Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Emergence and Evolution
of Agriculture:
The Impact on Human
Health and Lifestyle
Clark Spencer Larsen
contents
Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction................................................................................................................ 4
The Context for Early Agriculture ............................................................................. 4
Outcomes for Humanity............................................................................................. 6
Health and the Agricultural Revolution ..................................................................... 7
Early Farming and Lifestyle ...................................................................................... 9
The Changing Face of Humanity ............................................................................. 10
Trade-Offs and Transformations: Setting the Stage for the Present ........................ 11
Conclusions and Study Topics ................................................................................. 12
Acknowledgments.................................................................................................... 12
Notes ........................................................................................................................ 13
References................................................................................................................ 13
AbstRAct
Within a remarkably short period at the close of the Ice Age, humans began to domes-
ticate plants and animals. The cause of the shift from hunting and gathering to agri-
culture was complex. The outcome and implications for the health and well-being of
humans have been debated for centuries. Some authorities regard it as the great leap
forward, and certainly, the general public would agree. This chapter addresses the
traditional model of the outcome of agriculture for human populations by reviewing
what physical anthropologists have learned from ancient skeletal remains around
the world. In general, this record suggests that the foraging-to-farming transition
occasioned a decline in health but was accompanied by a decline in workload, at
least in some settings. That is, there is strong evidence for decrease in dental and
oral health, increase in infection and infectious disease, and change in skeletal and
cranial morphology. The agricultural revolution that began 10 to 12 thousand years
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