Prehistoric Eras to 600 c.e.

FOOD PRODUCTION

Survival in the face of the elements has been the struggle for most of human  existence on the planet. Since their emergence, Homo sapiens have invested most of their time in hunting  and food gathering and  staying  warm  and  dry during  the periods  known  as the ice ages. Modern human  beings migrated  from their first home in Africa into Europe,  Asia, Australasia, and the Americas, probably following  herds of bison and mastodon, an early source of food.  They were so successful in their hunting  that  many animal herds were reduced to the point of extinction.

 As the  climate  changed  and  the  ice receded,  new  possibilities  for  food  production occurred. Our human  ancestors  began to gather edible plants and learned how to domesticate them. This was an agricultural revolution that  allowed  them  to break  free from  their  nomadic  past  and  establish sedentary  communities. Along with cultivating  plants came the domestication of animals,  probably first dogs and then livestock that  would  provide  meat, milk products, as well as hides for clothing. Some animals  became beasts of burden. In the division of labor  between genders, women assumed domestic roles that included cooking,  tending small animals, and weaving, while men did the farming, hunting,  and herding  of large animals.  These new methods  of food production could produce surpluses, which in turn allowed larger communities to develop, advancing  civilization. Where con- ditions did not allow agriculture, nomadism continued. By and large, nomads  existed on the fringes of the  civilized world,  and  they  failed  to  develop  written  languages.  The  agricultural revolution occurred  first in Mesopotamia and spread afterward to Asia and Europe.

Fertile Crescent. Mesopotamia, or the Fertile Crescent,  developed  the world’s  first cities, so it is not  surprising  that  wheat  and  barley  were first cultivated  there.  Irrigation and  the drainage  of swamps  also first occurred  there,  around 5000  b.c.e.  From time immemorial  the Nile River overflowed its banks bringing fertile silt and water to the narrow and prolific floodplain.  When the Nile failed, social upheaval  and revolution often followed.

In China, agriculture began along the Yellow River valley around 10,000 b.c.e.  with the domestication of millet, barley, and other crops. Rice was first grown along the Yangtze River valley around 5000  b.c.e.  and  later  became  the staple  food  for much  of Asia. By 3000  b.c.e.  the Chinese  had invented  the  plow,  and  by 400  b.c.e., iron-clad  farming  implements.  The  agricultural revolution occurred  along  the Indus  River valley before  5000  b.c.e., where  farmers  cultivated  wheat,  barley, peas, and other crops.

Farming  became  common  across  Europe  by 3500  b.c.e., but  for  centuries  afterward, farmers worked  a piece of land until the soil wore out, then simply moved on to virgin fields. Such practice is roughly the same as the “slash  and burn” farming  of seminomadic communities in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, still in use to the present day. A remedy for soil depletion  was crop rotation: One plant replenished  what  another plant  took  from the soil the previous  season.  This method  was practiced first in Europe around 1400 b.c.e.  In the Western  Hemisphere the agricultural revolution began first in Mexico,  perhaps  around 5000  b.c.e.  The “three  sisters”  of diet in this part  of the world—maize, beans, and squash—provided a balanced  diet and source of nutrition for the indigenous  people, and they required  little labor to produce.

Beasts of Burden. The first beasts of burden  to be domesticated were the donkey,  the buffalo, and the camel, all by 3000 b.c.e.  The llama was used in the Andes Mountains in South America. Animal  husbandry lagged behind  in the Americas  because  horses  died out  early in this part  of the world  and  were only reintroduced by Europeans after  1500  c.e.  Over  the centuries  people as far  separated as the  Celts  and  Chinese  adopted the  horse  to  great  advantage. However,  at first the horses  were mainly  used to pull war  chariots;  later  for cavalry,  and  not  commonly  for agricultural labor.

Human diet throughout the world largely consisted of cereal grains, beans, vegetable oils, fresh vegetables  and  fruits,  dairy  products, occasional  fresh meat,  and  fermented  beverages  made from either fruit or grains.  Consumption of cereals came in many forms,  but in Europe,  the Near  East, and  the  Americas  mainly  through coarse  bread.  White  bread,  made  of fine wheat  flour  without the  germ,  was  most  highly  prized  throughout the  Roman  Empire  and  beyond.  In 350  b.c.e.  a new strain  of wheat  suitable  for such bread  was cultivated  in Egypt, and Egypt and North Africa thereafter became a granary  for the Mediterranean peoples.  Fruits and vegetables were consumed locally. Trade and migrations  introduced new plants across Eurasia and Africa and resulted in great improvements in food production. Sub-Saharan Africa produced food surpluses  with the introduction of the banana by the Malay peoples (of present-day Indonesia). Because of this fortuitous event, in the fourth  century  b.c.e.  the city-states  of Nigeria  were able to flourish.  Another  revolutionary product, sugarcane,  was cultivated  in India and the East Indies from 100 b.c.e., but its dissemination to Europe waited for the discovery of a process of refinement. Instead,  honey and concentrated fruit were used for sweetening  throughout much of the ancient world.

The  New  World  offered  a variety  of plants  not  available  in the  Old  World,  most  important maize,  but  also  cacao,  papaya, guava,  avocado,  pineapple,  chilies,  and  sassafras.  Several of the more  common  foods  today  originally  come from  the Americas:  peanuts,  potatoes, and  tomatoes. 

The relationship between abundant food and community development was readily apparent in this hemisphere:  Where farming  flourished  (Mesoamerica and South America), city-states  and civilizations abounded; but where farming  lagged (North America), population centers were few and less organized.  The “discovery” of the Americas by Western explorers  had an enormous impact on diet and nutritional resources  throughout the world.