Page 478 - Cultures and Organizations

The Evolution of Cultures 443

bands, as they had done for millions of years, but they had an asset that
their predecessors lacked: a superior creative intelligence and powers of
organization. Holocene humans did things that were hitherto unheard of.

Their sense of a moral circle had become more flexible, and they started
to draw animals and plants into it. In other words, they started to domes-
ticate plants and animals. Over a few thousand years, they domesticated
various species of both, and in so doing they started a drastic process of
genetic selection.
Historian Steven Mithen describes the daily life of the Natufi ans, who
lived in the Levant from 12,300 years ago to 10,800 years ago and who,
during this period, developed into horticulturalists. Mithen hypothesizes
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that in the beginning of this period they collected wild cereals with sickles,
and this method of collecting must have selected in favor of those grains
that stuck to the ear longer. Some of the grains germinated near the vil-
lages, either by accident or as was intended. Soon, human-selected strands
of grain with nonbrittle ears grew near the villages. In addition, archaeo-

logical finds show that each of these villages had its own style of jewels.
These villagers apparently used their finery as a means of developing sym-

bolic group identity, much as do present-day societies and subgroups.
Agriculture was invented simultaneously in various places on the
planet. Biologist Jared Diamond mentions that food production was
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invented between six and eleven times in various continents. Animals
were domesticated in various places as well, including sheep and goats
in the Mediterranean, cattle in Europe, and horses in central Asia. The
availability of species that could be domesticated varied widely across con-
tinents, at least partly due to the different moments at which they had come
into contact with humans. In Africa mammals had coevolved with humans
for millions of years, and placid characteristics were selected against,
because at that time humans were not yet smart enough to domesticate,

but they could certainly kill. In Eurasia wolves, cattle, horses, and sheep
were available for domestication by humans who had migrated out of Africa
at a time when they were smart enough to domesticate them but unable or
prudent enough not to exterminate them. The size of Eurasia compared
with the modest numbers of human immigrants probably helped save the
gentle grazing species in the region from extinction.
Agriculture and technology both enabled and facilitated trade. The
addition of domesticated animals such as horses and camels could help
people travel far. Human population now increased to millions, and people
from different parts of the world met ever more frequently. As a result,