I read a book a few weeks ago about the history of agriculture, or how it really began. Tradition has it that agriculture began 10,000 years ago with the Neolithic revolution and the end of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, but the author, Colin Tudge, argues that it began much earlier than that. His theory is that it began 40,000 years ago with the late Paleolithic age when Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals both lived on the planet. They co-existed for approximately 5,000 to 10,000 years and had very different lifestyles.
The author suggests that Paleolithic Cro-Mags were manipulating their environment in a form of proto-farming. This isn’t full blown pastoral or arable farming, it is more horticulturist. The people in this era were encouraging favorable plants to grow while discouraging others. They did not adopt all aspects of farming (preparation of soil, breeding, propagation, crop protection, harvesting, storage) but rather put them together in piecemeal fashion. One of the first was crop protection, simply keeping plants safe from deer or other invaders. They exercised game management without thoroughly domesticating animals. They chased bison over cliffs, controlled fire to chase animals.
Manipulating plants and animals 40,000 years ago did not end hunting and gathering, it simply complemented it. Proto farmers had a third option for food source, and it helped keep them alive. The author then talks about the relationship between the Cro-Mags and the Neanderthals. He uses old western movies as an example of what he imagined it was like, the Neanderthals playing the role of the bandits, wild and free, warring with Cro-Mags the same way the bandits warred with the farmers in old spaghetti westerns. He glamorizes them as free spirits that could not fight extinction. I like the idea that the down to earth, practical farmers were the ones that could keep the next generations alive – it makes me feel better about my own simplicity. 
The fact that innovation can be shown 40,000 years ago supports the theory that farming in its simplest form also began at the same time. The mystery of how people across the world in the beginning of the Neolithic age and the use of domesticated animals to support arable and pastoral farming is no longer is a mystery if it’s already an ancient practice. They didn’t have farming heralds wandering the continents telling people how to farm, as the people began moving from continent to continent they already knew how to do the basics and evolved from there.
The final point I will make about this theory is that the move to farming was not made because it was easier or better. The move to farming was necessary but fought all the way. The food was often lost to weather, the mold in the staples could cause diseases and death. There are many theories that the author states may or may not have been the reason for the need to move to agriculture, including the loss of large game (Dire Wolves, Giant Kangaroos, etc) who were lost to the population growth of man. The author blatantly states the loss of most of the original fauna was not from the change in temperatures, but the existence and population of man. I am not completely convinced he is right, but his ideas and theories all make sense – practical, down to earth, sense. Most of it cannot be proven at this point though.
This was an interesting read, I enjoyed it. I was surprised when I mentioned that I read it how many people showed an interest in it, so this is my very brief (and terribly incomplete) synopsis. I also cannot argue much for or against the author, as I have read few books on these ages. I just found it fascinating, and primarily the first few chapters where he described the different ways agriculture evolved.
As clever and innovative as the Cro-Mags were, I still think it would have been more fun to be a Neanderthal!
