CHAPTER TWO: We Know What's Best
continued from March 30,2005
We owe a great deal to garbage and excrement. As settlements became permanent and grew larger we accumulated more garbage and more excrement and consequently more opportunity to observe.
While those ancient garbage sites didn't include plastic containers, beer cans, and magazines, we certainly threw away things like bones, both animal and human, along with skins of various kind, and unused plants. We probably also dropped plant seeds while dragging or carrying plants from one place to the other as well as to the village dump.
But it had to be excrement that gave us some of our best opportunities to observe plants. Undigested seeds were defecated and spat out. We know today that many plant seeds have to pass through an animal's digestive system before they germinate or take root; out of an animal's feces will spring many a plant. For example, an elephant, which spends at least six hours a day eating, will digest only about 40 percent of what it consumes. Many of the undigested seeds in the elephant's feces germinate into new plants as well as being a food source for many creatures, including insects like the dung beetle who burrow beneath the ground and aerate the soil. With ever increasing supplies of garbage and limitless excrement, our first crop breeding program, albeit unintentional, probably took place behind the "big rock" as well as in areas where animals congregated.
Merka had noticed when she was still a young girl how the wild pea exploded out of its pod and fell to the ground. This was the way the wild pea germinated. A few pods, however, didn't explode and they would eventually die. Curious, Merka brought back to her small garden some of these none-popping pods. She soon discovered that these pods were the ones that could be harvested for humans. This sort of discovery was being made in more than one location throughout the Fertile Crescent. The selection process was underway.
Wheat and barley were the earliest cereal crops to be domesticated because they produced large seeds which turned out to be edible for humans and which also could be stored for long periods of time. Someone sometime would have noticed that the wild wheat seeds at the top of the stalk dropped to the ground, where they would germinate. But also observed would have been the occasional mutant wheat where this did not happen; the seeds didn't drop to the ground. It would have been this mutation humans observed, brought home and planted, and which eventually became a major food source.
About this time Gaaa appeared around Thorat and Merka's hut, Gaaa being the name Thorat eventually gave to this particular wild cat, who had apparently decided to adopt Thorat and Merka. Archaeologists now believe this human-feline bonding may have started more than 9,000 years ago. As permanent village life developed and domesticated grain crops were stored, mice determined that a readily available food supply was worth a few risks. On the other hand, wild cats like Gaaa quickly learned where a plentiful supply of fresh meat could be found. Humans and cats benefited from this relationship.
One day it happened. It might have been late spring, early summer, but on this particular morning Merka, after calling out to her oldest daughter to fill the water bucket, strolled over to her garden and noticed something different growing there. She called out to Thorat who was about to check on his wheat and barley field. They both knelt down and studied the strange looking thing in the garden, which neither one had seen before, at least in their garden. A vine-like leaf was growing on a running stem along the ground. It had fruit that was firm and round and of a clear yellow color with green markings. How had it gotten there they wondered?
Of course these early gardens did not look like the small backyard plots one can often find in suburbia, where neat cultivated rows of tomatoes and corn, surrounded by a wire fence to keep out the rabbits and the squirrels. Nor had anything like a plow been invented yet. What happened was that the ground was scrapped by some sort of stick, the seeds dropped and covered with dirt. Everything would have been mixed together.
These early farmers--at first--did not realize that the seeds were now competing with one another in this new environment. Certain types of seeds were going to succeed and others would fail. Any number of factors would allow some seeds to win and others to lose. It might have been the size of the seed, the wetness of the soil, or maybe the dryness. Possibly the elevation could have been the difference or the amount of sun--or shade.
Just as we humans were adapting and changing in new environments, the plants also were changing, competing, and adapting. They too had every intention of surviving. The more the soil was turned over and exposed to the air and sun, the more likely that something new would make, often, an uninvited appearance. Over time astute observers like Merka and Thorat would notice under what conditions different plants changed.
As agricultural communities grew and the need for a permanent food supply became even more important, certain individuals acquired the "expertise." They were the ones who learned the best time to harvest a particular crop, identify harmful insects, follow weather patterns, and most important, begin the all important crop experimentation through trial and error. This would have a significant impact on our early communities.
But returning to Merka's garden, Thorat finally pulled up this new visitor by its roots. He smelled it, licked it with his tongue, and then tossed it aside. They forgot about it until three days later when Merka noticed that the same plant had reappeared, but this time it had brought along several companions. Then Merka saw something at the far end of the garden.
A new plant, but this one was big and it was already crowding out some of the lentils. That was serious. Everyone in this community could still remember what it was like to be hungry; they could all recall except for the very young when there wasn't enough food or wild game to hunt.
Time passed. The gardens continued to expand and the wheat and barley fields had an additional dozen part time workers. The community now contained more than 300 residents. Merka and Thorat had four children of their own, two boys and two girls. By now more time was spent picking out the unwanted plants from both the gardens and the wheat and barley fields.
While we can't be certain what the new plant was that Merka first discovered in her garden, by its description it could have been a wild gourd. The Egyptians knew about this plant at least three thousand years ago. It's mentioned in the Old Testament and, among its uses, the oil from the leaves were used for fuel for lamps.
It would have been unlikely that the people going about their daily lives in the Fertile Crescent would have realized they were once again in the center of an historic change. Such awareness usually occurs well after the fact. Perhaps a few people might have noticed that the actual number of full-time food producers had decreased, while the amount of food that was being harvested had grown dramatically. A couple who live not far from Thorat and Merka's hut had stopped tending their own small garden a year before. This happened because they'd become so busy making baskets of various sizes and utensils for pounding grain and cutting plants. Through exchanging these items with the farmers, these budding artisans acquired all the food they needed.
to be continued....
