Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
By Alton Parrish (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Is This How Farming Began 23,000 Years Ago?

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.


The presence of fossilized wetland plant particles at a 19,000-year-old archaeological site suggest an alternative as to how a sedentary society arose from hunter-gathers according to a new study.  A resilient dietary strategy balancing reliable wetland plants and “riskier” seasonal grasses may have driven adoption of the sedentary lifestyle which later became typical of Neolithic humans.

Neolithization – the development of human adaptations, such as a sedentary lifestyle, which later characterized Neolithic life – was previously thought to have been facilitated by a dietary shift to
cereals and grains around 23,000 years ago, beginning the long and supposedly linear transition to agriculture.

The complex dynamics of people-plant interactions intrinsic to hunter-gatherer adaptations were central to the development of the ‘Neolithic’ lifestyle. Many researchers have characterized Epipaleolithic foragers as the link between hunter-gatherers and the first Neolithic farmers (ca. 11,500–10,500 cal. BP).

Epipaleolithic, the middle part of the Stone Age,  is a term used for the “final Upper Palaeolithic industries occurring at the end of the final glaciation which appear to merge technologically into the Mesolithic.” The period is generally dated from 20,000 BP to about 10,500 BP, having emerged from the Palaeolithic era.

Resilient ‘risky-and-reliable’ plant use strategy may have driven Neolithization in Jordan.


Credit: Monica Ramsey

In the Levant, the origins of these human behaviors are widely argued to have emerged during the Early Epipaleolithic (ca. 23 ka cal BP). Consequently, there has been a pre-occupation with identifying and modeling the dietary shift to cereal and grains during this period, which is considered to have been a key development that facilitated increasing sedentism and, eventually, agriculture.

In the present study, Ramsey and colleagues challenge conventional thinking about Neolithization pathways by analyzing minute fossilized plant particles known as phytoliths in 31 samples from the c.19,000-year-old pre-Neolithic site of Kharaneh IV in the Azraq Basin, Jordan, to identify the plants used by inhabitants at the time.
The study was published October 19, 2016 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Monica Ramsey from the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues.

Phytoliths (from Greek, “plant stone”) are rigid, microscopic structures made of silica, found in some plant tissues and persisting after the decay of the plant. Phytoliths from Kharaneh IV. a. wild grass husk; b. panicoid grass; c. scalloped dicot leaf; d. Phragmites sp. culm; e. sedge cones.

Credit: Risk, Reliability and Resilience: Phytolith Evidence for Alternative ‘Neolithization’ Pathways at Kharaneh IV in the Azraq Basin, Jordan

The researchers found predominant evidence of wetland plant use, notably reeds and sedges, considered to be “low-risk” dietary resource due to their reliable year-round availability. Some evidence of steppe/parkland grasses and wild cereal use, “higher-risk” seasonal resources, was also found. The authors posit that the inhabitants of this region adopted a diet which supplemented reliable wetland plant staples with riskier grasses and wild cereals when available, forming a resilient plant-use strategy that may have enabled inhabitants to settle in one area for longer than previously possible.
 

Location map of Kharaneh IV and the other sites mentioned.

Credit: Risk, Reliability and Resilience: Phytolith Evidence for Alternative ‘Neolithization’ Pathways at Kharaneh IV in the Azraq Basin, Jordan

While further phytolith and starch analysis of samples is required, the authors suggest that this pre-Neolithic strategy of combining risky and reliable plant resources may have facilitated a sedentary lifestyle and so driven Neolithization via an unexpected pathway.

“At Kharaneh IV, our microbotanical evidence suggests that increasingly settled occupation – a key component of later ‘Neolithic’ lifestyles – was not the result of wild grass and cereal use,” says Ramsey. “Instead, some 20,000 years ago, hunter-gatherer’s at this site were ‘hedging their bets’ on the year-round larder of the wetland.”

Contacts and sources:
Beth Jones
PLOS ONE 

Citation: Ramsey MN, Maher LA, Macdonald DA, Rosen A (2016) Risk, Reliability and Resilience: Phytolith Evidence for Alternative ‘Neolithization’ Pathways at Kharaneh IV in the Azraq Basin, Jordan. PLoS ONE 11(10): e0164081. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164081 http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164081 (freely available paper)


Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2016/10/is-this-how-farming-began-23000-years.html


Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!


Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST


Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser!  Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover -  Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Report abuse

    Comments

    Your Comments
    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    MOST RECENT
    Load more ...

    SignUp

    Login

    Newsletter

    Email this story
    Email this story

    If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

    If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.