Plants & Human Affairs (BIOL106) - Stephen G. Saupe, Ph.D.; Biology Department, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, Collegeville, MN 56321; ssaupe@csbsju.edu; http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/ssaupe |
Origin of Agriculture Study Guide
Reading: Chapter 11
Goal
of this Unit: The primary goal of this
unit of the course is to provide a general overview of the various hypotheses
that have been offered to explain the development of agriculture.
Specifically we will:
describe
how, why, when and where agriculture originated.
indicate
the types of plants cultivated
describe
the difference between cultivated, native, naturalized, domesticated
describe
the consequences of the development of agriculture.
Important
Terms/Concepts:
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Objectives
of this Unit: Upon completion
of this unit you should be able to:
compare and contrast domestication and cultivation
identify some of the causes and consequences of humans adopting an agricultural lifestyle (i.e., increased wars, social stratification, famine, dietary disease)
which came first - population growth or agriculture? agriculture or civilization? whadayathink?
briefly
explain how the radiocarbon dating technique works
describe
some of the evidence obtained from archaeological sites that help
ethnobotanists date the beginnings of agriculture
explain
why pollen grains have been especially helpful in ethnobotanical studies.
indicate when agriculture originated. What is the evidence?
discuss
why hilly areas with a Mediterranean-type climate favored the developed of
agriculture.
locate on
a world map the following centers where agriculture developed: Fertile
Crescent; Peru, Mexico, SE Asia, Near East
explain
the impact of geography on the spread of agriculture
explain
what it means that a crop is "native" to a region
identify some of the hypotheses that suggest 'how' and ancestors learned to cultivate/domesticate crops.
identify
some hypotheses that explain 'why' our ancestors began to cultivate crops (i.e.,
origin of agriculture).
explain
why some botanists believe that root crops and multi-purpose crops were the
first ones to be cultivated
name
three crops native (domesticated) to North America
who
was Vavilov and explain the basis/evidence used by Vavilov to determine the
centers of domestication
indicate why most botanists believe that agriculture had independent origins in several locations rather than a single origin than spread (diffusionists)
compare and contrast the trends in crop domestication - in other words, what features were present in wild plants that our ancestors selected out of them
compare and contrast Old vs. New world agriculture practices
compare and contrast temperate vs. tropical agriculture
What is breadfruit? What was the purpose of the voyage of the Bounty? How is breadfruit preserved and why?
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