We owe a great deal to garbage and excrement. As settlements became permanent and grew larger we accumulated more garbage and more excrement and consequently more opportunity to observe.
While those ancient garbage sites didn't include plastic containers, beer cans, and magazines, we certainly threw away things like bones, both animal and human, along with skins of various kind, and unused plants. We probably also dropped plant seeds while dragging or carrying plants from one place to the other as well as to the village dump.
But it had to be excrement that gave us some of our best opportunities to observe plants. Undigested seeds were defecated and spat out. We know today that many plant seeds have to pass through an animal's digestive system before they germinate or take root; out of an animal's feces will spring many a plant. For example, an elephant, which spends at least six hours a day eating, will digest only about 40 percent of what it consumes. Many of the undigested seeds in the elephant's feces germinate into new plants as well as being a food source for many creatures, including insects like the dung beetle who burrow beneath the ground and aerate the soil. With ever increasing supplies of garbage and limitless excrement, our first crop breeding program, albeit unintentional, probably took place behind the "big rock" as well as in areas where animals congregated.
Merka had noticed when she was still a young girl how the wild pea exploded out of its pod and fell to the ground. This was the way the wild pea germinated. A few pods, however, didn't explode and they would eventually die. Curious, Merka brought back to her small garden some of these none-popping pods. She soon discovered that these pods were the ones that could be harvested for humans. This sort of discovery was being made in more than one location throughout the Fertile Crescent. The selection process was underway.
Wheat and barley were the earliest cereal crops to be domesticated because they produced large seeds which turned out to be edible for humans and which also could be stored for long periods of time. Someone sometime would have noticed that the wild wheat seeds at the top of the stalk dropped to the ground, where they would germinate. But also observed would have been the occasional mutant wheat where this did not happen; the seeds didn't drop to the ground. It would have been this mutation humans observed, brought home and planted, and which eventually became a major food source.
About this time Gaaa appeared around Thorat and Merka's hut, Gaaa being the name Thorat eventually gave to this particular wild cat, who had apparently decided to adopt Thorat and Merka. Archaeologists now believe this human-feline bonding may have started more than 9,000 years ago. As permanent village life developed and domesticated grain crops were stored, mice determined that a readily available food supply was worth a few risks. On the other hand, wild cats like Gaaa quickly learned where a plentiful supply of fresh meat could be found. Humans and cats benefited from this relationship.
One day it happened. It might have been late spring, early summer, but on this particular morning Merka, after calling out to her oldest daughter to fill the water bucket, strolled over to her garden and noticed something different growing there. She called out to Thorat who was about to check on his wheat and barley field. They both knelt down and studied the strange looking thing in the garden, which neither one had seen before, at least in their garden. A vine-like leaf was growing on a running stem along the ground. It had fruit that was firm and round and of a clear yellow color with green markings. How had it gotten there they wondered?
Of course these early gardens did not look like the small backyard plots one can often find in suburbia, where neat cultivated rows of tomatoes and corn, surrounded by a wire fence to keep out the rabbits and the squirrels. Nor had anything like a plow been invented yet. What happened was that the ground was scrapped by some sort of stick, the seeds dropped and covered with dirt. Everything would have been mixed together.
These early farmers--at first--did not realize that the seeds were now competing with one another in this new environment. Certain types of seeds were going to succeed and others would fail. Any number of factors would allow some seeds to win and others to lose. It might have been the size of the seed, the wetness of the soil, or maybe the dryness. Possibly the elevation could have been the difference or the amount of sun--or shade.
Just as we humans were adapting and changing in new environments, the plants also were changing, competing, and adapting. They too had every intention of surviving. The more the soil was turned over and exposed to the air and sun, the more likely that something new would make, often, an uninvited appearance. Over time astute observers like Merka and Thorat would notice under what conditions different plants changed.
As agricultural communities grew and the need for a permanent food supply became even more important, certain individuals acquired the "expertise." They were the ones who learned the best time to harvest a particular crop, identify harmful insects, follow weather patterns, and most important, begin the all important crop experimentation through trial and error. This would have a significant impact on our early communities.
But returning to Merka's garden, Thorat finally pulled up this new visitor by its roots. He smelled it, licked it with his tongue, and then tossed it aside. They forgot about it until three days later when Merka noticed that the same plant had reappeared, but this time it had brought along several companions. Then Merka saw something at the far end of the garden.
A new plant, but this one was big and it was already crowding out some of the lentils. That was serious. Everyone in this community could still remember what it was like to be hungry; they could all recall except for the very young when there wasn't enough food or wild game to hunt.
Time passed. The gardens continued to expand and the wheat and barley fields had an additional dozen part time workers. The community now contained more than 300 residents. Merka and Thorat had four children of their own, two boys and two girls. By now more time was spent picking out the unwanted plants from both the gardens and the wheat and barley fields.
While we can't be certain what the new plant was that Merka first discovered in her garden, by its description it could have been a wild gourd. The Egyptians knew about this plant at least three thousand years ago. It's mentioned in the Old Testament and, among its uses, the oil from the leaves were used for fuel for lamps.
It would have been unlikely that the people going about their daily lives in the Fertile Crescent would have realized they were once again in the center of an historic change. Such awareness usually occurs well after the fact. Perhaps a few people might have noticed that the actual number of full-time food producers had decreased, while the amount of food that was being harvested had grown dramatically. A couple who live not far from Thorat and Merka's hut had stopped tending their own small garden a year before. This happened because they'd become so busy making baskets of various sizes and utensils for pounding grain and cutting plants. Through exchanging these items with the farmers, these budding artisans acquired all the food they needed.
to be continued....
posted by mumpsimus | 2:39 PM
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