Agricultural Origins and Diffusions
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| agricultural hearths/ˌæɡrɪˈkʌltʃərəl hɑːθs/ | Areas where farming practices and the domestication of plants or animals first developed before spreading elsewhere. |
| First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution/fɜːst ˌæɡrɪˈkʌltʃərəl ˌrevəˈluːʃn/ | The long transition in different regions from reliance on hunting and gathering toward cultivating crops and domesticating animals. |
| domestication/dəˌmestɪˈkeɪʃn/ | The human-directed breeding and management of plants or animals over generations for particular uses. |
| surplus/ˈsɜːpləs/ | An amount exceeding what is required; in a market, quantity supplied above quantity demanded at a given price. |
The first farmers
- Farming began in a few agricultural hearths 农业源地 around the world.
- The First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution 新石器农业革命 was the first domestication of plants and animals.
- It let people settle in one place instead of hunting and gathering.
The first domestication of plants and animals is called the...
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
The First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution began farming.
Domestication
- Domestication 驯化 is taming wild plants and animals for human use.
- Wheat, rice, and maize were domesticated in different hearths.
- Farming then spread by diffusion — migration, trade, and conquest.
Hunter-gatherer or early farmer trait?
Sort each feature as belonging to hunter-gatherers or to the first farmers.
Agriculture arose independently in several different hearths around the world.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Wheat, rice, and maize were domesticated in separate hearths.
Taming wild plants and animals for human use is called ____.
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Domestication was the core of the first agricultural revolution.
Select all crops matched to their hearths.
Difficulty 2/5 · 140 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Wheat, rice, and maize came from real hearths; coffee did not come from the Moon.
Why it mattered
- Settling down allowed surplus food to be stored.
- Surplus freed some people from farming, enabling towns and specialists.
- So agriculture is the foundation of cities and civilisation.
Order these developments from earliest to latest.
Difficulty 3/5 · 200 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
First people gathered, then domesticated, then settled, then built towns on surplus.
There was not one single birthplace of farming. Agriculture arose independently in several hearths (Southwest Asia, East Asia, the Americas), each domesticating different crops. Do not describe it as spreading from one origin.
Wheat was domesticated in Southwest Asia, rice in East Asia, and maize in the Americas — three separate agricultural hearths. Each crop then diffused outward with migrating and trading peoples.
Farming began in several agricultural hearths during the First (Neolithic) Agricultural Revolution, through the domestication of plants and animals. It let people settle, store surplus, and build towns — the foundation of civilisation. It arose independently, not from one origin.
Write from wheat leaving the Fertile Crescent
- Wheat was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent.
- Later farmers carried it into new regions.
What does the later spread show?
Hearths are source regions. Crops diffuse from them.
What happened to wheat after domestication?
Difficulty 1/5 · 100 coins + a small bonus on first completion today
Farmers carried the crop beyond the hearth.