Crop Histories by Raoul A. Robinson Second edition, revised Sharebooks Publishing © Raoul A. Robinson, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007. Permission to Reproduce. Any person, library, or organisation may download, print, photocopy or otherwise reproduce this book for purposes of private study, and do so free of legal or financial liability. However, this book is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form for purposes of financial gain without prior permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review for inclusion in a journal, magazine, or newspaper. If a copy of this book is given free of charge to a third person then it must contain this copyright notice in full. This book is also available as shareware: anyone may download it, and may make an entirely voluntary contribution, by way of compensation to the author and publisher, via www.sharebooks.ca on the internet. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Robinson, Raoul A. Crop histories / by Raoul A. Robinson. -- 2nd ed., rev. Also available in electronic format. ISBN 978-0-9783634-5-1 1. Crops--History. 2. Agriculture--History. I. Title. SB71.R63 2007 630.9 C2007-905620-2 List of Contents 2 The Wild Ecosystem..................................................................................... 12 The Importance of Grass........................................................................... 13 The Carrying Capacity of the Environment.............................................. 14 Three Brutal Laws of Nature .................................................................... 15 The Hunger Compulsion........................................................................... 17 The First Alternative................................................................................. 18 The Second Alternative ............................................................................ 20 Migration into the Americas..................................................................... 22 The Third Alternative ............................................................................... 24 The Thirst Compulsion ............................................................................. 28 Starvation .................................................................................................. 29 Domestication ............................................................................................... 30 The Environment ...................................................................................... 30 Cultural Evolution..................................................................................... 31 Domestication ........................................................................................... 33 The Domestication of Animals................................................................. 34 The Domestication of Plants..................................................................... 36 Domestication of Micro-Organisms ......................................................... 38 Adverse Domestication............................................................................. 39 Unconscious Extermination...................................................................... 41 Ecological Chaos ...................................................................................... 44 A brief history of plant breeding .............................................................. 46 The Agro-Ecosystem .................................................................................... 50 The Quality of the Environment ............................................................... 50 Staples....................................................................................................... 50 Ecotypes.................................................................................................... 52 3 Agriculture ................................................................................................ 57 The Dates of Agriculture .......................................................................... 60 Ease of Cultivation.................................................................................... 61 Productivity............................................................................................... 61 Reliability.................................................................................................. 62 Return for Labour ..................................................................................... 63 Adjuncts of Staples ................................................................................... 63 Minor Staples and Minor Civilisations..................................................... 64 Areas Lacking the Major Staples.............................................................. 66 Temperate North America ........................................................................ 66 Temperate South America ........................................................................ 66 Africa South of the Sahara........................................................................ 67 Australia.................................................................................................... 67 Papua New Guinea.................................................................................... 68 Civilisation.................................................................................................... 69 Civilisation Defined.................................................................................. 69 Population Density.................................................................................... 69 Hierarchies ................................................................................................ 70 Religion..................................................................................................... 71 The Effects of Living in a Fixed Location................................................ 72 Calendars................................................................................................... 74 Mathematics.............................................................................................. 75 Writing ...................................................................................................... 76 Individual Ownership ............................................................................... 77 Taxation .................................................................................................... 77 Corvée Labour .......................................................................................... 78 4 Hydraulic Cultures.................................................................................... 80 Rainfed Cultures ....................................................................................... 81 The Poverty Cycle .................................................................................... 82 Civilisation Collapse................................................................................. 83 Thomas Malthus........................................................................................ 83 Social Darwinism...................................................................................... 84 Human Health ............................................................................................... 87 Our Tropical Centre of Origin .................................................................. 87 Loss of Parasites ....................................................................................... 87 Re-Encounter Diseases ............................................................................. 88 Europeans and Africans in the New World .............................................. 89 Europeans in Tropical Africa.................................................................... 91 Disease vulnerability................................................................................. 91 People-Importing and People-Exporting Countries ................................. 92 WHEAT ........................................................................................................ 94 Domestication ........................................................................................... 94 The Diversification of Languages and Cultures ....................................... 98 The Indo-European Family of Languages ................................................ 99 The Renfrew Hypothesis ........................................................................ 100 Storage .................................................................................................... 104 Storage Pests ........................................................................................... 105 Milling..................................................................................................... 106 Cooking................................................................................................... 107 Two Kinds of Wheat............................................................................... 109 Bread ....................................................................................................... 110 Ancient Rome ......................................................................................... 112 5 Egypt....................................................................................................... 112 Mediaeval Europe ..................................................................................