Early Agriculture and the Rise of Civilization

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For the thousands of years before plants and animals were domesticated, people roved in small bands, foraging for enough food to stay alive. Because of the abundance of wild foods in the Fertile Crescent, hunter-gatherers settled there permanently. They progressed from gathering wild grains to planting them, choosing seeds from plants with the most desirable characteristics. Their first crops were emmer wheat and barley, which were high in protein and easy to domesticate compared to plants native to other parts of the world. Cultivated emmer wheat, for example, is very similar to its wild ancestor, while it took thousands of years for modern corn to evolve from its half-inch-long ancestor.

The climate and geography of the Fertile Crescent were varied, ranging from valleys to mountains and from deserts to riverbeds. In addition to supporting a variety of plant life, this diversity supported a variety of mammals. Surrounded by an abundance of natural resources, it is not surprising that the people of the Fertile Crescent were the first farmers. But agriculture appeared in less fertile parts of the world as well. The first crop grown along the Yellow River in China was millet, followed by rice and soybeans, significant sources of protein.

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