FIN 501 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Sub-Saharan Africa, Domestication, Fertile Crescent
23 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
10,000 bc: domestication of certain plant species begins in a few areas (middle. East [grains], china [rice], americas [corn, squash, beans], africa [sorghum, millet, yams]). Ability to store surplus food allows for increased population. The people with the most productive crops became the most productive farmers. 7,000 bc: animal domestication begins (goats, sheep, then pigs, cows), providing protein (milk, meat), and fertilizer for crops. Also with large animals larger areas can be plowed, and more food created. Of the 148 plant-eating mammal species on earth, only 14 could be domesticated, and all but one of these are native to the middle east, asia, north africa, and. This all leads to much more surplus; not everyone has to farm, so specialists in other areas develop, and big advances in technology (e. g. ability to make steel).
