally According to WHO (Year) Prevention Strategies
Measles Cattle (rinderpest) 197,000 (2007) Immunization
Tuberculosis Cattle 1.6 million (2005) Treatment of infected
individuals to prevent spread
Smallpox Cattle (cowpox) or other livestock
with related pox viruses
Eradicated as of December 1979;
between 1900 and eradication,
smallpox killed 300–500 million
people
Immunization
Influenza Pigs, ducks Several different types; all are
seasonal and variable, with
250,000 to 500,000 deaths
estimated annually
Immunization
Pertussis (whooping
cough)
Pigs, dogs 297,000 (2000) Immunization
Source: Diamond, J. (1997). Guns, germs, and steel (p. 207). New York: Norton; World Health Organization Fact Sheets.
Table 10.1 Diseases Acquired from Domesticated Animals
(^26) Cohen, M. N., & Armelagos, G. J. (1984). Paleopathology at the origins of
agriculture: Editors’ summation. In M. N. Cohen & G. J. Armelagos, Paleo-
pathology at the origins of agriculture (p. 594). Orlando: Academic.