The Origins of Agriculture
An Evolutionary Perspective
- 1st Edition - December 28, 1987
- Latest edition
- Author: David Rindos
- Language: English
The Origins of Agriculture: An Evolutionary Perspective presents an alternative approach to understanding cultural variation and change. It aims to demonstrate that domestication… Read more
The Origins of Agriculture: An Evolutionary Perspective presents an alternative approach to understanding cultural variation and change. It aims to demonstrate that domestication and the origin of agricultural systems are best understood by attempting to explicate the evolutionary forces that affected that development of domesticates and agricultural systems. The book begins by discussing cultural change, the domestication of plants, and the origin of agricultural systems in the most general of terms. It considers Darwinism in some depth, concentrating on the relationship between natural selection and cultural change. Subsequent chapters examine the world of domestication and agriculture and present a series of concepts that may permit a more natural explanation for these processes. These include concepts such as incidental domestication, specialized domestication, and agricultural domestication. The final two chapters present models for the origin and spread of agricultural systems based upon Darwinian evolutionary theory.
ForewordPreface1. Agriculture, Evolution, and Paradigms Agriculture and the Paradigm of Consciousness Cultural Evolution Environmental Determinism and Orthogenesis Cultural Ecology Adaptation, Equilibrium and Systems Theory Equilibrium Lost2. Darwinism and Culture Natural Selection, Fitness, and Adaptation The Unit and Level of Selection Natural Selection and Cultural Change Variation and Evolution Culture and Evolution Cultural Selectionism3. The Naturalness of the Human-Plant Relationship Biology and Intent Animal-Plant Relationships Coevolution and Dispersal Weeds and Mimicry Humans and Domestication4. The Evolution of Domestication Introduction Utilization and Domestication A Taxonomy for Domestication from an Evolutionary Perspective Complexity and Stability Domestication and Sedentism Domestication and Changing Selective Pressures5. Feeding Behavior and Change in Diet Introduction The General Model The Graphic Model Valuation and Domestication Agricultural Domestication and Diet Timing and a Test6. Instability, Cultural Fecundity, and Dispersals Domestication and Demography Agricultural Origins Dispersals of Agricultural Systems ImplicationsReferencesIndex
- Edition: 1
- Latest edition
- Published: December 28, 1987
- Language: English
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